Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-03-10
Man Who Killed Sanford
White Now, Has Appear
anCe of Normal Man
Somewhere in the FiftieS
BY JANET BUTLER.
LeaSed Wire Service to The Journal.
(COnyriyht 1902

Copyright, 1921
PITTSBURG, March "A strange,
calm Harry Kendall Thaw has been
spending the past eight days in
Pittsburg but today is preparing to
return to his indefinite confinement
in the Pennsylvania hospital for
mental and nervous diseases at
Philadelphia.
Thaw has been attending the
theater and church as any sane,
normal person might. He has had
eight days of near-freedom. There
have been no restrictions upon his
movements, save those that would
have prevented his 80-year-old moth
err from accompanying him. For
Mrs. Mary Copeley Thaw, she of
the millions, of the proud, disdainful
"Thaws of Pittsburg," who barred
her soul on the witness stand that
her boy might escape the electric
chair, and told of the 'taint" of in.
has been with her hoy" wherever
he has gone during the ten days va
cation the court extended to him.
And Nhile there have been no re-
strictions, there always have lurked
in the background two watchful at
tendants from the Philadelphia insti-
tuition. There could have been no
vacation without this chaperonage,
but it is safe to say that Harry Thaw
has not felt their presence, their re-
straint ANY more than the president
of the United Statets feels the watch.
full care Of the trained secret serv-
ice men who guard him from harm
wherever he may go.
Attracts Little Attention.
Thaw's appearance at the theater
and at church have attracted little or
no attention here at his old home.
Mrs. Thaw has walked proudly be-
side him, much of her former hau-
teur having returned to her since
Harry came home, came to the life
that his mother would have had him
lead through all the years he has
wasted. AS boy Harry was al
WAYS pampered. His mother sought
ALWAYS TO shield him from harm
Harry still is her boy" today and
once again he has been pampered
and loved as only a mother can love
the son who has given her heavy
cross to bear.
Thaw physically has improved
wonderfully during the recent years
he has spent behind restraining locks
and bars. A great calm seems TO
have come to his troubled soul. He
has the appearance, the bearing and
the dignity now of a man of business.
He has gained in weight. His hair
is a clean gray. There is not
wrinkle in the well-rounded face. His
step is quick and alert. In his face
there is no suggestion of the furtive-
ness that marks the convicted man,
none of the extreme nervousness
which characterized him earlier in
his life. Smartly attired, with no
suggestion of a "let down" in any
part of his makeup, Thaw would
pass in any company as a normal
man of the fiftieS.
His appearance and manner have
led many of his friends to suggest to
the Thaw family that they make
another effort at this time to have
Harry freed from further commit
ment on the ground that he has en-
tirely recovered his senses and his
poise. But so far as known, the
family has turned a deaf ear to
these temptations. Mrs. ThaW on
more than one occasion has proved
| that she would give her last penny
to save her son, but between that
son and freedom the alienists-the
men who claim they can definitely
trace the shadowy line between the
normal and the abnormal mind
stand today as they have stood for
the last sixteen years.
May Get Freedom
Thaw's improvement is so notable
that perhaps his family, as we'll as
| the prisoner himself, feel that it
would be better to have another year
or two of the treatment. Thaw lives
in the greatest comfort at the asy-
lum. He is provided with everything
that unlimited means and the rules
I of the institution permit, and, under
the care of his guardians, his for
tune is increasing rapidly. So there
is still the chance that some day
Thaw may be liberated to take his
place somewhere in the business and
social scheme of life. During the
time he has spent at "home," Harry
Thaw has been surrounded by every
loving thought and care. Mrs. Thaw
has felt that with more of the free
dom of home, and away from the
white lights of Broadway, there is
always the hope that her influence
may Danish xem his mind forever