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About The morning Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1899-1930 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 1907)
fi torimt "USLICHK FULL AMOOIATID PRIt RIPOflT UOVKRS THC MORNINQ PIILO ON THI LOWBft OOLUMBIA;l VOLUME LX111 NO. i ASTORIA, OREGON, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6f 1907 PRICE FIVE CENTS PHYSICIAN ON STAND Noted Alienist Testifies to Thaw's insanity. GRILLED BY JEROME Prosecuting Attorney Shows Long Preparation for Insan ity Plea. QUESTIONS BAFFLE WITNESS Dftnt Dftatd in Attempts to In troduee Testimony Showing Ten dency in Relative of Thsw, nd Attorney Quarrtl. NEW YORK, Feb, S, Tho task of proving Harry K. Thaw Insane through heredity and (uotitHl stress when ho hot and killed Ktanford While was taken up today by tht defense, but when adjournment occurred U was the general opinion tllal little progress hud bn rnnda. Thaw's attorney en deavored In vain to place before the jury evidence tending. It wn said, to prove a vein of Insanity In a col latoral brunch of the dofundant's fam ily, but they were blocked at every .olnt by Dlatrlct Attornuy Jerome, whoso objections wore uphold by Jus tice Kltxgerald. The defense did, how-v-r, got laforo tin- Jury tho testimony of an expert, In hla opinion Thaw wna Buffering from Insanity on the night of the tragedy. Jerome attempt ed to down tho evidence of tho iillotilHt. Hr. (.'. W. Wiley of I'lttaburg, and for three houra put him through a croaa examination aa sever aa waa ever heard ' In any court. The prosecutor waa relentless In hi attack and before he flnlahed, Dr. Wiley protcatlngly de clared: "I didn't come here aa an expert. 1 came ua a witness to a fuel and 1 have been converted Into an expert without being prepared for It." The district attorney astonished ev eryone by hla Intimate knowledge of medicine, and Ita technical phraseolo- gy, demonat rating the care with which he had prepared hlmaclf to moet the vorv defense which Thaw'a counsel have entered In hla behalf. Jerome soarchlngly Inquired Into Dr. Wiley's record iib a physician and aa an ex port on Insanity. He hurled volleys of technical questions at the witness who at times sat mule and at other tlmcM declared ho could not answer, or guvo evasive replies. Often he brought upon himself a sharp warning from Jerome to make, a reply and not an argument. Wiley euld he pred icated hla opinion na to Thaw'a In sanity upon hla actions on tho night of tho tragedy, aa described to him In a hypothetical question put to him by the defense, and on nn Incident which ho witnessed In a Pittsburg street car In 1905. Thaw, he said, acted Irrationally on the car, coming In suddenly, Jerking up one of the blinds, slamming It down again and then lifting It up again, all the while quarreling with the conductor. Wiley admitted to Jerome, he had never ex amined the defendant with any rec ognized teats of Insanity and that he had never conversed with Thaw. Jer ome drew an admission from tho wlt nesa that no single act of Thaw's at Madison Square garden was one of Insanity, but whon considered collec tively constituted an evidence of In sanity. At times Wiley seemed entirely baf fled by the questions. He hesitated at each and before he could answer, Jerome hod framed another question, .0 replete with Impreaslvs oun' ' i ,s' weal terms and appare' , ,g a problem no lens fli" yrs . it pre decessor. Jero, - f knowledge, however, aoomei, .er to run dry. He carried hla cross examination through practically Inn entire morning session and for an hour and twenty minute after luncheon, Thaw's counsel sat silent and without protest as Jerome grilled the first witness for the defense. Thaw himself seemed to lake little Interest In the cross examination at the outset, but litter begun to dike notice and was often In 'earnest con versation with those of his counsel who sut neuron! him. Hefore. the close of tho examination, however. Thaw einod to worry. " His attorneys ap peared pussled at first, but were, evi dently determined to give Jerome the widest liberty, At the clomi of Wiley's examination, mi attempt was made to Introduce t.-Mtlmony lending to show a strain of liiHunlty bus existed In certain Itriinrhes of the Thaw family. Among tho witnesses called was Albert Lee Thaw, of lilchmond, Va., who said his father and Hurry Thaw'a father were drat cousins. The defunao stated its purpose to draw from the witness the fart (lint his father died In an Insane asylum, to which Jeiome objected. He declared that the relationship of the witness and hla father were too far re moved from the defendant to be com petent. "And the law," ho added, "Is not sat isfied that a man Is Insane merely be cause he died an an Insane asylum. The fact that a man dies In such an In stitution as that conducted by Dr. Wi ley, the eminent specialist we ha J upon the stand today, for Instance, U no proof he was Insane. There must be competent testimony to the fact." j Justice Fltxgurald upheld this view of the matter, saying his ruling was subject to revision If the attorneys for the defense could cite authorities on the subject. (iliaaon of counsel for the defense, promised to have authorities In court tomorrow. The same ruling was made In the case of other witnesses by whom the defense offered to prove collateral In sanity. !r, C. If. lllngham of Pittsburg, Thaw's family physician, testified he had treated Harry for Bt. Vitus dance. Jerome drew from the physician that Thaw was seven year old when this treatment was given. Another at tempt to prove collateral Insanity was followed by an adjournment of court until tomorrow. Scarcely had court adjourned today when there was a conference of Thaw's counsel and It became known that certain of the attorneys were not pleaked with the day's developments. Mr. Del mas on leaving the court room declared flatly ho was dissatisfied with the day's proceedings and intimated that he was surprised that the conduct of the defense for the day had been given to Gleaaon rather than to him self. iDelmas said Wiley should not have been put on the stand today and perhaps not at all. Delmaa said he had expected to conduct the case and wiim surprised that Gleason should have done It. Thaw'a attorneys were closeted In Attorney AlePlko's olBce well Into the evening, but nothing definite as to what transpired was made public. All McPIko would say was: "You will have to wait until court opens and see for yourself what goes on." . Ho made the same answer when asked If Dulmas would withdraw from the case and when asked If he (Mc PIko) waa satisfied with the manner in which the case had been xonducted so far. McPlke had a short confer ence with Thaw after court adjourned. Later tonight a note was sent to Thaw nuking if his lawyers had disagreed. Thaw's reply was: "No, there Is no truth In the report. It Is all nonsense." GERMANS RE-BALLOT. BERLIN, Feb. 6. Re-ballots In Relschtag elections occurred In fifteen districts mostly In Savarte today. Clor lcals gained four seats from national liberals mainly with help of socialists. National liberals gained two seats, one from conservatives the other from the Ouelphs. Returns show that In some districts clericals and socialists were helping each other. IILMTIE RIVER FLOOD BECOMES WORSE Rises at Rate of Two Inches An Hour at Portland and Much Damage is Done. PUBLIC BATH HOUSE WRECKED AND BORNE AWAY Madison Street Draw Bridge Buckles and Refuses to Work Pon toon Collides With French Bark Fingot Lower Level of Docks on Water Front are Flooded. RISE ON COLUMBIA RIVER THREATENS TO BACK UP FLOOD SHOULD FLOOD ASSUME SERIOUS PROPORTIONS UNTOLD DAM AGE WOULD RESULT IN PORTLAND - TEMPERATURE 13 STEADILY RISING AND FALL OF RAIN CONTINUES UNABATED IS WORST FLOOD OF YEARS. PORTLAND. Feb. .-Creeping Into dangerous places at the alarming rate of almost two Inches an hour, the flood monster of the Willamette I advanc ing with unabatlng fury. Its present onslaught was unexpected, Its fran tic haste to destroy almost unprece dented. It bosom Is writhing In swirling eddies, with great masses of driftwood, timber, logs and uprooted treea wreaking havoc as they are borne madly, relentlessly, down, down toward the great calm sea. The bridges seem scarcely as If they can withstand the strain, yet their fore men say there Is no cause for alarm. Hundreds flock to the bridges to watch what Is probably the most rap Id rising flood In the memory of the oldest Inhabitant, for during the rec ord breaking freshet 17 years ago to day, when the river reached the stage of 28.7 feet, It rose but an Inch an hour, while now It Is climbing, climb ing without abatement, steadily, In sidiously, menacingly, at the unheard of rate of almost two Inches an hour. And as the great fields of snow In the mountains give up their torrents of water, this maddened pace Is apt to be Increased. The warm, spring-like chlnook Is adding Its destructive but gentle pow er to the probable havoc for this wind wipes out the snow even faster than the heavy rains. Coupling this with the mercury Jumping one degree an hour, no wonder people entertain the gravest fear for the outcome of the freshet. So strong now la the sweep of the current that river steamers, oven under full head of steam, are able to muko little headway against It, while going down they are forced to spin at their best clip through the bridges for fear of being dashed against draw-rests, caissons or abut-' menta. The reading of the river gauge at the Morrison street bridge at 2:20 o'clock this afternoon was 17.2 feet. The Willamette, according to latest re ports received this afternoon, Is still rising slowly at Salem, but Is report ed to be falling gradually above that point. It Is believed that unless there should be a renewal of heavy rains the river will continue to fall at low er points during the night and tomor row. The present rampage of the usually staid old Willamette is likely to go down In history as one of the most de structive and unexpected winter fresh ets of the past 20 years. Nothing can prevent Inestimable damage to prop erty along the streams which have been swollen by the melting snows In the mountains and have hurled their deluvlan bulk into the broad Willa mette, alt within a few hours, giving property-owners scant , warning of danger and little opportunity to save exposed possessions. The river Is rising today at the rate of.two Inches an hour. The Madison street bride, while not in actual danger of being weakened beyond safe usage, "bucked up" this morning and refused to work for a time. Foreman James Kelly and a gang of men worked like beavers, rip ping out the timbers swollen by the heavy rains, which were responsible for the trouble with the draw. Mr. Kelly said he feared no serious dam age to the structure. The Portland public baths were torn from their moorings near the east approach to the Madison street bridge and went tossing down stream on the crest of the surging stream. The two pontoons were ripped asunder and one became lodged near the Steel bridge, fouling the French bark Tur got. Acting Harbor-master Smith was notified and secured cables and lasheA the pontoon to the dock piling. The other half of the bath building swept on farther down until she swung Into a safe berth at the O. & C. dock un assisted. This pontoon was also moored. The two pontoons suffered but little damage and can be repaired at slight expense. Bundy's baths farther up stream also slipped their moorings and float ed a half-mile down stream before they were stopped. A houseboat belonging to Mr. Jones of Goble, but at present unoccupied, got away Just above the Madison street bridge and raced down between the Burnslde street and Steel bridges where the tug Agnes, Captain Dalaet, picked It up and moored It Just above where one of the bathhouse pontoons is lying. The house suffered badly from collisions with driftwood and all the furniture is practically destroyed. . Tremendous activity marked the business operations along the river front from daylight this morning all through the day. Every dock, from Taylor street down, was filled with more or less valuable merchandise and at an early hour the lower docks had to be abandoned. The Ash street and O. R. & N. docks were first Inundated and all freight was received at 'the upper dock. Every available truck, dray and express wagon that could be Impressed Into service was drafted to save the property on the lower decks of the various docks. A consignment of press paper for the Oregonian and the Telegram valued at $15,000, lay at the Washington street dock and this was one of the first things saved because of its perishable nature. Horses and men splashed around In the muddy water to their knees as the floods continued to rise. The dock owners could have used twice the number of men they had to aid In the work of salvage, but they were not to be had. The upper decks, the approaches to the docks, the streets for blocks along the front are barricaded with freight of every sort, and so far as can be learned, little is damaged. Should the river keep up Its mad sweep and con tinue to rise at Its present rate for the next 24 hours heavy loss Is In evitable. The only hope of evading such a calamity lies In the small chance the the force of the flood along the tributary streams has spent It self, and that the rise will be more gradual In the riftxt day or so. There Is little encouragement for this belief, however, for gravest anx iety Is felt regarding conditions along the upper Columbia, where the heav iest snow f.-l and where untold dam age has already been done to railroad right of way and bridges. Should the Columbia rise to the stage where It will back water up the Willamette none can venture a prediction as to what will happen. The wires are down and no reports have been re ceived here as to the situation. The dangerous features of the sit uation now are the unprecedented rise In temperature, the promise of con tinued rain, the rapidity with which the river Is rising and the swiftness of its current. The much hoped for news that the tributaries of the Willamette river had ceased to rise so rapidly as yesterday and at Eugene and Jefferson the water is falling, was received here tonight The fall at Jefferson Is significant, as the Santlam has its confluence with the Willamette near that place and the Santlam Is the Willamette's larg est tributary. It will be several days, nevertheless before the crest of the flood reaches Portland and while the local weather bureau believes there is water In sight sufficient to cause a maximum rise of 21 feet by Friday, with cooler weather In prospect for tomorrow, It Is hoped the water will not go higher than this stage. Save the washout of the headgates of the Santlam canal at Lebanon and the approach to the steel bridge at Al bany, reports of damage are confined to the loss of some livestock and fences. In Mackenzie bottom near Eugene, the water forced many farm ers to seek the foothills for safety. ATTACKS BOND ISSUES. NEW YORK, Feb.5. A suit was be gun yesterday In the United States Circuit Court by James Pollitz, of New York, a bondholder In the Wabash Railroad Company, seeking to attack the recent Issue of $2,00,000 four per cent gold bonds, and 16,500,000 of pre ferred, and $16,000,0000 common stock of that corporation. It Is alleged that Issuances of certificates were illegal and In contravention to the road's by laws. JAPANESE PRESS SILENT. Pay Little Heed to Excitement of the American Press. TOKIO. Feb. 5. The press Is still silent over the war cry In some of the American papers. No excitement Is apparent here today after the talk transmitted here and Is generally Ig nored. It Is believed that the anti- Japanese agitation in a portion of the American press will prove totally fu tile because of the profound confidence Japan reposes in Roosevelt and Amer leans generally. REDUCE FREE TRANSPORTATION CHICAGO, Feb. 5. General Passen ger Agents of the Western Passenger Association have decided that hereaf ter no free nor reduced'rate transpor tation shall be given officers or mem bers of the Young Men's Christian and Young Women's Christian Associa tions, Womens Christian Temperance Union, Theological' Students, Nuns, or Brothers of Roman Catholic Or ders. Rating does not Include ordain ed ministers, officers of Salvation Ar my and Volunteers of America, Deac conesses in garb, Secretaries of Y M. C. A. Sisters of Charity engaged in Charity work. MONTANA BLIZZARD SEVERE. HAVRE, Mont. Feb.4. Weather In Northern Montana is more severe than It has been for 27 years. Not a wheel Is turning on the main line of the Great Northern Railway No freight train passed Havre for 48 days. In drifts west of that point several orl entar limited passenger trains are stalled, to the east five more are sim ilarly situated. WILL NOT E Asylum for Feeble Minded Not Favored. WOULD BE EXPENSIVE Besides Building and Site Would Need Employes and Doctors. COMMITTEE WILL SO REPORT Ways and Means Committee Will Sup port Provision of More Money for Insane Asylum Instead Com pulsory Free Passes. SALEM, Ore., Feb. 5. The Ways and Means committee wrestled with a big .delegation yesterday afternoon that appeared before it supporting the proposed new Institute for the fee ble minded. The delegation desired an appropriation of $165,000 for a site and building, and assured the commit tee that a considerable saving would be made the state through patients of this class being taken from the penitentiary Insane asylum and re form school The committee threshed out : the question rather carefully and discov ered that this appropriation was only the start, that a large corps of attend-' ants and physicians would have to be employed and that the needs of the Institution would probably require large appropriations every session in definitely. The committee did not return a def inite answer to the delegation, but It will not favor the proposal. The com mittee since its visit to the Insane asy lum has been Impressed with the urg ent need of more room for the pa tients and for those who will come in the future and probably as great an approppriatlon will be needed for this purpose as Is asked for the feeble minded Institute. The committee will support a measure providing the $150, 000 or so asked by the management of the asylum and will turn down the re quest for the feeble minded site and building fund. The Judicial committee held a short session and decided to report favor ably on the Freeman bill, providing for compulsory passes for state and coun ty officers. The measure has some un fortunate provisions, according to the same members who have Investigated It, but it has some provisions that are endorsed by the majority of the House, and these features will prob ably carry the bill. What is especial ly Indorsed is that section of the bill making It compulsory for the rail roads of Oregon to carry state officials free and cutting off all mileage graft. It Is an open secret that for years the state officials have collected on an average of about $1,800 each for mil eage per annum and have traveled on passes given by the Harrlman lines, thus adding a clear profit of $1,800 to their salary. Present appropriation bills In the House provide for the same traveling expenses, but If the Freeman law passes these traveling appropriations will not be available to the state officials even if the bills are passed, for It will be illegal for any official to collect mileage tinder the new dispensation. , HOWBER-TDOYLE VICTORY. CHICAGO, Feb. 4. Annual meeting of Portland Gold Mining Co., held here today resulted In complete victory, for Howbert-Doyle faction over James F. Burns. BUILD HUM