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.. i / I** V—“S^ vtfe By Evelyn Thaw Eleventh Instalment of the Most Extraordinary Human Document Ever Written—Stranger Than Any Story in Fiction or Drama Interesting Comments by Clergymen. Harry Thaw Busy at His Typewriter Ckelcb Made at Matteawan Insane Asylum by Evelyn Thaw. The Lesson of Evelyn Thaw's Life. By Rev. CARL MOLLER, Rector of St. Chrysostom’s Church, New York. T HE story of Evelyn Thaw, told by herself, is of value if for only one reason. The cause of her downfall was the lack of Christian train ing and instruction in her home. If she had had such training the world would have been spared the harrowing spectacle of the murder of Stanford White. The system of morals is based upon the Christian religion. Prior to its establishment there was none worthy the name. Confessors know more of the secrets of souls than do most other people, and in that capacity I have learned that forty per cent of the unfortunate women of the world have begun their wretched ca reers as Evelyn Thaw began hers—with an utter lack of Christian instruction. Given such instruc tion, the conscience is wonderfully acute and gener ally guides even the ignorant into safe channels. The Record of an Afflicted Soul. By Rev. GEORGE CHALMERS RICHMOND. Rector of Old St. John's Episcopal Church, Philadelphia. S INCE we have to read so much about Harry Thaw-, l am in favor of letting Evelyn tva<ve her final word in their story in print. I ha»» said from the pulpit that because Jerome’s headlong course is likely to plunge New York into heavy ex pense, I favor his being sent back to Pennsylvania, to let his mother take care of him. Coincidentally I am glad this newspaper is publishing the story of Evelyn Thaw, which lets still more light fall upon the unique case. It will undoubtedly help the mind of the public to a clearer understanding of the unique case, and perhaps prevent the recurrence of others like it. I am never afraid to read the record ot a soul. The more troubled and afflicted that soul, the more clearly w-e may read the truth and warnings of life by its lurid light. Chapter JCI.—Cast Off by the Thaw Family, Evelyn Finds Herself Face to Face - With 'Poverty. Written by Evelyn Nesbit Thaw. Copyright. 1913, by Star Company. Book Rights Reserved by Evelyn Nesbit Thaw. H ARK-Y THAW, my husband, was In an insane asylum, a Judicially adjudged lunatic. Mrs. Thaw, his mother, was living near the Matteawan Asylum, devoting every thought nnd every resource of her wealth to the Imprisoned son, And 1? Well, I was still Harry Thaw s wife. That fact established my credit with the shopkeepers. I had to live, and when the tradesman asked amiably, “Shall we charge It, Mrs. Thaw?”—I answered, "Yes, please." I was learniug that to have credit was to be tempted to use it unwisely. It was necessary for me to learn this, as a foundation for the personal Independence which circumstances were con spiring to make imperative. As will be seen .the lesson was a bard one, bristling with all sorts of harassments. In situations such as mine was the Temptress Credit leads one always toward extravagance In the unessentials of life—expensive clothing, jewels, motor cars, costly furnishings of high-priced apartments, and all manner of things which one does not really need. And the reckoning, when the credit is exhausted, Is correspondingly painful. You are not to assume that I strained my credit in all the directions I have mentioned, only that 1 was tempted far enough to make the reckoning crucial and the lesson effective. You may think it strange that the wife of Harry Thaw should continue to have credit at the shops and elsewhere after the lunacy verdict and commitment to Matteawan had rendered him legally incompetent to manage his estate. Business concerns, you argue, are rather well up In such aspects of the law. Hut tt is also a fact that thriving business concerns always keep an eye open to the future. Those wdth which 1 was assured that my credit was still good argued the matter thus: “They won’t be able to keep Harry Thaw locked up very long under a verdict of Insanity—the Thaw family have too much money and Influence. He soon will be ‘cured’—see if he isn’t—and another jury will pronounce him sane. He will owe this mainly to the efforts of the shrewd and indomitable Evelyn, and will be grateful accordingly. So let us make hay even dur ing the rain, for the sun will soon coine out and dry it nicely.’’ Oh. yes, I had credit!—and was tempted all the more because of the desperate state of my finances otherwise. send it to me on condition I would agree to write him a note thanking him for “the arrangements he had made for my vaca tion" and not to mention the money Accordingly I wrote him the following note: Dr. Valdemar Sillo. No. 363 West Fifty-seventh street. New York City. Dear Dr. iSillo—I want to thank you for the arrangements you have made for my vacation. I start to-night and will let you kuow how 1 am getting on. You know how much I need a obange of scene. Hope you have a pleasant Summer. Very sincerely, EVELYN THAW. I reproduce these only because they give such undeniable evi dence of the grudging character of the allowances which were made for me. They were written at a. time when the relation ship between the Thaws and myself was very strained, but they are expressive of the attitude iwhich was usually adopted toward me by the family when money came up for consideration. The Celebrated Annulment Proposition. The Small Sums I Received. The actual money which ame to me was in small sums, re ceived at irregular Intervals. There were people who imagined that l was in receipt of a princely Income—In fact. I believe that was the general Impression up to the time that overdue accounts brought me again Into the courts and the newspapers. I believe, however, that the following letters will give some Idea of the efforts which were necessary to secure anything like an adequa’e allowance from Harry and his people. Sometimes the money did not come to me direct, but through a third party, as instances Che following, which was sent to a doctor by Charles Morschauser. one of the Thaw attorneys! Dr Caldemar Sillo. No. 353 West Fifty seventh street. New York City. N. Y. My Dear Doctor— 1 herewith Inclose cheque for 200 dol lars and a'so 70 dollars for Mrs. Evelyn Thaw. ] am arraug- ng to gat the 500 dollars, so she can go on a trip, but do not feel .oat she ought to have this unless she shows some symp- toms of treating Mr. Thaw fair. Do you think If I should ff. nd . th . e mon ^y 8h e would go on a little trip, and do you think she would see Dr. Meyer? Very truly yours, (Signed) C. MORSCHAUSER. Dr. Meyer was one of Thaw’s alienists, who evidently wanted * 6 see me **** much - Previously he hkd made several efforts to do so through Mr. O-Rellly. Next Dr. Sillo called me on the telephone and asked me If I would like to go on a vacation, to which 1 replied In the affirmative. He then asked If I would be willing to see Dr. Meyer; this I naturally refused. A few days later Dr. Sillo again called me on the telephone, this time t j.-ing that he had the 500 dollars from Morschauser and*would This will enable you to realize how easy it was for me at that time to be .tempted by my credit at the shops and other plaices into running up bills, not only for things which I really needed, but also for many things which actual need had nothing to do with. In addition to my knowledge of iiow easy it was for me to get things without paying for them was another misfortune— 1 had lost all sense of balance. This is not a digression, and it is important, for one ot the most difficult things the average young woman learns is to comprehend values. Particularly in the case of young women on the stage, recognition of the value of a dollar is a rare accomplishment. This is a deplorable fact, and one which ought certainly to be brought home to them. There is a reason for it, and 1 will give that reason in an illus tration which Is familiar to every one associated with the theat rical world. A young actress, or member of the chorus, who is pretty and attractive—and they all have to be—rarely lacks admirers of the other sex who have plenty of money. What comes of it? 1 will tell you. While she is cudgelling her brains in a desperate effort to discover a way to pay her week’s room rent, along comes a rich young idiot with a bunch of orchids for which he has cheerfully given up fifty dollars at the florist’s. And she knows that he is perfectly capable of repeating that idiotic perform ance. But does this knowledge inspire her to say to him: “'I love orchids; but the next time won’t you kindly let me have fifty dollars instead?" It does not. For well she has learned to know that if she made such a suggestion he and all his tribe—and ail her asso ciates at the theatre—would think her crazy. It is part of the well understood code of this class of spenders that gifts of costly flowers surround them with a chivalrous halo, and that to give a girl their equivalent in money to enable her to buy food or pay her room rent would lower them unthinkably. Naturally, when she observes how easy it is to get orchids for nothing she grows more and more confused about values, gains greater and greater contempt for the humble dollar. My own recent career had befogged me in this respect quite beyond the ordinary. The jolt was coming which would restore my sense of balance—but It was delayed by a spectacular per formance, engineered by lawyers for the Thaw family, which 1 feel certain the public has never correctly interpreted. This was the celebrated proposition for the annulment of my marriage to Harry. The proposition came at one of those times when 1 had ample reason to feel that it was useless for me to enter tain any hope that was in conflict with the desires of Harry's people. Fifteen thousand dollars was offered to me in cash ana a monthly payment of one thousand dollars during the remainder of my life! Fifteen thousand dollars in a lump! Why should i worry about accumulated bills? That offer was made to me in the handwriting of lorry’s mother, and vas elgned by her. written on a sheet of note paper of the Hotel Lorraine in New York. This agreement between Harry’s mother and myself was the basis of the famous annul ment suit, which was so iittle understood by newspaper readers and which was not permitted to come to trial. The true meaning of this episode is familiar to all the lawyer" ever connected with the various Harry Thaw inquiries, not for getting the puissant Jerome. I shall presently elucidate It for my readers. First, l must frankly state some additional reasons why no member of the Thav^ family ever approached me in person or communicated with me at this time except through agents. None of the Thaws came near me in spite of the fact that the agreement with me to institute marriage annulment proceedings is in Mrs. William Thaw’s own handwriting, written not at the office of her lawyers, but at the New York hotel where she was stopping and on the hotel stationery, as the doc ument shows. Those long, tedious hours spent in the witness room during the progress of the first and second trials rubbed the raw edges of my nerves only less roughly than did the hours spent ia the witness chair. Well, there had to be safety valves, and it hap pened, i blush to confess, that members of the Thaw family occasionally served in that capacity. Remember, 1 was too young and spirited to be uniformly sedate and respectful to my elders and superiors, not even with life and death hanging in the balance. The hygienic ebullitions of Jerome himself were of everyday occurrence. And it was Jerome—the bitter enemy of all whose hearts were in the de fense—who was the innocent cause of an impulsive act on my Dart which was out of the picture of Pittsburgh decorum. At a particularly trying stage of one day’s session in the wit ness room Jerome suddenly burst through the door leading from the court room and literally ran into my arms. Moreover, he was humming from the ‘‘Florodora Sextette:” “Tell me, pretty maiden, are there any more at home like you?” The Thaws Horribly Shocked! For Jerome, the arch enemy, to be humming this profane ditty with his lips practically at my ear was bad enough In the eyes of my relatives by marriage; hut it might really be called the “limit” when I, on the impulse of the moment, without giving the situation a thought, responded to the s. ~'s query: “Oh, yes, there are a few, Mr, Jerome!” Josiah Thaw, Harry’s brother, sometimes sought in those days to beguile the tedium of the witness room waits by politely— and not too patronizingly—discussing literary matters with me. Of course, he was much 'better educated than I was. and better ead in a general way. So it was undoubtedly in bad taste for me to set him right about Romeo and Juliet. “It is delightful to know that they were real persons—actually lived and loved, as Shakespeare revealed them In his play,” I said. “Oh, no, you are misinformed," said he. “Romeo and Juliet are characters In pure fiction—and of fiction not even original with Shakespeare." “It Is you who are misinformed, Mr. Thaw," j retorted warmly. ’’It is true that Shakespeare was not the first poet to tell their story, but the Capulets and Montagues were families which fig. nred in accepted history before their immortal scions, Romeo and Juliet, were born." "Indeed?" 1 hadn't the patience nor the sense to let the matter rest there, but "came back" yet more warmly: “If you have ever been in Verona. Mr. Thaw, you made a great mistake in not visiting the time-stained tenement house, once a palace, which is carefully preserved, because its walls hundreds of years ago listened to the love speeches of the living and breathing Romeo and Juliet of history and of Shakespeare. Fic tion indeed!" It was characteristic impertinence of a girl not long out of 6chool— as the high-flown language of my retorts shows plainly enough. I do not recall that Josiah Thaw ever spoke to me again when he could decently avoid it. But as I now recall these Incidents which quite needlessly added to the natural dislike of Harry's’people for me, the most .Indefensible,lwithir_espectUqiiny-part ln.it, gtew. out of a witness j ' * A ifm f mm Evelyn .Thaw irM er When Mrs. Thaw’s allowance for Harry’s famrly wl she still had the $3,000 ermine wrap, now sotnew] |ut u! . wdri