Show DECLARED INSANE On the Testimony df a Large Number of Witnesses AUSTIN HIMSELF ON THE STAND He YIll Not be Prosecuted for Demanding Honey of Teller hawley at the Point of I Gun The examination into the sanity of Charles W Austin who tried to extort 250 from Teller Hawley of the Utah Na lionel bank at the point of a pistol last Saturday was continued yesterday afternoon after-noon before the commission of medical examiners ex-aminers and L S AUSTIN was placed on the stand He is not a rela tive and only has known the accused 3 few weeks and had only held u few short conversations con-versations with him The prisoner evinced a total lack of memory No one had told the witness of his imperfect condition of mind but this was so apparent that he noticed it very readily and remarked the fact to Mr Beaver of the Turkish bathhouse bath-house From what he noticed he formed the opinion that the accused was deficient in reasoning faculties and incapable of > observing closely and the act was such as 10 might have done He appears t have no mem6ry there was no ground to suspect sus-pect his honesty and no delusion was apparent ap-parent Ho was mentally incompetent naNny DUBB3 Knew the accused at Seattle in 1SS9 He was then in the newpaper business Ho was u very free talker but nothing was very apparent as to his mental trouble In LbJL he saw the accused on the streets and he appeared strange and devoid of that buoyancy ho had previously possessed The witness had met his family on several occasions His appearance was dilupiutted and he seemed to have been run down 6y te summer of ISdl About that time his wife spoke to the witness about not selling him cigarettes He had a very absentminded absent-minded app arance never had any company com-pany He had not seen the accused since last fall prior to being sent to Olympia until a short time ago on his arrival in the city His general appearance is i better than it was in 1S9L not so reduced as was then When first known ho was active and full of business The witness had not seen enough of him recently to form an opinion of his present mental condition From what he had known of the man ho concluded the act was one done under an impulse for his previous conduct would never have indicated any such tendency There was something in his blankness of expression that indicated more than ordinary ordi-nary depression resulting from simple bad luck LEWIS I KOUNTZ bad known ttio accused ten or twelve years first at Kansas City where he had met him several limes and then considered him of sound mind Met him at the city hall last Saturday and bo told how he had procured the whisky and how he attempted to get the money The first day or two he only responded to questions and on Monday Mon-day the accused asked whether the witness ever thought of suiciding and said he had in Seattle and at tile same time sprang from the bed and took a knife from the lunch basket and rubbed on the sill He appeared to be excited but gave the knife to the witness when asked for it Ho specially referred to a prominent man of Kansas City and said he was at one time engaged t his daughter THE DEFENDANT was then placed on the stand by consent oral or-al parties at the request of the father the attorneys for the 5tate announcing that it would not be their intention to take any advantage of the statements made by him and that if the result of the examination showed that the party was of unsound mind they would dismiss the criminal proceedings pro-ceedings now pending In response to numerous interrogations propounded by Judge Bartch and by the physicians as well as by the attorneys much of the life and wanderings of the defendant de-fendant were drawn out but generally in short monosyllabic words The questions were necessarily leading and were uni formally answered by yes or no The story of procuring whiskyjborrowing the pistol and proceedings in the bank followed by the arrest was traced and while the patient pa-tient had a recollection on each branch of the subject his answers wero often disconnected discon-nected as to the whole When asked as to counting the consequences of the act or probable results he seemed to have never done so After drinking nearly a pint of whisky I the only thought that possessed him was to possess money to send for his wife and he took that way to secure it II thought i he didnt have the money I wouldnt shoot him said the defendant He could not name the bank but remembered the cashier and the fact that it was located on a corner That was the first drink ho had taKen since he left the institute The question of the nature of the offense and the moral turpi tude attaching thereto was pressed upon I but little was elicited beyond the fact that he was now sorry for the act When asked regarding religious questions ques-tions his face would assume a peculiar ex pi Obsion and in explaining the letter written writ-ten to Jesus Christ be said it was enclosed to his wife and intended only for her to I read He said ho was a believer in predestination predes-tination and in answer to the request to I define i he said I n man is going to die at a certain time he will die at that lime and when the attorney asked i that was I not fatalism ho nodded assent He did not remember the incident referred to by Kouutz in the cell regarding the matter of suicide nod said he could remember events that happened some days and others would be all blank Last Saturday was a most miserable day to him and ho suffered a great deal with depressed spirits At tho conclusion of the evidence the commission retired and returned a verdict of SON COMPOS MENTIS and the court concurred in the findings nnd the necessary steps will be taken to have the patent placed in the asylum Mr IJawley and several present conversed con-versed freely with Mr Austin and when Attorney Murphy asked him if ho was not sorry for what he bud done he promptly apologized to Air Haley who very freely granted the pardon This is one of the saddest canes yetI yet-I brought before the probate court and the i function upon tho immediate relatives and friends falls most heavily Fortunately no bloodshed resulted from the acts of the irresponsible man and his friends and the public are relieved to know he will bo cared for in the best way known to modern scimt for treating such cases I The cigarette uut go |