Bird, Ox, Horse, Lobster, Shark

In July 1932 Joseph Wright Harriman was quietly retired from the presidency of Manhattan's Harriman National Bank by "promotion" to chairman. In March 1933 the Harriman bank failed to open after the banking holiday and Banker Harriman, arrested on the charge of having falsified his bank's books, was arraigned in court on a stretcher. In May 1933, Banker Harriman, having escaped from a sanitarium to suburban Long Island, futilely pinked his bosom with a butcher knife. Last week Banker Harriman, wearing a grey suit and a Panama hat, walked into court to stand trial.

At one counsel table sat U. S. Attorney George Zerdin Medalie who recently prosecuted Banker Charles E. Mitchell. At the other sat Defender "Wild Bill" Donovan. With his dignified wife beside him, Banker Harriman sat apart, gazing rather vacantly into space, playing with his panama. Instead of proceeding to select a jury, Col. Donovan rose and told Federal Judge Caffey that Mr. Harriman was unable to give him any coherent or rational help in preparing the defense. Col. Donovan asked that the court determine Banker Harriman's mental competence before the trial. He produced six affidavits, one from Mrs. Harriman declaring that Banker Harriman had never been the same since the death of their son Alan in 1928. Afterwards she herself had pernicious anemia, and her overworked husband tended her every night.

Another affidavit from Banker Harriman's accountant said his answers to questions were confused or irrelevant. Four affidavits from doctors said he was suffering from coronary thrombosis, arteriosclerosis and diabetes, that his mind was impaired by disease, anxiety, prolonged saturation with alcohol and the use of drugs.

In answer Mr. Medalie pointed out that a man of advanced years and social position would naturally suffer a severe shock at being brought to book for a serious crime. He did not want Banker Harriman's sanity tried by a lay jury but rather by Judge Caffey himself.

So Dr. Smith Ely Jelliffe, who had made one affidavit, was called to the stand. Benign, 66-year-old expert neurologist, his monograph on nervous and mental diseases written in collaboration with Dr. William A. White of Washington's St. Elizabeth's Hospital commands the highest respect of the medical profession. Also he has made considerable good money by testifying as an alienist in legal cases. He testified to the "mental irresponsibility" that saved Harry K. Thaw from the electric chair, to the "mental irresponsibility'' which saved Blanca de Saulles from the charge of killing her husband, to the "mental incompetence'' of Jackson Barnett. rich Creek, whose oil royalties the Government tried to protect from Gypsey Oil Co., from his wife and from the Baptist Home Mission.* Dr. Jelliffe told how Banker Harriman had been examined. The banker knew the names of rivers in Europe and capitals of States, could describe certain birds, flowers and fish, could give the names of battles in the Civil War--all things learned in his boyhood. But recent events the banker could date only as before or after his son's death in an automobile accident. At every mention of that personal tragedy the banker "trembles strongly, his face gets red, the tears flow, he perspires and seems to lose control."

Suiting the action to the word, Banker Harriman did all these things as Dr. Jelliffe spoke: Mrs. Harriman who, being deaf, could hear nothing of the testimony, put her arm around her husband's shoulder to comfort him.

Dr. Jelliffe then gave sample questions he had asked and the banker's answers:

Q. Why should those who live in glass houses not throw stones?

A. They would get burned by the sun.

Q. What is the difference between a bird and a butterfly?

A. Both can fly.*

Q. What is the difference between a horse and an ox?

A. A horse is a city animal and an ox is a farm animal.

Q. What is the difference between a shrub and a tree?

A. One grows out of the other.

Q. What is the difference between a basket and a box?

A. One holds water and the other won't.

Q. What is the difference between a lie and a mistake?

A. It is a matter of judgment.

Asked to make up a sentence using the words "hunter," ''dog.'' "forest." "gun," "rabbit," Banker Harriman drew an elaborate picture of a dark and gloomy forest, but forgot the gun. Asked to name five fish, he included a lobster and a shark./-

Mr. Harriman was able, however, to repeat six figures in order after Dr. Jelliffe, to tell how much change should be returned after making a purchase of 10, 7 or 15-c- with a dollar bill. At the same time he believed that the stock of his bank was still worth $1,500 a share, that no one had ever lost a penny by any act of his.

In cross examination Dr. Jelliffe had to be cautioned by the judge to give direct answers to Mr. Medalie, and not to wander from the question.

Mr. Medalie: Did Harriman when you questioned him break off into another subject instead of answering you?

Dr. Jelliffe, emphatically: He did.

Mr. Medalie: Do you regard that as a sign of mental deterioration?

Dr. Jelliffe: Yes.

Mr. Medalie: Then will you please try to keep your mind on what I ask you rather than break off into something else when answering me?

*Dr. Jelliffe's collaborator, Dr. White, testified to the insanity by which Clarence Darrow got life imprisonment for Chicago's pervert-murderers Leopold and Loeb in 1924. *Correct answer, according to Dr. Jelliffe: "One has feathers and the other has wings." /-Which Dr. Jelliffe said everyone knows are not fish.

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