where else; very few judges that have ever sat upon the Supreme Court bench have, in this particular, excelled him.
Robert W. McBride.
On the death of Judge Mitchell, Judge McBride was appointed, Dec. 17, 1890, to the vacancy thus created on the Supreme Court bench. He was born Jan. 25, 1842, in Richland County, Ohio. His education was principally obtained in the common schools of Ohio and Iowa, but has been supplemented by constant study through his entire life. In 1863 he enlisted in the volunteer service, in Ohio. His company was composed of picked men, and the design was to make it a body-guard of President Lincoln; but it was for a while assigned to other duty on reaching Washington. Being permanently injured so as to unfit him for active duty, he was, in January, 1865, transferred to the War Department at Washington, where he served until September, 1865. In 1867 he was admitted to the bar at Auburn, Ind. He had excellent success at the bar. He resided at Waterloo from 1866 to June, 1890, when he settled at Elkhart. In 1882 he was elected circuit judge. In 1890 he was nominated by the Republican party for the office of judge of the Supreme Court, but was defeated with his party.
Judge McBride is a hard student. His studies are not confined to the law. He has been but one year on the bench, and necessarily has not written up many important cases. In number, however, he will hold his own with those who have been longer on the bench. Among many important cases in which he has prepared the opinions, The City of Frankfort v. State (128 Ind. 438), involving a novel question in street improvement assessments, may be noted. So may be noted The State v. Wolever (127 Ind. 306), involving a collateral attack upon the judgment of the court of inferior jurisdiction; and Goodbub v. Hormung (127 Ind. 181), concerning mechanics' liens; The City of Crawfordsville v. Braden (28 N. E. Rep. 849), concerning the right of a city to supply private consumers with electric lights; The City of Rushville v. Rushville Natural Gas Co. (28 N. E. Rep. 853), concerning the right of a city to regulate the price of natural gas supplied its citizens; and The First National Bank v. Sarlls (28 N. E. Rep. 434), concerning the right and power of a city to remove a dangerous wooden building.
John D. Miller.
The vacancy occasioned by the death of Judge Berkshire was filled by the appointment, Feb. 25, 1891, of John D. Miller, who was born in Decatur County, Ind., Dec. 2, 1840. He attended Hanover College, near Madison, Ind., but in his junior year, in September, 1861, enlisted in the Seventh Indiana Volunteers, and remained there for over three years. The Seventh was one of the regiments that saw hard service, and was at the front in many a hard-fought battle.
After his return from the war he read law and located at Greensburgh, the county-seat of his native county, and began the practice of the law. In 1872 he was elected State Representative, and since then he has held several local offices.
Judge Miller has been, at this writing, less than a year on the bench, during which time a vacation of nearly three months intervened. Consequently his opinions are not many. As a rule they are short. His style is clear and nervous, and he cites but few authorities. As examples of his writings we cite: Davis v. Fasig, 128 Ind. 271, concerning the validity of a city ordinance requiring saloons during certain named hours of the day and night to close their doors and exclude the public; Sumner v. Darnell, 128 Ind. 38, on the effect of a donation of land to secure the location of a county-seat; Baltes v. The Bass Foundry and Machine Works, 28 N. E. Rep. 319, on the validity of an arbitration of a disputed claim; and The City of Richmond v. Dudley (28 N. E. Rep. 312), on the storage of oils within city limits.
