Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 14.pdf/657

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The Green Bag.

made it palatable to the cur, and it was swallowed in an instant. The complainant, though bursting with rage, swallowed his emotion, and used all his persua sive power in an effort to get the dog to come near him. " Good doggie 1 Come here 1 " he exclaimed in his softest tones of wheedling en dearment. The animal, well pleased with itself, wagged its tail and got near enough for the com plainant to read the name engraved on the col lar. When he had made a note of the name and address of the owner of the dog, he raised his foot and hastened the dog's departure. Then he sought his lawyer and brought suit against the dog's owner for the restitution of the hun dred francs. After listening to the evidence and the learned arguments on both sides the court decided that the owner of the dog must pay the other man the money, holding that the dog being property, the owner must be held responsible for the act committed by the animal. A number of years ago suit was brought against the cashier of the State Bank of Iowa Falls, to recover an alleged deposit, which de posit the bank denied. During the trial at Eldora, the defendant's attorney made a very con vincing argument for his client, and took pains to tell the juty of his client's high social and re ligious standing, and of the confidence of the people which he enjoyed, and endeavored to impress upon the minds of the jury that the de fendant was not the kind of a man to make a mistake in the handling of other people's money. Tom H. Milner, then, as now, a witty as well as a very shrewd lawyer, represented the other side, and in addressing the jury said : "Gentlemen, I heartily concur in what my brother has said of the defendant; I agree with him in each and every statement that he has made pertaining to Mr. 's good self; but I would have you consider deeply this one fact, — Canada is full of just such men." In the days of the Ku Klux Klan many irregular bands of lawless men terrorized sec tions of Tennessee in the name of that order. Rigorous laws were passed in the effort to sup press it. One of these disqualified any person proven to be a Ku Klux from giving testimony in courts of justice.

Judge R— was a loyal east Tennesseean, a man of the people, a doughty enemy of the Ku Klux, but an ardent member of the Baptist church, which was very strong in that section of country. One day an old man from the outlying dis trict appeared in court as a witness, and was about to take the stand when the judge stopped him, saying, " My friend, before you take your seat in the witness chair I would like to ask you a question or two. Do you belong to any secret order, society or organization?" The man did not seem to comprehend the judge's purpose at all, and dreamed not that he was under suspicion of being a Ku Klux. He turned an honest face upon his questioner, looked him straight in the eye, and made an swer : "W-a-1, jedge, I reckon I don't to say 'xactly belong to no secret or-gan-ization, kase how I don't belong to no or-gan-ization 't all, 'ceptin' the Old Hardshell Baptist church; an' I reckon I hain't hardly fitten to belong to hit." He was allowed to take his seat in the witness chair without further question. "Jedge," said the colored prisoner, " is I ex pected ter tell de truth?" "Of Well, course then,you desarego! "ahead en sentence me fust I" Judge Cave J. McFarland, one of the pio neers of the Iowa bar, was an odd character, although one of the brightest men that ever pre sided over the courts of the eleventh judicial district. Many anecdotes are related of him. He had nicknames for many of the attorneys who practised in his court in this county. James W. Wood, ex-Clerk of the Supreme Court of Iowa, he called " Old Timber," and the late Governor Enoch W. Eastman, of Eldora, he called " Old Spot," from the fact of his being marked with small-pox. On one occasion while "Old Timber" was addressing the court an ass belonging to Governor Eastman walked up near one of the windows and set up a terrible brayThe judge, who was in a half doze, suddenly turned to Mr. Wood and cried out : "Sit down, sit down, ' Old Timber,' I say sit down; only one at a time, if you please."