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THE GREEN BAG
most of the hobo passengers get ditched. The account says that they linger about the station waiting for an outlet, and many of them give way to lawless tendencies. Fur ther proceedings may be given in the lan guage of the Star. "Justice Williams orders them arrested in the evening, and they are chained to a stake on the desert until next morning, when they are given a more or less summary trial. It is too expensive to send them to Florence, the county seat. The court therefore admin isters an alternative sentence consisting of an hour or two to get out of the bailiwick. The defen dan t,fafter his night on the desert, usually accepts the alternative. "The other day a hobo who had been so chained out was brought before the court and was promptly convicted. In pronouncing his doom, Judge Williams said: ' It is the judg ment of this, court that you are guilty as charged, and this court, following the prec edent recently set by another learned and eminent jurist of the east, will assess against you a fine of $29,400,000, or, as an alterna tive, this court will give you two hours to get out of town.' ' "The hobo rose, bowed and said: ' Judge, will you please let me have a check book. I dislike to part with so large a sum in a single lump, but circumstances compel me to do it. I am, as you may observe, in ill health, and am . traveling on the advice of my family physician, who has warned me against doing anything precipitate. I fear the result on my heart of the suddenness of action involved in your al ternative. Let me have the check book.' "It is needless to say he hiked." — Case and Comment. All About a Cat. — The dignity of the bench sometimes confronts situations that puts a severe strain upon it. Such a one has recently developed in New York. An actress at the Irving Place Theatre had a cat which she some times took with her when making her daily visits to a neighboring bakery. The pro prietor and his pretty cashier both became fond of the large,,white beauty, and when the actress had occasion to go to the far West for a few months she thought this a good asylum for her pet. The pretty cashier accepted the trust of caring for it, but soon after she married
a waiter and left the bakery. But she pined for the cat, so her husband obligingly went to her old place of employment and brought it away for her. Then the proprietor had him arrested for grand larceny. The magistrate discharged him, and in turn he sued the baker for ten thousand dollars damages for false arrest. The case was tried by a jury before a judge of the Supreme Court and the plaintiff was given $700. The loser appealed, and now five judges of the appellate division are wrest ling with the complication. If they confirm the previous decision the baker will take it to the Court of Appeals. Meanwhile, the original owner cannot recall the terms upon which she permitted the innocent cause of the trouble to leave her possession. King Solomon, in the famous case of disputed maternity, furnished •the only precedent of which we are. aware for clearing up this situation. Let the cat be divided and give each a half. That would, probably satisfy the neighbors, at least. Case for an Expert. — " Have you fixed up my will just the way I told you? " asked the sick man, who was the possessor of many needy relatives and some well-to-do but grasping ones. "I have," asserted the lawyer. "Just as strong and tight as you can make it, eh? " asked his client. The lawyer nodded. "All right," said the sick man. " Now I want to ask you one thing — not professionally — who do you think stands the best chance of getting the property when I'm gone?" — Youth's Companion.
Circumstantial Evidence. — " You say you met the defendant on a street-car, and that he had been drinking and gambling," said the attorney for the defense during the cross examination. "Yes," replied the witness. "Did you see him take a drink?" . " No."" "Did you see him gambling?" "No."" "Then how do you know," demanded the attorney, " that the defendant had been drink ing and gambling?" "Well," explained the witness, "he gave the conductor a blue chip for his car-fare, and told him to keep the change." -— Lippincott's.
