The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1861-11-16
= Hung Jury.
BY SOL SMITH.

81 SOL SMITH,
Who, in st. Louis, does not know NoaI
Ndgely? Who, in St Louis, has not know
him for long time-not long enough no
to know " any body else"-but a long. lon
time-years Even in New Orleans Noa!
is tolerabiy well known-and at the rive
towns intermediate, there are few s. fel
leis who are on terms Of speaking nc
Guaintance with him. In fact, whercye
the steamer Hannibal has made landin.
. -(and where is the landing she has no
nlaae q stop att)-Noah has been seer
! and known at some time Gr other Bu
I il St Lou;s-weil there's no use writn,
about how we'll hes known there. Ans
wherever known, Noah Is favorite-l
( might say a great favorite. He has beer
clerk Of Tie aforesaid lIannita! for don
7 know how many years.
But to my story In st Louis, we al
know the difficulty of procuring Jurors tc
tly cases before justices OF the peace-it
being almost next to an impossibilitv 10
get together twelve citizens, good men
and true, who are willing to sit for two
or three hours in justices office which
j. never. by any accident, larger than "A
moderate sized bond box surrounded by a
promiscucus crowd which always gathers
filling Cup a room, doors and windows,
when a jury trial i 10 come oii;-espcc:al-
~ if lawyers are employed in it.
1t 20 happened, "ouce upon a time
tHo merchants had a little misunderstood
ing which resulted III their going 10 law
before Justice Walsh. The amount in dis
pute vas mere tr.1e but each was OBJ
stinatc and would not give way Jet, so 10
law they went
To make matters worse, each must have
"a lawyer 10 help him or, and one of the
lawyers, determined 70 make a. much out
Of the case as he could, asserted the con
-tituiioual right of his client and demand
ed jury. y yeniTe facia, was accord n
~ issued. and Constable BushUy stas,ed
oil 10 execute his WIT
After the expiration Of about an hour
during which the court, attorneys and
spectators waited with xeyF ,,isss ~. ;e..se
i5ys-!EUy rCJuTUcu, Io!.oWed by one sOAt2!Y
individual. carrying "a huge lot OF freight
bills in one hand and half smoked dlgar
in The other, it was Noah.
Have you summoned the jury; M
Constable? inquired the justice.
' ! cs. sir, replied BushLy, throwing
down upon the table the wit with the
uau!.s Of twelve citizen, inscribed thereon.
i have summoned them, but they won
come
Went come, won't comel' remarked
the Justice Wen see about that. CIcl k
write out attachments for these gentle
men. How many are there who refuse TO
obey the order OF the count
Eleven, yoar honor, answered the
swearing constable: this is the oaly enc
Of the lot (poiut.ng 10 our friend Noah
| have been able to scare up and he don
seem much disposed 10 serve, says lie III
tends 20 plead his privilege
What privilege, pray, Mr.. Ridkrly,
have YOU to plead What valid reason
can you give the court why you sh ould
not serve on this jury? asked the jus tlce.
Il believe replied Noah, streich hing
himself up to his full heighth, and taking
the cigar from his mouth, he had been
industrIousiy smoking since he entered
the Office. '' | believe u fireman is exempt
from jury duty
Certainly, certainly" replied the jus
tice, - but was not aware you belonged
to either Of the engine companies. May
| ask. Mr. Rilgeiy, which engine you run
with.
Which engine! The old St Louis !!
y ou are aware perhaps, Mr.. Justice, that
the old St Louis had two engines, one OF
them constitutes at this time the motive
power OF the Hrnnibal, and that is the
engine run with, and when hard pushed
for hands, | have, upon occasions, acted as
fireman, therefore | suppose IN excused
from jury duty.
" Not so fast, my friend, interposed the
Judge, this VIII not excuse you--
Not! exclaimed Noah, with apparent
surprise; then" he continued, taking q
seat on the jury bench, bring on your
case, since | am overruled, and let us
through with it as soon we can, for IL
be hanged if l stop long.
Bushby, at this juncture, returned from
another unsuccessful toray through the
neighboring streets and alleys.
Cant scare up a single man, be re-
ported sitting down and wiping helpers
piration from his face with Il cotton hand
kercheif which he carried in his hat
Wv hat is to be done inquired the law
yers p
Il am sure | don't know" answered
Justice Walsh, unless you choose to take
Mr.. Rldgely, here, and let him decide your
case.
As the laws of Missouri permit parties
by mutual consent to take any number
less than twelve" in civil cases, the lawyers,
finding there was no chance of soaring
up any more Jurors, agreed to take Noah
as the jury, and after few objections on
his part, he was sworn in, and assigned 4
seat in the centre Of the jury bench.
Come now, boys" remarked tho soli-
tary jury, on taking his seat, hurry up
the cakes; I've got all these freight bills
10 collect, and contound me if can stay
here here long for anybody.
The lawyers made short work OF the
evidence, not wishing to fatigue the jury,
and proposed to submit the case without
argument
The Justice thought this was a very good
plant was near dinner time-and suS-
gested that perhaps the jury was ready to
give a verdict without leaving his seat,
when the jury spoke as follows:
May it please the court, the jury Is not
ready to give verdict. This is al i'm.
portant matter-a matter involving but a
small matter it is true; but the principle
to be settled by aur decision here to-day
is one which interests the whole city-the
State-the United States-l may say the
whole commercial world. The jury, at
! great inconvenience, has been dragged
/ here, and compelled to sit in judgment
the evidence being through, the jury
would like to hear the argument OF the
counsel"
"Very WE'LL" answered the counsel TO
the defense-and Immediately pouret
forth torrent of eloquence in favor of tn
side he espoused, which must have ha,