Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1869-10-26
Scene in the COURTROOM.

|, On Thursday evening last, an episode oc-
cured in the court-house which was not on
the regular docket. 1t was SO unusual in its
character that it needs little more than
passing notice. The facts of the case are as
follows:
Il seems that Mr. John L. Snedegar who
was the foreman of the grand jury, came in
court from the jury room and pr6pounded a
question 30 the court as to the limitation when
:. an indictment for perjury could be made
The court stated that the time vas three
years from the period at which the oath should
have been improperly taken, and not from
the time the act was committed. Colonel
! Joel Mcpherson, who was present at the time,
then got up and said that he was aware or be-
! lieved Cor words to that effect) that an effort
was being made to indict him, and that the
jury had been packed for that purpose.
The Judge commanded him to sit down,
and fined him twenty-five dollars for contempt
of court. The Colonel then passed around to
tho Judges seat. Some words then passed
between them, when he commenced ah as
sault upon the Judge. In the contest the
Judge drew his pistol, which was caught and
held by DR.. s. Austin. The result of the
matter was that the Judge received sevefSal
scratches in the face, and his head was forcedH
through the window. As matter of course,
the affair created no little excitement and
much comment. Afterwards, upon warrant
issued by Justice G. A Sperry, Colonel Nc
Pherson was arrested and brought before him
| for committing u breach of the peace. He
was committed to jail Yesterday morning
he was released upon bail. He was after
wards rearrested and placed in Jail by order
of court for contempt The Colonel was re-
| leased this morning.
We have thus briefly given the substance
Of tba
present. ard only write from hearsay. We
deeply regret its occurrence.
[Greenbrier { Vest Va.) Independent
We are Informed that on Saturday morning
I Colonel McPherson was brought before Judge.
Harrison, who, after investigating the in
dictment against him for perjury, promptly
quashed it, and Immediately afterwards re-
mitted the fine for contempt of court. This
act, we understand, very much mollified public
feeling, and gained friends for Judge Harri-
son, who took occasion, when announcing his
decision, to say few words to Colonel Nc
Pherson in depreciation of the manner of the
punching given him. He would not have
minded manly knock down, he said, but he
objected to being scratched and the insertion
of fingers in his eyes after the manner Of
womanly assault. This Colonel Mcpherson
did not seem to mind great deal. He stood
not upon the order of his attack. The matter
was thus disposed of in sort of Pickwickian
sense. Robinson was inaugurated as sheriff,
and Colonel Mcpherson, it was understood,
would be put in the Office of clerk OF the
circuit court, to which he too had been elected
by the people. 1t will be remembered that
after his election Caldwell, the president of
the Board of Registration, scratched his name
from the registry as not entitled to vote, and
as under the laws of West Virginia a man
entitled to vote is eligible to office, it was
inferred that man not entitled to vote was
not eligible to office. Judge Harrison there
fore proclaimed him Ineligible, and appointed
another man in his place. The same course
was pursued towards the sheriff and two other
officers, each of whom was entitled to vote rs
clearly as any man in West Virginia. The
Supreme Court Of West Virginia decided that
the four officers were properly elected and
entitled to tho offices to which they were
elected. This decision Judge Harrison treated
with contempt, directing ths men appointed
by himself to continue to hold their othces
and discharge their duties.
The attempt to convict Mcpherson of per-
jury was evidently prompted by fear that
the course pursued required bolstering. If
Mcpherson could by packed jury be con-
victed of perjury, it was thought that would
settle the question and restrain any further
action by the Supreme Court, at least in his
case. Similar steps, it was supposed, were
designed to be pursued with reference to the
other officers.
The people met on court-day with the con-
viction that the court was not legal, and that
its acts would be liable to be set aside. There
was great deal of disorder and excitement,
and contempt of court was natural ebullition
of the circumstances and feelings of the day.
From the instalment of the legally elected
sheriff and the course of Judge Harrison to-
wards Colonel Mcpherson on Saturday, it was
inferred that he rad determined to abandon
the ground that had been taken, install the
really. y.elected officers, and pursue more lib
eral course. Indeed, he is believed to have
abandoned the ultraism of the elder Caldwell
and the proscriptive Radicals of his circuit,
and to have indicated his inclination towards
the Grant platform of universal amnesty and
abolition Of all tests. The next election in
West Virginia will give grand triumph to
the liberal party.-RchmoHd Dispatch.
OcroBEh.-There is an old German verse
which reads:
/ s'If in October there's much frost and storm,