Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1870-12-10
Trials Of q Witness,

Mr.. Punchinello: As al pear,e Seem to come
to YOU Wta their troubles aud grievances,
nope you will not refuse to listen 10 my woes.
And " neither they are woes or not leave you
to judge for yourself.
At the beginning OF last week mn Re my first
appearance in any court room in tae character
orson, In which the point in dispute was the
owner hip OF q tract of land in Wyo ming terri
tory. knew something In regard TO the sale of
these lands, and was fully prepared to testify to
the extent OF my knowledge in the pr emises; but
Judge of my utter surprise and horror on being
obliged TO 90 through such an ordeal as the fol-
lowing extracts from my examination will
The counsel for the plaintiff commenced by
asking me IL WAS . married man, and when 4
had answered that was, he said:
sis your wife q believer in the PRINCIPLES OF
the Woman's Rights party.
L could not for the life OF me see what this had
TO do with the land in Wyoming, but 1 answer.
ed that was happy to say she was not.
The exapinatiOn then proc eeded as follows:
You are happy, then, in your matrimonial
relations? A. Yes-(and re memberiDg the OATH
reasonably so.
q. Is your wife pretty? A. Witness remsm-
bering at once his oath and his wife's presence
In conrt)-She Is pretty pretty.
q. What are her defects? A. Witness re-
membering only his wife's presence)-I have
never been able to discover them.
Y. DO you wear flannel? A. Yes, In winter.
O. Can you testify upon your oath that you
DO not wear hannelln summer? A. can.
you wear in the spring and fall? A. IL wear
my common clothes.
with fiannel or without flannel? A. Some
times with, and sometimes without.
:. No evasion; you must tell the court exact
ly when you wear flannel, and when you do not.
series Of questions on this subject brought
cut the fact that 1 wore flannel when the
weather was cold, or cool: and did not wear it
when it was mild, or warm.
q; Have you lishtning-rod on your house?
Q. How much did it cost Won to have it mt
up? A. 1t has not cost me anything yeti
owe for it.
q. Is that all you owe for? A. No. L
q. Have you any money with you now? A. 1
have.
q. How much? A. Counting contents of
poIte-monnaie.l Sixty two cents.
q. Where did you get that? a. with en-
barrassment,) 1 borrowed it,
q. Were you present when defendant first
offered his land for sale to the plaintiff.
Frightening up Twas.
q. Have you ever been vaccinated? A. I
have.
Q. On which arm? A. The left.
Z. At the time Of the first mention OF this
land to the plaintiff, who were present? A witt
ness speaking with hopeful vIvacity, rs IL he
hoped they were now coming to the merits of
the case.J The plaintiff, the defendant and
Q. Do you use the Old Dominion coffee pot In
your house? A. (Dejectedly) No, sir.
q. What kind OF q coffee-pot do you use? A.
q. You are willing to swear it is tino A. am.
q. Has your vile any sisters? A. She has two
Anna and Jane.
q. Are they married? A. They are
z. Are either OF them as pretty rs your wife?
A. (Quickly.) No, sir.
q. Have you any children? A. Two.
q. Have they had the measles? A. They
q. Has any other person in your house had
the measles? A. have had them, and my wife
has had them.
@. How do you know wife has had them? A.
Q. Then you did not see her have them? A.
No, sir.
q. We want no hearsay evidence here: how
can you swear that she had them when YOU did
not see her have them? A. She told me so, and
/ believed her.
q. Did she take an oath that she had them
A. No, sir.
Q. Then, sir, you are trifiing with the court.
Do you understand the obligations OF an oath?
q. Beware, then, that you are not committed
for perjury. Is you gas metre ever frozen: A.
q. What do you do use when the gas will not
burn? A. Candles.
Q. How many to hepound? A. Nine.
q. How do you know there are nine to the
pound? A. They are sold As mines.
A. No, sir.'
Honor, this is the second time that this witness
has positively testified, under solemn oath to
important points of which he has no certain
knowledge | ask the court for protection for
Here long discussion took place between
the lawyers and the judge, and at the end of il
the case was postponed for four months. l sup
pose il is expected that / win then reascend
the witness stand; but have determined that
when 1 enter a court room again shall appear
as criminal. These fellows have much the
adays, that their position is far preferable to
that of the unfortunate Witnesses Puuchinetto