The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1870-03-11
FINED FOR CONFETTI.
ADrama in One Act with a Democrat
ic EditOr the Chief Actor.

10 E0tsOr the CNleI Act0Fs
Items" not being present in court
when the following took place, be
prevailed On a member of the legal
profession present. to furnish de-
tailed account of it as follows:
Yesterday afternoon, in the Grim
inal Court an unusually interesting
scene was enacted, the results of
which will probably reach far beyond
the actors in it.
Mr.. Whittlesey, the editor of the
Courier. having been summoned be-
fore the Grand Jury as witness. neg
Iected to obey the summons, and was
brought into court on an attachment
for contempt.
On being presented at the bar of
the court, the Judge said: "Mr. Whit
tlesey, you are brought here to show
cause why you should not be fined
for contempt ofthis court, in disobey.
ing its subpoena to give evidence be-
fore the Grand Jury. Did you inten.
tionally disobey that subpoena"
Mr. Whi0lsse,f-"I did.
The Coart--"Are you the response.
bic editor OF the Courserg"
Mr. Whialessy III am"
The Court, after reading an edito.
rial from the C5ar}er, which eharae.
terizes the charge 10 the Jury as VIII
famous, asked-"Do you not know
that in publishing that article you
became liable for contempt of this
Court2"
Mr. WhiUleS,y-"I do not. l deem
it just and proper criticism on the
acts Of pu bile officer, and as such l
wrote il"
The Court-"Mr. Whittlesey, as a
lawyer who has practiced at the bar,
you can not be ignorant of the law on
the subject. You must be aware that
articles such as that are calculated to
bring the Court and its authority into
contempt, and obstruct it in the en-
forcement of the law. You are,
therefore, fined ten dollars for con-
tempt of Court"
Mr. Whitt1esey.-If the Court please.
| would like to know for which act |
am fined: whether for disobedience of
the subpoena, or for the article in the
Courier?
The Court" Either would be sut-
fcient, sir"
Mr. Whiuleseg-"Wnl the Court
please to order bailiff to attend me
for a few moments"
The Caurt.-"Certainly, sir. Mr..
Bailiff, please attend Mr.. Whittlesey;"
and Mr.. Whittlesey and Capt. Mclean
left the court in a high state of exhil-
aratiOn. appearing in fact. as well pleas
ed as if he had found a fortune.
The attitude and demeanor of the
draasatis persona N this little cpl
sode. were decidedly interesting.
Any one reading the red hot defiance
breathe5 forth In the Cozviey's edito-
nal, would not, for a moment, have
supposed that the "a polite and genial
gentleman Standing In the rear of a
chair, on which be leaned gracefully.
and answering go respectfully the in
terrogatories Of the Court, could pos
sibly have originated anything SO VIC
lent.
The Court, with true paternal dig
nifty approaching that of minister of
the gospel, admonished the contuma-
cious editor. while the recipient of the
admonition looked very much like a
mourner at a revival meeting.
The entry Of the court docket shows
that the fine was inflicted for contempt
in disobeying the subpoena of the
court, under the Statute on page s Of
the Revised Statutes. G. & H., Sec
ton 13.
The prosecutor reported in court
that Mr.. Whittlesey. when brought
before the Grand jury, answered all
their interrogatories satisfactorily.