The weekly Shasta courier., 1873-09-20
WIT AND HUMOR.

WIT AND HUMOR.
A Lowell, Mass, boy took nine hun
dred and fifty boxes of pills last week.
He took .them from the factory, and
traded them for sticks of licorice.
A Kansas City man, who mentioned
to friend that he should soon start on
a journey, was asked whether he trav-
eled for pleasure, or was he going to
take his wife.
Kladderadatsch has an irreverent
joke. Since we have found that the age
of miracles is by no means past, that
German paper, which is evidently not
under the influence of the Ultramon-
tanes, undertakes to show its opinion
of the way in which our miracles are
wrought. A priest stands at the door
of "kloster,' and to him comes a
mendicant, who says: Haven't you
some use for miracle? l can be lame,
lie for hours a paralytic, keep my eyes
shut, and go hungry for any length of
time. How much is it worth ".
The Detroit Free Press tells this joke
on some of its friends: A family of six
persons arrived here from the East yes
terday morning and desired to go to the
house of an old acquaintance to get din
ner, and save two or three dollars ex-
pense. They drove about from one
place to another until the expressman's
charge amounted to five dollars, and
then the search was pursued on foot,
the assistance of the police having been
evoked. About one o'clock the resi-
dence of the ''old acquaintance was
found, the front door bearing the card,
"Gone into the country"
THE NEED OF JURY REFoRM.-The
preposterous rule which practically ex-
cludes from a jury every man who has
intelligence enough to know his own
mind about notorious events, or interest
enough in public affairs to understand
what is in everybody's mouth; which
asks grave and well-considered opin-
ion, but exacts that the men who give
it shall not be in the habit of having
any opinions; which submits the incest
points of evidence to those who go
through life with blind eyes and deaf
ears, and lays intricate argument before
those who never think; which demands,
not that juryman shall be honest or
reputable, but only that he shall be ig-
norant-this rule fills the jury-box in
grave criminal cases with the class of
men least capable of rendering an in
telligent verdict, and most likely to rem
der dishonest one. Nor is this all.
Having done all in its power to pre-
dispose the jury to improper influences,
the law gives the criminal tremendous
advantage over the public by exacting
that the verdict shall be unanimous. If
one among the twelve can be bought,
the eleven withstand him in vain
Probably not an intelligent man in New
York doubts that our ridiculous jury
law, coupled with the mistakes of the
prosecution, saved William M. Tweed
from Sing Sing last January.
In England the evil has never been
so serious as it is here, but it is grave
enough to challenge attention, and an
effort is making for a radical reform. 1t
is proposed to reduce the number of
jurymen to seven, to allow the trial to
go on even if two should fall sick, and
to enact that majority shall decide
The wisdom of the rule exacting una
nimity has long been disputed in Eng
land, and years ago Lord Chancellor
Campbell brought forward a bill pro-
viding that in certain classes of crimes
unanimous verdict should not be re-
quired. Reform, however, in England
moves slowly, and after many seasons of
debate, the old abuse still stands. But
in Scotland the desired change has been
made, and there, after jury has been
locked up three hours without coming
to an agreement, the verdict may beren-
dered nine or more. Whether we
shall not come to this, also, is a serious
question. OF course, unless we can at
the same time improve the character of
the jurors, remove the tax on intelli-
gence, and cease to trust questions of life
or death, honor or dishonor, liberty or
Imprisonment, to men whom we would
not trust with the commonest affairs of
business, we shall only aggravate the
danger to society by facilitating the ac-
ceptance of verdict which is most
likely to be an unjust one. Mr.. Tweed
had more than majority of jury, in
the teeth of the plainest evidence; and
Scannell had a third of his. These are
considerations which must enter into
any careful system of reform. That
some reform is one of the most pressing
necessities of the time, everybody ad-
mits; in what shape it shall come is
question for our best thinkers, and es-
pecially for the leaders of the legal pro-
fession, thoroughly to consider.-New
York Tribune.
BALLooNING.-Oneo of the smallest,
and in some respects most curious of