Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1874-06-26
From the New York Sun.
A BLACK CORONER'S JURY.

A BLACK CORONER'S JURY.
New SMYRNA. Fla, My 4.-Some
time ago one Black, d mulatto clergy
man. lost overheard a bag Of tools
while sailing up Spruce Creek, trlb-
utary Of the Halifax river. Among the
blacks Black was an important person
age. He preached with great junction,
collected Il hatful ofsmall stamps oncea
week, did an occasional job ofcarpenter-
inc, and was the only negro on the
eastern coast Of Florida south Of st.
Augustine owning a boiled shirt. The
loss Of his tools was a serious mlsfor-
tune. He could not give them up
without eudeayoring to recover them.
So reward of one dollar was offered
for their return. The news spread a
mong the settlements, and negroes
tlocked to the shore Of Spruce Creek.
They stripped, and began to dive for
the lost articles. The water was 50
deep that they found it difficult to
bring up bottom. Convinced that the
chances We're against them. all but one
gave up the search. This one was Il
good swimmer, known us Ephraim.
~
HE fAIE or r"oN hfllhAlN'
The plucky fellow spent several
hours in the water. but finally caught
a cramp and was drowned before his
comrades could rescue him. They re-
covered the body and were about to
l L l..
o''l 1t neal 'ie oS''II' men 'Ii' "a
tuHis'ahceS came 70 the ears 81 u lis tlce
Sutton. an appolntec OF the carpet-bag
Governor. Now in Florida the du-
ties of Coroncrs dtyolye upon Justices
'of the Peace ut the rate Of ten dollars
-. ,,,.,,-, ,,,,-,1I, :, St,t, or conntv.
r. .,,t.',,, ,,.a,,t f,r I,i, +a;,
~ W.. r,i i w WI ~
dollars with me VIM OF Il L NtiiIh V ara
politician. lie ordered an lnquest.-
Material Tor Il Jury was under his nose,
and he utilized 1t. After the corpse
wa, drawn up under the palmettoes
Ephraiur's bi1rk comrades were I'M
,tnnal.I l. WIS am odd inrv One
r., ,r;tL,,,, , sL;rt onotLar tbont
a coat. a third destitute of a hat. and
Il =.
There was not a pair Of suSpenders in
the whole marty Three wore cowhide
l,ro,,.,,,, uithnr+ etn.l,iprs. tba.otbars
- Lar,s,,,. an ,ra,, E97rs,+I,. -,
- Nv, -
"a - ''io ''J'i"'' - ,'ic = ''S'1Oo. lie
loudly proclaimed thelr innocence, ana
begged to be let oil.
Compose yourselves. gentleman" said
Mr.. Sutton. You are not prisoners, but
American citizens called upon 10 fulfill
4 duty which You owe TO society.
somebody done tole You mighty he,
Judge intcrposcd one Of the &stonishcd
negroes. Nv t nebber owe no siety nuihn-
Don't owe nobody muffin. Mus be some
ottcr cG!@Ted mems sides We.
oh, good Lord - exclaimed the Justice.
You're not on trial. You are q jury-a
cogoncr's jury You are to be sworn in,
and do the best You can under the clrcum-
stances. Nobody cares whether you owe
anybody anything or not"
FEW SIMPLE QUESTIONS.
TIL fr;,,h+o,ol ,,.,,,r.,o, ,,-o~o ,,,,ro .l,a,,
r..'s",,r.,i ~, ~ n,-T,I.n.,;o,, ria Ln
nam 49, 800. 49,, aF ;n,nortoran
..ts have no Eihre 1T LanJ :, tho Jrs-
,;... c,rt;r,,e5 ..Yo,,' viii La co,,nnlIo1 ~
a., III -, ,.ar ,;l,ht handS ~
..,,,, r., Nv r[.r,I,, r;,@ht IL ., os1,
\ ann ~ No nr,,,asej ;nr,,nG9 v.G9H,
- -, ,ti.il ~ ~. "a 80
/ ' 5Eo"SeFS were ne'o IN pace .! all OLD hSn
'''. .,,.-....,.. -, IL. u,,,;,, o..
WI. ,,'''' =, ''7'''' ''''' 80 '0'i
my i.'t