The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1875-02-19
OF THE GREAT TRIAL
A seedy Limb OF the Law-Photogrsphs
OF gen. Pryor and Mr. Beach-Mrs.

frances 10 the chamber i'm which the trial
l. held. The ignoble vulgar pass In, after
running "A police gauntlet, through two OF
them. The third admits TO the Judges
private room, which opens sideways into
the main Court. That private room
sort oil e-chamber-generally contains
Qossiping knot of oflice-holders; maybe a
wandering Judge from some other Bench
now and then a witness for whom the call
to $50 on has not been enuncated; ana
always a violent and rufous person whose
function II is TO scrutiniZe applicants Tor
this favored admission and TO pass Iudg-
ment upon the forensic and journalistic
claims with which his office l. continually
beset. This frantic minister oil justice mas
a disagreeable habit OF almost slammlng
the door in the face OF every applicant,
only TO open IL obsequlously the very next
moment. OF course his place IL no sine
cure. especially a. the voices in the adjoin-
ing Court only reach his interested ear
fragmcntarily and demeaningly.
sEEDY LIMB OF THE LAW.
The curious diversity of appearance
which belongs to the Brooklyn Bar de-
serves especial mention. One gentleman,
who rather caustically inquired of the
doubtful janitor whether he didn't look
like a lawyer, certainly entertained some
very singular notions touching the appro-
pirate semblance OF his profession. lie
wore no visible linen: his fingers were
long. mclean. and vulturine; his hat was
an obsolete type; his shoes were pain
fully iniirm. and emitted sploshy squeaks
as he depressed them his hair and beard
were a brambly wilderness; he chewed
plug-tohacco with unremitting industry,
and his lower lip looked like sand-bar at
low water. strewn with sea-weed. Any
Mosaic Spectator in old clothes would
have appraised the value OF his wardrobe
AL sum considerably short of $40. He
would never have been permitted To con-
tribute his individual flayors To the reek-
ing air of the Court. had il not been for his
persistence. His pertinacity fairly extin-
gnished the red-headed doorrnan, and in
another minute. this dingy counselor was
loading the atmosphere with mingled re-
miniscences OF Jamaica rum, red herrings,
Bermuda onions, and wet umbrellas.
CONTRAST.
Elbow 10 elbow with my Eliminating
friend stood member OF the Bar whose
face positively blanched with horror at
the contact. He was an elegant and we'll
dressed attorney. whose diamond studs.
.Jouyin gloves, and crisp linen. spoke Of
lucrative practice. With a speechless
losthing, he beheld his gutterish neighbor
selecting target for expectoral practice.
within the radius of which was one of his
own polished boots. He tried TO edge
away from his learned but unkempt BROTH
er. He labored TO squeeze himself behind
a portly lawyer whose stomach received
every conclusion with the elastic indifier-
ence of AN engine-butfer. No good. All
the session. without chance of escape
cheek by jowl, shoulder 10 shoulder with
the frowsy and infective old wreck, did
the cultured and nauseated barrister have
10 stand He will. probably, avoid the
Beecher trial henceforward.
GIN. PRYOR.
1t is an even thing. as to leanness. be-
tween Evarts and Pryor. but Pryor is by
the largest odds. of all the lawyers con-
cerned i'm this case. infinitely the ugliest.
Almighty Providence never bestowed on
any other man such mouth "a Pryor's.
His face j. not prognathOus-it is prola-
bal. Such a protrusion OF under-lip a. his
disfgures no other human being within
my ken. The Generals features are alb
solutely grotesque. His forehead reccdes.
his chin i sharp and projected. his cheek
bones are Scortishly high, his eyes are
deep-set. his coarse hair strengthens his
quaint resemblance TO a Cherokee, and his
voice is alternately Confederate veil and
the short explosion of a bottle of cham
payne. OF all of Tilton's bar, nc is perhaps
the best read. legally as well as generally.
Ii Is. therefore. one of his services 10 the
prosecution 10 provide a brcastwork OF
authorities" and he has been digging
for weeks. like frantic sexton, ameng the
dead bones of every law-ibrary in New
York. The fruit of his industry Is an
appalling show of 7" leading cases" For
every authority that Evarts has disinterred
Der the studous and reclusive Abbott,
Pryor, alone and single-handed, has
dragged into Court at least one historic
reioinder.
PRYoR's oRAToRICAL METHOD
is almost as singular as his visage. lie
straightens himself rigidly. allows play
only 10 median hinge in the region OF his
hips, and, 10 emphasize point, makes
such "A profound sala m to the Bench that
you dread 10 see him trap his head between
his own knees and remain snap-shut like
a jack-knife. As he argues he rolls a
juggling stream of words ont of his mouth
at "A speed so tremendous that the stenO-
graphers touch swooning point. As he
rapidly nears the end of sentence. the
infection rises, and when the period Is on
the top OF his ncessant tongue. he belcics
1t with shrek. The physical exertion
oil his speech leaves him dripping.
"A constant flourish of his handkerchief
20 his brow i one Of his favorlte punctua-
tons. Yet, for all his Oddly, Gen. Pryor
As most Impressive speaker. The South
ern passion which CLEANS from his eye
and rings IN his tongue has a prodiSious
eject on his hearers. He Is so brisk. so
merry so desperately in earnest. that, be 1t
only for a moment, he can convert even
skepticism to his own faith.
IL Is In this particular that he differs so
widely-and SO successfully--from Mr..
Evsrts. Evarts recitcs his authorities as If
he were laundering through law-cata-
loguc. Pryor chants hIs like Norseman