Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1877-12-26
Fun in a Court Room.

1ue uull JuOuOIOuy OI the Wilkes
barre court proceedings was enliven-
ed one day last week in the case OF
the Commonwealth against Dodson,
in which the defendant was accused
of assault upon young lady named
Heller, by kissing her against her
will. The plaintiff complained that
Dodson, ssby forco Of arms, malice
aforethought, and instigated by this
devil, did then and there violently
story in plain straightforward kind
Of way, to the effect that she was en-.
Toying the evening breezes while
leaning over her fathers fence, and
that William Dodson came along
seized her by the hands, and commit.
ted the assault for which she claimed
redress at the hands of the law. A
sister of the complainant testified that
she did not see the improperly. be.
cause of the darkness, and she being
in another part of the yard, but she
heard o kiss, or something that
sounded like q kiss, and knew that
something was going on.
I Dodson claimed the privilege of
being his own witness, and he told
the part of the story omitted by Miss
Heller aud her sister. He is a Jolly
specimen of an Englishman. His
narrative of the occurrence in which
he had become involved runs as fol.
lows: f
Dodson-Yer see yer 'onors, was
walking along, singing "What will
the 'arvest be Pr / 8s LEE &
Gen. Mccartney Counsel for plain
tiff, disposed to have some fun while
confusing the witDess)-You were
singing "What will the 'arvest be p
CLOSELY initiating the information OF
the witness. 4ssfas{ s fylt
Dodson very composedly)-Yes,
sir, "What will the 'arvest be %
Gen. McCartney-"What will the
'arvest be 2"
Dodson (unruffled) -"What will
the 'arvest be 2" an
Gen. Nc artney-Well, 60 on, sir.
Dodson-Yer see, yer 'onors, l was
going along ,singin'" WI hat will the ar
vest be ?" when I heard Mary singing
"What will the 'arvest be n
Gen. McCartney-She was singing
"What will the 'arvest be ~
By this time there were decided ev-
licences of. merriment all over the
court room; but Dodson remained as
imperturbable as though officiating
at q, funeral.
Dobson-Yes, sir. She was sing
ing "What will the 'arvest be p but
not so loud a. ] was, and called
out "Hallo, Mary, are that you p aud
she said 1t be. Invent up to the fence
and she said she were hall Malone, has
her father lad gone to "class." M
Gen. neutrality-suspicious. to sEclass 7"
What did she mean by that.
Dobson-Why, any fool knows
what "class" means.. Her father had
gone to class meeting, and left her
hall Malone. We chatted . little, and
Gen. McCartney-Well, you have
heard her testimony. You seized her,
pulled her over the fence and kissed
her IA s@,a4,s Nj \
Dobson-Nos That testimony is
false. We talked awhile, and she sort
Of leaned hover the fence-liks as If
she wanted me to--and just then Satan
got the best Of me, and I kissed Ter
right hon the mouth. / found out
ssWhat will the 'arvest be, and L
think she was . heasy prey.
Here the gravity OF the court, coun-
sellors and spectators gave way, and
seldom in . court Of Justice has there
been such . sccne Of uncontr0llable
hilariousness. Judge Harding fairly
roared himself hoarse with laughter,
and all business was suspended for
Iaeveral minutes to allow those in the