The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1878-09-24

1 submit to your Honor that If ! stand
committed he should be sent with me-
The Court. Yes; it is 70 ordered.
As the nearest jail Was sixty miles
distant. as Califf's judicial acquire
ments did not Include knowledge of
how to draft commitment, aud as the
Constable was himself lone of the
boys" and perfectly understood the
matter. these occasional interruptions
of a trial amounted &" no mere than
temporary adj ,urnment. during which
the Constable and the bar and a few
inside friends had
CONvIvIAL GAME OF DRAW.
If it ever happened that in the
Owens River camp little sh"oting
matches, thar cleared nj least the
moral atmosphere. One "f the lawyeres
himself tipped the defnnct over. then
the wheels Of justice were irretrievablv
blocked. for Ia such cases the other
LAWYER had to defend him. and when
the two united -aa:ie AN onslaught on
the Court. u hasty decree was entered
If justisiablc and even commcndable
homicide. Truly the Judge Of Osen's
River mining camp was a digniied
station, but it was no sinecure. To
be alternately buIlied and frightened
bv either lawyer. to see witnesses in.
Inundated aud hear juries bamboozled
had its ei-c.. and though Califf Was
4 jurist of good stout physique, he be-
came noticeabIy more nervous and
ira>cihle as the prosecutions increased
in au lacity and ingenuity. The worst
i'm all the cases were jury cases. for
these left the inventive young lawyers
such wide aud luxurious field in
which 10 cavort. In 4 purely figurative
sence the bar of Owens River Camp
used To consider good jury trial as a
kind Of legal Donnybrook Fair. in
which they battered away at every
head in sight. the Judges. the jury's.
the other lawyers the canstable's
sometimes separately and sometimes
altogether. Their quotations Of texts
and precedents extended all the way
from Jusiinian. who. they declared.
was an eminent Justice of the Peace
of Boston. Massachusetts,. down 10
Blackstone, with whom they had no
doubt
HIS HONOR
was personally acquainted. rs Black.
stone formerly practiced law in Pike
County. Mo. Neither ever thought Of
casting doubt upon the stric; cor
rectness Of the authorities cited bv the
other. but never failed to more than
equalize things by. more gorgeou>ly
fabricated quotations. 1t was at this
time that James Rawson had the fall
ing our with his partnar, Billy Spring
er, which resulted in the institution of
the cause celebre of Owens River
Camp of Lawson IS. Springer. Calf
turned deadly pale As Graham filed
the complaint. and his hand was trem-
lous As he affixed his 81 signature to the
summons. His terror was still more
apparent when the other moiety of the
bar filed the answer, and it grew daily
as reports reached him that i. would
be the boss trial Of the camp: that
every man in the diggings would be a
witness on one side or the other. and
that the lawyers were examining. AS
they intended going to the bedrock
of every kind Of law invented. from
those of Moses to the last Legislature,
and that they would come into court
aud just jump stiff:legged. The night
before the day fixed for the commence
ment of tine trial moving light was
seen in the Judg e's cabin at an I'M
>eemly late and unusual hou.. The
next morning at 10 the whole camp
repaired to the Judges Office.
THE JUDGES SUDDEN FLEIGHr.
The door was locked. but on it was
posted notice rs follows:
Take Notice. have resigned jus.
tice of the Peace and appoint Mister
George Knox to gil my place till
further orders. Boys. IFS no use
| can't stand it no longer, and I've
gone where you cant find me.
b. d. CALIFF.
Blank dismay filled the camp. \
hasty examination revealed the fact
that under the kindly shelter If the
nigh. the Judge had gathered and
gone from his tormentors, and that
the wheels Of justice were worse that
blocked; the Judge had taken them
with him, The bar enjoyed its sue
cess hugely for while. but it grad
ually dawned upon them that in fore
ing the Judiciary to abscond by night
their vaulting ambition had o'erleaped
itself. and that their jolly occupation
was gone. together with lis profits.
But jus. as they arrived at the very
bottom Of their cash the diggins all at
once gave out. and the miners limbere.i
ND to seek richer ones away of at
Lone Pine, Mono County. 1t was a
desperate strait at the bar. They had
ITO tDDIlct 1ttt Will WHICH u uuc d
ride in the heavily-laden wagon. and
they couldn't and wouldn't walk. At
last commiseration was felt for the
talented and eloquent young frontier
attorneys. and they were accorded
place in the bottom Of the first wagon,
Just in front of the driver. The way
was long and tedious one BY the
bases of the timbered mountains and
over the virgin soil, over which before
NEITHER WHEEL HAD PASSED.
On the afternoon of the second day
they sighted the first mark Of human
habitation they had seen since their
start. On a pleasant knoll was little
cabin. and in front of it lounged a man
The lawyers stood up to
catch a sight of the cabin, and Is
they dill so the noise Of the wagon
laden with miners caused the man to