Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1880-12-09

tO0e Will not Allow any Renee.
tiOn ON Its Judlcial Ad-
ministration Of Dnstribu-
tive Justice.
Quite spirited little episode broke the
monotony of the quarter sessions court
yesterday afternoon and gave the lockers
on something to talk about for q half hour.
It was during the progress of the trial Of
Schnader, the Ephrata saloon keeper, for
selling beer to minors. BENZ. F. Davis,
ESQ.,, counsel for the defense, at the outset
of his speech, said to the jury that court
had been defined to be aplace where law
was judicially and impartially admins
tered. Further on in his speech he said
something like this "If you convict this
defendant, incarcerate him in our county
prison, impose the costs of this prosecu-
tion upon him and impoverish him, how
do you know but what tonight some
man by the name of Moore (who
had once eloped with the defendant 8
wife) may not 60 to his home,
desecrate it, cause a aseparation of his fam
lily. Then Schnader would be suffering
the punishment and Moore 60 scot free.
Would that be justice judicial and impair
TALLY administered -.
est down, Mr.. Davis, sit down." he
heard thundered at him from the bench,
where to all appearances Judge Patterson
had been sitting, writing or examining a
paper not relevant to the case.
Mr.. Davis looked astonished, and ID
first impression was that some waggish
member of tho bar was taking advan-
tage of the inattention of the court to
play ventriloquist's trick upon him.
I A glance at the bench whence distribrl-
tive justice is judicially and impartially
administered undeceived him. With the
remark that he had made no reflections
upon the court or if he had that he hadn't
intended to, he dropped to his seat.
Judge Patterson remarked that he
wished it to be understood that the court
administered justice judicially.
MIR. Davis from his seat said that hc
referred to the jury.
Judge Patterson said: ''Who administers
justice but the cOurt?'
Mr.. Davis said "the court and tho jury
The supreme court had held the jury to be
judges of law and the facts.
the bar and shared the ast0nishment of al
present at the swift visitation of dis
tributive judicial wrath upon Davis, arose
and said: "Your honor, feel certain that
the court must have misunderstood what
Mr.. Davis said. He was addressing the
jury, not the court, and certainly made nc
reflections upon the court and was pro
ceeding strictly within tho bounds of pro
priety."
Judge Patterson motioned to Mr.. Atlet
to sit down and suggested that Mr.. Davis
could speak for himself.
Mr.. Atlee said he world sit down. HI
had only arisen because, seeing himself t.
be the oldest member of the bar present, liz
had felt ii due to the court and to his ju
nior to correct what was to him mani
festly a misunderstanding of the one by thu
other.
District Attorney Eshleman nodded ap
provingly to Mr.. Atlee.
! Judge Patterson repeated that the court
wished it to be understood that it admin
itered justice judicially, and said that if il
was understood that Mr.. Davis did NO
mean to reflect upon the court he c0ult
proceed.
Mr.. Davis declined to proceed.
| District Attorney Eshlcman then wen
on for the commonwealth.
But, as will be seen by the court pro
ceediDgs reported elsewhere, the jury was
SO upset by the performance that it requir
ed all the efforts of court, counsel, clerk
reporters and spectators to drag an intelli
gible verdict out oft.