The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1880-12-02
MR.. JARBINGLPs WAY.


Cicero as an orator was nowhere in
comparison with that of Erskine Jar
bingle-and for two good reasons: in
the first place, not ten people in Bear.
grass had ever heard Of Cicero, while,
secondly, there ,wasn't,a man or boy in
the county who hadn't personally felt
the power of Mr.. Jarbingle's efo-
quenee.
There were many better Judges of
law" than he. That field was too dry
for him. But give him an appreciatiye
jury and plenty of evidence-the quail
ity didn't matter-and couldn't he soar!
The eagle wasn't bolder in his flights,
and, the turkey-buzzard scouldn't circle
round2 more gracefully. If he didn't
always succeed in clearing up the case,
heshad- alknacksof doing the next best
thing-so mixing it up that in the gen.
eral confusion his side stood as good q
chance as the other. nd
There was a good deal of criminal
practice down in Beargrass, large
share of which fell to Mr.. Jarbingle;
indeed, his principal business lay in
that line. He was always for the de-
fense, and at last, from the sheer force
of habit, came TO look upon the penal
code as a tyrannical restriction of human
rights which it was allowable to circum-
vent by any means, fair or foul.
The following will serve as sample
Of his style of practice:
was an old reprobate-his name
was Bukitt-at whose door lay a host
of petty charges. He was a cunning
rogue withal, and had so managed that
no direct proof could be brought against
him. More than once had his neigh.
.bors thought of giving themselves the
benefit of the doubt, and riding him on
rail out of the settlement: but more
law-abiding counsels prevailed, and
Bnrkitt was left unmolested-inl the
hope, it may be, that sooneror later some
tangible evidence might enable the
law to lay; IT'S hands upon him and
bring him to justice in the regular way.
And sure enough, Burkitt's time came
at last eJ.I- -iliiIp 4
One of the neighbors had a fine shoat
fattened for killing. The night before
it was to be stuck, it was stolen, and
suspicion naturally fell on Burkitt. A
man on the next farm, who had been
up all night with jumping toothache,
had heard piercing squeals in the di-
rection of Burkitt's. shanty,q and a
search, promptly Instituted, brought to
light a butchered carcass hanging in
his smokehouse. which the owner of the
lost pig identified by many marks as
the remains of the missing animal.
The head and. of course. the earmarks
were gone. but q quantity of sandy
abristles found hidden. completed the
chain of evidence, and q warrant was
taken out for Burkitt's arrest. Il
It was then, that Mr.. Jarbingle came
to the fore. His first step was to take
a mortgage on Burkitt's squatter-right
for a fat fee, and the sxt to get his
client out on bail. Then he set to work
to get up the case. '' -
z In case of conviction the punishment
would be thirty. stripes on the bare
back, and Burkitt had. no doubt they
would be well laid on. He would have
jumped his bai, very likely, but having
been obliged to indemnify the bonds.
man, the loss would have been serious;
and besides, Mr.. Jarbingle assured him
all would come out right. rzsEEs
When the day of trial came Mr.. Jar
bingle and his client and his clients
wife and children filed into court and
took seats before the jury box 1t was
an invariable rule of Mfr. lJarbingle to
have the prisoners relatives on hand,
and if he had none, Mr.. j. had more than
once been known to furnish some for
the occasion. s.,s.t. .l.ep
The States Attorney proved the facts
already mentioned. Mr.. Jarbingfe un-
dertook to- show, by members of his
clients family that the. deceased pig
found on the latter's premises had been
born and reared there, and had never
ceased to be the prisoners property.
The defendants witnesses boggled a
little, in cross-examination, over the
missing head and the. hidden hair, a
lock of which the State had put in evil
dence; but Mr.. Jarbingle cunningly
turned attention from these points, by
a lengthy re-examination touching the
pigs personal history. ~ l
In his final summing up Mr.. Jarbingle
outshone himself. He hurled indignant
denunciations at the prosecutors head
for Indignantly seeking, on proof SO
frivolous. to set brand upon his client s
stainless brow, reckless of the anguish
caused to an estimable but utheart-stricken
family. = 80
Here the Burkitts wept in unison,
Mr.. Jarbingie joining in the chorus,
whilst the prisoner put on. a look of
martyrdom.1 - Er r-r-FTF
ConquerIng his emotion Mr.. Jar
bingle proceeded: sa2
. ait is possible, gentlemen, that deaf
to the voice Of reason and humanity,
you may lay bare my clients back to
the lash-subject him to Y'5l '-5 "a
Which Mercy, with bleeding heart,
L Wecps~1en she sees inflicted on brute
and send him forth debased. degraded
and cast -downi But think YOU, gentle
men, will one, of his refined instincts