Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-12-11
Pen Portrait. From the Court Room

INDICATIONS THAT THE TRIAL WILL BE LONG
ONE-THE CHIEF PARTICIPANTS IN THE
DAILY PRoCEEDINGs-BRAnY. DORSEY AND THE
OTHER DErENDANTs-wHo THE COUNSEL
ARE, ETC.
The Criminal Court will be engaged, probably,
during the greater part of the winter in the
trial Of the Brady-Dorsey star route case, In
which preliminary proceedings have already
been begun. AS many questions which de-
manded considerable time at the first trial are
considered as settled, it has been thought that
the pending trial need not require so much
time as the former one. On the other hand. the
defense have already shown disposition to seek
delay, and 1t is probable that the ingenuity Of
the counsel on that side will be employed at
every step in retarding the proceedings. Then,
II the accused change the program which they
followed at the first trial, and undertake
more elaborate defense, the trial will
necessarily be somewhat heightened. So
there are some grounds for believing that this
trial will be as long as the former one. The
public interest in the proceedings has been at
tested during the last two or three days by the
crowds OF spectators who have filled the court
room. Even If the case We're not one of much
celebrity the professional eminence OF the cOun-
sci engaged in it would serve to draw each day
gOod-szed audience of members Of the bar
and others who find pleasure in the contention
OF keen-witted lawyers.
THE SCENES IN THE COURT ROOM
in the past two days have been repetitons Of
those of last summer, except that the habili-
ments Of winter have taken the place of the
palm-leaf fan and cool linen from which counsel
and spectators sought comfort in the sweltering
tboir
ciates. who spent much of their time on the
portico ofthe courthouse, struggling into the
chamber now and then to see how the trial was
progressing, ARE now driven in by the cold The
marshal has had temporary ratings put up in
the court room so as to mark off the spaces to
be occupied by the government counsel, the de-
PENDANTS and their counsel, and the press. A
little square enclosure in front of the clerks
desk and the witnesS-stand is devoted to the
counsel Tor the government. Here sit MeSsrs.
Merrlck, Bliss and ker, and the Attorney Cen
eral when he comes into court. So far Mr..
Meriick has taken the most active part in the
proceedings in court.
COUNSELLOR MERRICK.
Mr.. Merricks figure is familiar to every one
who has been frequent visitor to the District
courts or the United States Supreme Court. He
is OF medium height and of comfortable figure,
his bright eye and fine color suggesting good
digestion and careful observance of the laws
of health. The silver gray in his beard, which is
kept closely trimmed about his cheeks, but al
lowed to grow on the chin so as to form peak,
and little tendency to badness, are about the
only marks that time has yet made upon him.
He is ready and fOrcible Speaker having
somewhat formal style of deliterv His voice is
sonorous, and his scholarly training has given
him facility in constructing harmonious SEN
fences which not even the most exciting crisis
in argument can impair. While erudite in law
and fertile In resource, Mr. Merrick Is almost
unrivaied at the bar as a master of rhetoric.
MIR. BLISS,
who sits beside Mr.. Merrck, is not 50 we'll
known to the Washington public as Mr. Merrick,
He is of medium height, and rather slight in
figure. His appearance almost defes any at
tempt to guess his age. His hair and mustache
are turning white, but his face and ewes are al
most boyish in their freshness. Then there is
sort of bOysh heartiness about his laugh, which
would puzzle one who tried to state his age.
His face when in repose would be called hand
some by an artist the profile and well curved
head being especially fine. Mr.. Bliss has con-
siderable eminence in his profession in New
lork, where he has large and lucrative prac-
tlce. lie has devoted much of his time for
many months to the star route cases, working
evidence which 1t is necessary to present to the
jury. He will at this trial. as at the first, open
the case for the government. Mr.. Bliss makes
no pretension to Oratory, attempting little more
than an unadOrned business-lik statement of
the case he has to present.
MR.. KER,
who Is from Philadelphia, was retained in the
case originally on account Of his expertness as
a pleader, but since the indictment was drawn
has remained. rendering valuable aid to the
cause OF the government in the preparation of
evidence. In the arguments respecting the in
tegrity Of the indictment, which preceded the
former trial, he took the chief part. He also
took part in the examination of witnesses and
made one OF the addresses for the government
at the close Of the trial. In the city of Philade-
phia, famed for its lawyers he has acquired emil
nence for his thorough acquaintance with legal
machinery. The indictment which he drew in
the present case covers seyenty-nine printed
pages. and itsaverments include an intricate and
confusing array of facts yet, notwithstanding
the skilled lawyers on the side of the defense
devoted days to the task of Overthrowino it,
they could not detect any flaw in the well
constructed fabric. Lawyers who know
the snares and pitfalls that await
the pleader at every step can
the importance of Mr.. Ker's achieve
ment Mr.. Ker is man above the medium
height and about 40 years Of age He wears
dark brown beard, trimmed short His features
are large, and his face has something of leu
tonic phegm about it. He is trifie deaf. an
infirmity which enables his opponents to play
pranks upon him now and then. As a speaker
he makes no pretensOns to oratorial ornament
He is plain, straightforward, and energetic,
driving in his facts with a business-like, sedre-
hammer style, which, ii not remarkable for it's
grace, is generally very effective, and disastrous
to his opponents. Messrs. Merrick, Bliss, and
Ker give to their work an earnestness which comes
from conviction that, they are rendering an
important service to the cause of honesty and
official purity. ~
ATTORNEY GENERAL BREWSTER
on his occasional visits to the court room sits
Of course, with the counsel for the government.
Upon his arrival he makes an obeisance to the
court, with an old-fashioned graceful courtesy
to which, according to the complaints of some
Of the older members Of the bar, the new gen.
Grafton of lawyers are strangers. The Attorney
General seldom converses while in the court
room, but observes the proceedings with close
attention When he does rise In court he
speaks with ease, and elegance. His courteous
Difference to the court and form OF addressing
the court shows him to be a great respecter Of
the traditions and conventionalities Of the pro-
feSSiOn. LAYERS who never throuuh occonio