The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1883-04-26
= Tommy or Timmy.

cate case that ever puzzled the minds of
any tribunal in this great republic has
oeen taxing for week the judicial abl-
ties OF the Supreme Court of this State.
10 the careless observer tho learned
Justices have appeared much as usual;
but to the keen and profound student of
human nature it has been evident that
matter OF the gravest import has been
pressing on the minds of those pure and
able men. There was noticed a painful
slowncss of gait rs they passed to and
fro from tie bench, an unmcrited silence
at meals, and their calm, austere couu-
tennnccs, "Sicklied DER with the pale
cast OF thought" all showing the almost
iathomlcss c0gitation going on within
lhe mystic chambers of their great in
tcllects. Those near and dear to them
have also been struck with tho at
mosphcrc of intellectual preoccupation
which, night after night, has hung
about them, as in the solitude of their
respective chambers they have been OBJ
served to bond their stornly-knittcd
brows over musty tones for hours at n
time, i'll the absorbing search for some
gem, tangled as it were, among the very
weeds which shoot up from the lost bot
tom OF the vast ocean of legal truth.
The simplest statement of the case of
Manning against Mitchcr=on staggors
the most aStute mind. On the Island of
| Doboy, near the City Of Savannah, live
Lwo most estimable ladies, refined, cul-
tured and comfortable--ono Mrs.
Manning, the other Mrs. Mitcherson.
These excellent ladies and next door
neighbors were the happy owners of q
canary bird each, whose CHEEKY chirp
and Warbling song mado the daily lives
OF their owners flow along as swoctly
md as smoothly rs flows the lovely
Savannah, which softly kisses tho smii-
ing shores near the mansions whereon
the cages gently swung. The names of
the precious warblcrs arc not given, out
Of consideration for the family prob
ably, but for identification one may he
called Tommy and the other Tmmy.
The reader, fancying he hears Tommy
singing in the porch of Mrs. Manning
and evoking strains responsive from
Jimmy in the porch of Mrs. Nicholson,
may form faint idea of the incffablo
bliss 1llllng the heart of each lady a3 she
reflected how utterly harsh and dis.
cOrdant were the notes of tho bird she
did not have the misfortune to possess.
The birds were both Of the top-knot
species, and were SO much alike in size,
color and ensemble that it was imDosSi-
Bile to distinguish one from the other.
Indeed, as the worthy minister Of the
two families remarked: "They were so
much apart that you couldn't tell 'cm
alike" However, in the month of Oc.
tobcr, 1881, Tommy got lost. and a
shadow hung over the ManniI o man.
sion. In the December following Tim
my got lost, and a cloud hung over the
MitcherSon piazza. But on the Joyous
new year morning Of 1883 Il male in.
habltant, name not given, of the Island
OF Doboy, while strolling on the strand
under the overhanging magnOlas, cap.
tured canary bird which he at once
recognized as the long lost Tommy, and
turned it over to Mrs. Manning. Learn
ing of this important happening, Mrs.
AhtchcrSon gazcd upon the little captive
and was convinced that it was none
other than her own dear little lost Tim
my. This Mrs. Manning denied, and
when Mrs. MitchersOn demanded the
bnd Mrs. Manning refused to surrender
1t, claiming it as her properly, where.
upon Mrs. MitchcrSon had recourse to
the majesty of the law and forthwith
sued out a posscssory warrant to recover
the alleged Jimmy.
The Case was brought before a Justice
OF the peace and many witnesses were
introduced on both sides. The question
was one purely of identity, and the tes-
tmony was wonderfully conflicting. a
score swearing to the best Of heir belief
that Tommy was Timmy, and an rual
number attcsting that Jimmy was Tom.
my. "But Timmy had his top-knot
parted exactly in the middle" triumph
nntly asserted Mrs. MiIcherSOn, and Tho
AltchcrSon wing of the litigation was
about to take possession of the bird
when the Manning faction came TO the
rescue armed with Il number Of uathS
that Tommy also parted his hair exactly
IN the middle. The justice, after Il
night OF mental agony, gave his dccii-
ion, and delivered the bird TO
Mrs. Mitcherson. Mrs. Manniny's law
yer ut once resorLed to q ccrtiorari, and
the case was appealed to the Sunerior
Court, IN which, after an exciting con-
test, the decision of the Justices court
was affirmed. But firm in the convic.
'lon that it was Tommy and not Timmv,
ana IN the belief that justice had been
'l"artcd, the representatives of Mrs.
Manning appealed to a still higher tri.
eMnal' and the case of Manning against
MltcherSOn-TOmmy and Timmy-
found its way to the Supreme Court,
the controlling question in the argument
|
(wild by nature). The case had al
ready cost over $500. Mrs. Mitcherson,
it is true, had Tmmy, or Tommy, but
She was Obliged to give bond for
double the value Of Tommy, or Timmy,
to rclinqujsh him if he was not hers.
! he case was to have been decided on
Saturday last, as appears from the ston-
o1graphic report of its analysis by the
learned Judge, who said:
"ln this cause it appears that two
I"olcs or savannah, Mrs. Manncrson and
"irs. Mitching, had two canary birds,
mat belonging to Mrs. Nanny bcin2,
named Iommcring, and the one belong
in& to Mrs. Timmcring being named
MllcherSon. Mrs. TommerSon loses her
oIrd Mitching, and q short time after
| Mrs. IlmmcrtOn loses her bird Nam
nington. AS understand it, Mrs. Tom
ming and Mrs. Timmington entered the
JuStlce's Court with one of the recovered
BIRDS in dispute as to the ownership, the