The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1885-11-27
JUSTICE In THE FAR WEST.
HOW A MODEL JUDGE CONDUCTS
AND DE JIDES CASES.
The Terror Of Cowboys and tho Idol
O5PeacoabIc People -'tuciling an
Impending Riot.

New York SIM says: A Judge, whose
circuit takes in about half the State of
Nebraska, where there are few railroads
and almost no conveniences, does not
have an easy time of it, but he may be
the very best kind of magistrate. The
man who deals out justice in the cattle
country of Nebraska holds court to-day
in town near Kansas, and next week
sits in a primitive court several hundred
miles away in the direction of Oak ota
must be energetic and Industrious and
if at the same time he administer Justice
promptly and at small expense, he will
pass for a pretty good judge.
The frontiersmea of Western Nebraska
believe that they have such character
in Judge Easlin, who has been on the
bench in the cowboy country for sew
eral years, and who promises to remain
there as long as he lives. lie has enc
mics among the evil-doers, as matter
Of course, and occasionally new lawyer
comes here with high not ons rs to
things which are not in harmony with
the old Judges views; but the great
mass of the people, the men who own
farms, or who are trying to pay for farms,
and who want court expenses kept down
to the lowest notch, are his stanch
friends. The Judge is not believer in
the new trials, changes of venue or con-
tinuances, and when he gets hold Of a
criminal or civil case some end must be
reached, and that quickly. lie has es-
tablished reputation among the cow
boys which is the envy of all other other
frontier judges; and though he is well
along in years and could not make much
Of a fight himself, there is not COW
camp anywhere in Western Nebraska
where Judge Easlin's presence would not
Immediately put everybody on his good
behavior. He is respected as well as
feared. and it has been said that his
presence at an outbreak on the part of
the boys anywhere would be worth more
than that of a regiment Of troops.
A few years ago he arrived in Ogalala
rather unexpectedly to most people, and
going at once to the hotel, proceeded to
eat his supper. 1t was some time after
the usual hour for the evening meal, and
about fifty cowboys and others had as
semb'ed in the barroom. 1t was raining
hard. The boys had been in town sew
eral days, drinking heavily, and the
peaceful citizens were in ;momentavy fear
of an outbreak. That evening the rain
had driven them indoors, and 1t was not
long before they were engaged in a
wranglc. BY the time that the Judge
had finished his supper all hands were
yelling, swearing, and threatening, and
the landlord was positive that there would
be shooting before many minutes had
elapsed. For the sake of preserving the
peace, he persuaded the judge to walk
into the baTroom before retiring. AS the
well-known figure entered the smoke
burdened room one man had just made
a lunge for another with his fist and
there was a rush by all hands to see what
the trouble was. The man who was
down rose with a revolver in each hand,
swearing that there would be fair play
If he had to clean out the room. Two
or three others held weapons, and in a
moment more some of them would have
been discharged had not one of the men
standing on the edge of the crowd ex-
claimed:
Judge Easlin, boys! The judged"
In an instant everything was as quiet
as death. The revolvers went into the
belts from which they had been drawn.
while the men who had been doing most
of the loud talking crawled away out of
sight. Presently one man. more self
possessed that the others, advanced and
greeted the judge, followed by many
more, and as each one came up he had
something to say about the boys "having
little fun-that's all" The iudre
maintained a very grave expression until
the fellow who had been on the point of
cleaning out the room made his appear
ance at the end of the procession, and
undertook to say something about being
excited over political discussion, when
the magistrate smiled and said:
'If had not come before you Just as
did | presume you would have come
before me at this term"
"God forbid, a." said the cowboy; "that
is to say, Judge, l don't want to-"
The effect of the judges presence was
magical. Five or six invitations to
drink were formally rendered him in be
half of the crowd, and when they had
been declined and the judge had with
drawn the boys were as good -natured rs
kittens, and not another loud word was
heard during the night, though they
drank to the old mans health many
times.
On one occasion, when the Judge was
holding court in q far Southwestern
county, he had man before him for
deadly assault, who had made out a
pretty good case of mistaken identity.
lie seemed likely to be acquitted. when
the Judge invited the jury to listen
to the prisoners answers to the
questions which he was about to pro
pound. The defendant turned pale.
and after swallowing the lump in his
throat two or three times, he said:
That's all right, judge II you're
going to take hand in this here thing
I'll cave. You needn't ask me any
question. Iplead guilty and ask for
mercy"
When he had been disposed of the
court remarked: II thought I could
bring ont few points in his case that
would be of interest to the jury. |
licked him once for threatening this very
man, and told him then that he would
get into worse trouble than this if he
kept on. He thought / had forgotten
him.