St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1885-01-03
BILL NYE. AS A LAWYER.

BILL NYE. AS A LAWYER.
The Tragic Death OF HIS Cllent-rhe Scr.
row and Sadness Incident to AN
Active Practice.
A dear friend in Pennsylvania writes
me that he has learned casually that
some years ago was member of the
legal profession, and he asks me to
state, if l will, publicly. whether that is
true, and, if SO, why / abandoned the
profession.
1t is true that / did practice law in
the West for a short time, in a very
quiet kind of way. After a few
months, however, I abandoned my
lucrative practice to accept the port
folio of the Laramie CITY Postoflice.
During my brief but tempestuous career
as an attorney, paid out S120 for rent,
and drew a chattel mortgage, which
was never paid for, as near as am able
to judge.
My principal reason, however, for
abandoning the profession, was the
sudden death of my client. When a
Young lawyer has assiduously sat and
looked out of his Office window for two
months and client comes in and shows
signs OF intrusting business 10 him,
there springs up at once between the
two warm friendship. Such was the
case with me. A middle-aged gentle
man came into my office one day and
said he had been referred TO me by a
party in town. and asked me if l had
leisure to attend TO him. l said that l
would lay aside other matters and at
tend to him at once. if he wished. He
said il would be a great accommodation
if | would allow my other clients to ac-
cumulate in the hall for a few moments.
and in the meantime do the business
that was on his mind. He had asked
Charlie Kitchen, ut the ThOresbureh
House, to give him the name of some
poor young lawyer, and Kitchen had
told him that l was about the poorest
lawyer he knew of, so he had come right
to me.
l saw ut once that he was shrewd
business man, and l did all could to
please him. He was delighted with
the promptneSs with which l had done
the work, and said he would have more
for me to do very soon, us he had pur-
chased the controlling interest in new
silver mine over AT Jelm Mountain. On
the strength of this revival in trade. /
went down town and bought half ton
of coal.
then opened a set of double entry
books. which l still retain, and which
are almost as good as new l had Just
got my new client fairly on the books
when he was killed by falling down a
shaft distance of 200 feet in a perpen-
dicular direction. then said that the
practice of the law was invested with
too much sorrow and sadness for me.
l could not endure the constant sunder-
ing of pleasant, friendly ties which an
active practice demanded. l sold my
at Last Chance, and gave my other law
books to a warm personal friend.
Having thus disposed of my library, /
retired from the practice of my profess
sion by taking down my tin sign and
mailing it to the front door of the pest
house at the close of beautiful summer
day. There is nothing that will dam up
the flood of professional business so
quickly as a course like this. A young
lawyer may be ever so popular and
no matter. he can remove
his library to the smallpox hospital,
and in week he will have all the
physical relaxation and intellectual re-
pose he wants.
So like the swift flight of a brilliant,
meteor across black sky, l flashed
through the heavens, lighting up the
wide realms of space and then disap-
peared forever. With thousands of
other people to select from. death
sought out the only client ever had and
gathered him in. With world full of
the aged and the sick. to say nothing of
Cinnamon and Indians not taxed, the
grim reaper struck his sickle into man
in whom fell a wonderful interest. No
one knows, who has not seen his sole
client cut down before his face, the
great sorrow that settles down upon the
heart at such time. How lonely nv
office seemed after that. How still it
l could not endure it. at
,nce abandoned the profession to its
late.
Contrary to my fears, however, it
soon rallied. Young blood entered into
he practice. and in three months after |
had turned the key in my office door
,ne would hardly notice that so recently
/ bright light in the legal profession had
,een squelched, and clarion voice that |
lad always.rung out for eternal justice
md equity, at so much per equity, had
ceased to vibrate.
l was clear-headed and cool. but
conservative attorney. Twas
lot only conservative in my practice,
mt in my gross receipts. ! saw ut once
ha: could not afford to pay forty dol
airs per month rent and depend upon
'ook account of two dollars and fifty |
ents to offset it. While 1 may say that |
was passiOnately fond of the study |
nd the practice of the law, felt most
eenly the ostracism and the depressing
ISOLATION which it seemed to engender. |
Bill Nye, in Louisville Courier
oarnat.