The Arkansaw traveler., 1886-01-16
A FRONTIER JUDGE.
rNebraska Letter in New York Sun

few railroads and almost no copveniences, does not have any easy time of 1t, but he may be the very best kind of & magis- trate. 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 primitive court several hundred miles away in the direction of Dakota, must be energetic and industri- ous, and if. at the same time, he admin isters justice promptly and at small ex- pense, he will pass for pretty good judge. l The frontiersmen of western Nebraska believe that they have such character in Judge Easlir, who has been on the bench in the cowboy country for several years, and who promises 10 remain there as long as he lives. He has enemies among the evil-doers, as a matter of course, and occasionally a new lawyer comes here with high notions as to things which are not in harmony with She 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 staunch friends The judge is not believer in new trials, changes of venue, or continuances, and when he gets hold of criminal or civil case some end must be reached, and that quickly. He has established reputa ion among the | cowboys which is the envy of all other frontier judges; and though he is well along in years and could not make much of fight himself, there is not a cow camp in 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 out break on the part of the boys anywhere would be worth more than that of regi- ment of troops.
 A few years ago he arrived in Ogallala rather unexpectedly to most people, and, going at once to the hotel, proceeded to eat his supper. It was some time after the usual hour for the evening meal, and about fifty cowboys and others had as- sembled in the bar room. It was raining hard. The boys had been in town sev- eral days drinking heavily, and the peace ful citizens were in momentary fear of an outbreak. That evening the rain had driven them indoors, and it was not long before they were engaged in a wrangle By the time that the judge had finished his supper all hands were yelling, swear. ing 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 per suaded the judge to walk into the bar room before retiring As the we'll known figure entered the smoke. burdened room, one man had just made lunge for an- 0kh x,skh h:e Eek by all hands to see what the trouble was The man who was down rose with a re- volver 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 moment more some of them would have been discharged had aot one of them standing on the edge of the crowd exclaimed:
 Judge Easlin, boys The judgew
 In an instant everything was as quiet as death. The revolvers went into the belts from which they had been drawn, while the men ~ho had been doing most of the loud talking crawled away out of sight.
 Presently one man, more self-possessed than 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 judge maintained very grave expression until the fellow who had been on the point of cleaning out the room made his appearance at the end of the procession, and undertook to say something about being excited over a political discussion, when the magistrate smiled and said:
 "l If had not come before you just as l did presume you would have come before me at this term"
 "God forbid" said the cowboy "that is to say, judge, don't want to-"
 The effect of the judges presence was magical. Five or SIX invitations to drink were formerly rendered him in behalf of the crowd, and when they had been de clined and the judge had withdrawn, the boys were as good natured as 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 a far southwestern county, he had a man before him for deadly assault, who had made out a pretty good case of mistaken identity He 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 propound. The defend- ant turned pale, and after swallowing the lump in bis throat two or three times, he said:
 "That's all right, judge. lfyou're go- ing to take hand in this here thing I'll cave. You needn't ask me any questions. l plead guilty and ask for mercy"
 When he had been disposed of the | court remarked: "I thought l could | bring out few points in this 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 that if he kept | on. He thought l had forgotten him."
 Up in the Niobrara country at one | Nsv~. tk~ .,,I<v~ hoA A>c