The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-07-04

all came back and sat down and heard me
out, with the most respectful attention. Be
careful about those things please
The facts were just as | had stated them,
however, Only two men had attempted to
leave the hall-and they didn't return either.
But put things into that speech
| just as Gen. Woodford vented 'em and the
knowledge that gained then has been of
great benefit to me since. OF course every
| body understands that this lavish liberality
| applies only to newspaper reports Of speeches.
In law reporting strict accuracy is indis-
pensable and is most carefully observed.
The only instance | have ever known
where liberties with the words of a trial
| judge might be taken with impunity was
IN the case of Judge Joslyn of Ann Arbor.
During the trial of even the most important
cases he was liable to stop at any moment
and eXasp crate the attorneys and convulse
the jurors with laughter by telling funny
anecdotes incidental to his long profess, onal
existence. Judge Joslyn's memory of the
| ridiculous was something wonderful, and
there never was an occasion too solemn for
him to give others the benefit Of his mental
! storehouSe. 1882 | was reporting term of
court at Monroe. One day line fence case
was on trial 1t had dragged along for
days and everybody was worn out with the
| tediousness Of it. The value of the strip of
| land was scarcely more than ten dollars. A
! brush fence had rotted away and caused all
the trouble, nobody seeming to remember just
Where it had stood. About eighty witnesses
had been sworn and Judge Joslyn seemed to
grow in better and higher feather as the
case progressed. Each added technicality
recalled to his mind half dozen ancient
thestnuts in the way of stories with which
every body was famliar-but which he
never wearied of narrating-and the judge
was having a good time with himself gen
orally. When an attorney would rise with
the usual remark:
"Your honor, / object to that as incom-
petent and irrelevant the judge would be
ready for him.
"'Well, now, Mr.. Blank he would say,
that reminds me of a story'-and then he
would relate something about as long as the
trial, the point of which had rotted away
with the aforesaid line fence. About eleven
o'clock one Saturday night-they held court
about all night in country towns In those
daJs-Judge Joslyn seemed to have some
thing on his mind. He squirmed about on
the bench and his eyes were filed with the
yearning expression which meant story.
Ppm afraid the judge is coming down
with one of his yarns, said Col. GrOsvenor,
plucking nervouslY at his frilled shirt front.
1 can stand most anything, but | can see
by the expression of pain on his face that
he is coming at us with the fence story. He
morrow. have had that story for break
fast, dinner and supper for trife over
thirty years, and if he tells it now | shall
fire the heaviest law book on this table at
him, if ain disbarred for it,
"'Well. colonel, that reminds me-, began
Judge Joslyn, and Col Grosvenor toye1
! nervously at the heavy book before him,
while the look OF murder in his eyes deep
ened; well, colonel, that reminds me-"
drawled the Judge, that it is about time to
adjourn court. l had story bearing upon
this point that | was going to tell, but have
| concluded to postpone it.
ITO this day Col. Grosvenor maintains
that the only thing that saved us that night
was the fact that Judge Joslyn happened to
glance down at him just as he was prepar
ing to launch into his story, saw the CLEAN
of murder in his eyes, and wound Up with
an adjournment Had any of Judge Joslyn's
cases gone to the supreme court just as they
were cOnducted-StorieSa and all-they would
have resembled nothing so much as a comic
almanac with chunks of wisdom sandwiched
between.
Speaking of Detroit again." said Mr..
Irland, 81 don't think the professional
stenographers here realize fully the advant-
age which the high character of their work
during the past 20 years has given us. We
have an unusually good class of men to deal
with in the bar-far superior to those of
other cities where l have been employed.
The better class of lawyers fully realize
what is meant by good shorthand work.
They also realize the Importance of having
official court reporting done by thoroughly
skillful men. Stenographers in other parts
of the country sometimes think that men
from Michigan are inclined to overrate
their own skill This opinion has largely
disappeared of late. The west is now gen
orally admitted TO he able to down the east in
the stenographic business. During the past
year the English magazines have been pay
ing great deal of attention to shorthand
matters in America, and most of the discus
sion has been relative to the system written
and the work done by Michigan men,"