, 1889-06-05
JUSTICE WITHOUT LAW.
A Judge in Tucson h Sent All onend-
ers to the Rock Pill

s.o eoHh ~ ~
es to the Rock Pill
Capt. Bourke, of the army, is an in
teresting story teller, and possesses a
rich fund of Renaissance and anec-
dote.
Twenty years ago. said the cap
tain, 81 was in Tucson. No place vas
ever worse governed. Outlaws abound
ed and they did about as they pleased
Finally the good citizens of the place
merchants and men Of property
determined to bring about a reform,
and the way they decided to do it was
TO elect a judge who would deal hon
estly with the scalawags who were
running the town and ~corrupting the
courts. So they chose a man named
Charlie Meyers TO be judge. Char
lie was a druggist, who knew moth
ing about law, but he was perfectly
honest, and that was the only q~ualif-
cation the citizens desired. Accord
ingly, Charlie set up a law ~dispensary
In the same building with his drug
shop, and dealt out justice and patent
medicines with equal grace. Inhis court
he established a library of calf bound
books, consisting chiefly of the Mate
ria Medica and Somebody on Fractured
Bones. He engaged as an officer of
the court a man who was afraid Of
nothing or nobody odd Jimmy
Douglas, who carried in his leg a bull
let that he had picked up at Gettys-
burg, and who walked with some diff
iculty and with a peculiar though
not graceful limp. The first thing that
Charlie did was TO establish a chain
gang and sentence to various terms
in its service every offender that was
brought before him. The shyster law
yers who had run the town be-
fore Charles incumbency protested
against this IS q violation of the con-
stitution of the United States, but they
protested in silence. In fact, the pro-
test was useless. The process of the
judge was rather summary, but the
citizens Of Tucson. The wild, rough
characters who had ruled the town
were now engaged in cleaning the
streets, and Tucson was seeing an era
of prosperity that it had not known
since its foundation. But If the bust
ness men were pleased, the lawyers
were proportionately disguised. The
court refused to recognize them and
their business vas gone. One day,
however, one of them plucked up
spirit enough to go before the court in
behalf of his client and demanded u
trial by jury. The court was about
to sentence the prisoner TO a term in
the chain gang, when tho lawyer in
terposed a demurrer. My client he
said, objects to being tried by this
court, on the ground of prejudice, and
demands TO be tried by jury
by shury,' said Charlie. What
is dot shuryT
"tHe demands said the lawyer, to
be tried by his peers
"tOh, he does, does her said Char
lie. Veil l sendence him to two
weeks in the shain gang and 1 SEN
dence you to one week. Now how you
like dot trial by shury7' and into the
chain gang the lawyer went and there
he stayed until his term was up.
"One day q man named Wolf was
brought before the court for cheating
some Indians out of So. He was an
INSCRIPTIONS man but a shrewd one
and he knew all the tricks of the
law. Charlie felt that in his case the
Materia Medica was not sufficient au-
thority and SO he adjourned the court
10 get an opportunity to consult some
books on the law or to obtain advice
from somebody with a knowledge Of
1t. As he declared the cas- postponed
and the court adjourned, however, he
turned TO the prisoner and said: Wolf,
it Is de unanimous opinion of dis com
munity dot you are n - tief and this
court comedies fully in dot opinion
"Wolf lost color and raising his fist
he said; Judge, 1 don't let any one
speak TO me in that way
Dis court fines you $40 for rails
ing your fist against it. said Charlie,
and you stands committed to de shain
gang until it is paid
"Wolf knew that there was no re-
course and he reluctantly paid the
$40. The judge gravely took it and
after dividing So between himself and
Jimmy Douglas, he gave S. to the
nails of that Indian tribe, Charlie
Meyers is the most righteous judge
that yer held court, for did they not
sue for So before him and recover S59"