Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-11-13
A LAWYERS FORTUNE.
The Most Valuable Barrel of
 Whisky Ever Distilled.
AYoung Attorneys Tramp Cliont and How the Latter Kept His Promiso-A Small Fec That Developed Into a MILL
 ion Dollars Cash.

Undoubtedly the most valuable barrel of
 whisky ever distilled,n said a well-known
 Steuben County lawyer to a New York Sun reporter, twas owned some years ago in
 Steuben County. If there was ever barrel of whisky moro valuable 1 would like to
 hear of it, for two gallons of this particular
 barrel brought it's owner over $500, 900 a gal
 lon. There is @ story connected with that
 whisky that is worth telling, and worth placing on the record, too.
 ''Some years before the war a young man
 named Henry M Sherwood was admitted to
 the bar of Steuben County. He was a bright young fellow and belonged in the
 town of Woodruff Soon after he was ad-
 mitted to the bar, and before he had had his
 first client, tramp was arrested and put
 in jail at Corning. He had been guilty of some serious breach of the peace, and his general appearance was that of genuine tough. He tried to engage a lawyer to de- fend him when his case came up for hear ing, but as ho had no money no one cared to take his case in hand. At last he inquired whether there wasn't some young lawyer in the place who hadn't had much of an op- portunity to distinguish himself as yet, and who would likely be willing to under take the management of the prisoners case for the chance of getting some glory out of it. He was told that young Hank Sher- wood might consent to appear under
 these conditions, and the stranger sent for
 the briefess lawyer Sherwood went to the jail and saw the prisoner.
 "1t looks as if l was in pretty bad scrape,' said the tramp to Hank, but be-
 lieve that lawyer can get me through all
 right. Now, I'm from Kentucky, and
 haven't got cent. I'm going back to Ken
 lucky if get out of this scrape, but I'll
 have to beg or beat my way till I get
 there. My father iS a big distiller, but I've been a trif1e wild, and he and I are not on
 the best of terms. He wouldn't send me a
 cent, even if should send word to him of the fix am in here. But I'll tell you what I'll do. If you will take charge of my case and work it for all it's worth and get mo cloar I'll sneak out of the old mans stock when l get home O barrel of the best old Kentucky whisky there is in the Bourbon
 country and have it shipped to you. I can
 do it easy. What do you say!'
 "Young Sherwood didn't take bit of
 stock in the mans story, but he made up
 his mind to see what he could do in the
 management of the case, just to begin get
 ting his hand in, and he accepted the tramp
 as his client. 1 don't xemember the details l of the case, but Hank succeeded in clearing
 the tramp, and the latter went away, feel | ing good. Time passed along, and Sher-
 wood had forgotten all about his tramp
 client and the proposed fee, when one day the station agent at Addison, where the
 young lawyer lived, met him and said:
 "'Say, Hank, there's a barrel in the
 freight house for you. It's been there a day or two, and came from Kentucky Moro than that, its markings declare that
 it contains fine old Kentucky bourbon.' 'The tramp had paid his lawyers fee, sure enough Sherwood had the barrel | taken home and placed in his cellar. He
 wasn't much of tamperer with whisky,
 and the barrel lay in the cellar five years
 without being disturbed. The late Con-
 stant Cook was then Judge of Steuben County. He was holding court at Corning | one term, and, as was the custom in those | days, a number of lawyers and others gath | cred in the judges room at the hotel in the
 evening and passed an hour or so in a social | game of euchre. The judge enjoyed an oc-
 casional glass of good whisky, and he was a | thorough judge of good whisky, too. On the
 occasion 1 speak of Hank Sherwood was
 one of the judges euchre party. The judge 1 was very bitter ln his denunciation of the
 whisky they sold in Corning, and said he ! would be grateful for glass of whisky that
 was lit to drink. That reminded Sherwood | of his barrel of old Kentucky bourbon that had been lying so long in his cellar. He told l Judge Cook that he had some whisky at
 
 | he would fetch some down next day. He
 had his barrel tapped that night, and filling
 a two-gallon jug from it brought it to Corn l ing and presented 1t to Judge Cook. The
 judge tasted the whisky, and in all his ex. | perience had never met with It's equal.
 "'Young man. said he to Sherwood, I
 won't forget you for fetching me this rare
 stuff. If ever see chance to give you a | lift I'll do it.
 e1- ,,la | after the manner of the average country l lawyer. The war broke out Judge Cook | was one of the solid men of Western New York. He, in company with late John Ar | not, J. $. T. Stranahan, of Buffalo; Charles l Cook, of Havana, and John H. Chedell, of Auburn, had built the New York and Erie
 railroad from Binghamton to Corning and
 was largely interested in other great i'm provements in this part of the State of Pennsylvania. Soon after the war began he obtained big Government contract, and at once sent for Hank Sherwood.
 :'I'm going to give you that lift now, Herry,l sad he.
 'He let Sherwood in on the contract, and | the country lawyers share of the proceeds
 was s15O, ,0OO-cold, cash dollars After this l was done Judge Cook said to Sherwood: There's some land for sale in Tioga County, Pa. It is coal land and is bound to | be very valuable. You can buy some of it | cheap. Put all the money you've got in
 that land.'
 | ''Sherwood did so. Every dollar he made 1 in the big contract he put into Tioga Counts
 land. He hadn't a great while to wait be- fore the prophecy of Judge Cook came true. Henry M. Sherwood's first fec resulted in being the biggest foe ever received by any | lawyer on earth, for he cleared over $1 ,O0O,-
 900 from his investment Tn the Tioga County | lands, and the barrel of Kentucky whisky
 his tramp client had paid for his services
 was the basis of it all. Was there ever Q
 more valuable barrel of whisky distilled, do
 you think"'
 A Mighty Scciable Snake.