Telegram-herald., 1890-06-29
FsoNTIEa rsssuNALa


TIE sx4n Who Served % . Coroaer'e
JuTy-A German Jssskee-
Spec-S- CO<reSpoDaeaes.s
SAs FRASclsco, June si-Wlrh the
average obscure citizen tbs prondest
moment Ct life Is the DAY upon which be
Is called upon TO set IS jarynaR o. 5
paube2rer.
Possibly with the single exception of
being = Survivor from some dire ealana-
ity. the distinction Of being called - 81
on a coroners jury Is ths proudest n
the life of the everyday clodkoppsr.
This was exetnphfied The other day IN
the case Of an illitsrate laborer who had
been called 10 sit upon corps" ia
southern California town.
A dead man was discovered on a hill
side near the village. and jury was
called to SIT upon the corpse todetermiRe
whether the man was really and truly
dead, and If SO, how II happened. As
idle men were scarce the coroner called
on the porter Of general store TO serve
on the jury The man, arrayed In his
best suit OF Sunday clothes, took bis new
duty Is q serious matter. AfIer the case
had been duly disposed Of and the Pot
ter's field enriched by the addition Of
another tenant the porter proceeded Il
fiji himself up with beer, aud pat in
full day IN walking up and down the
street 10 let all his aceuaintances know
that he was one Of the corouer's Jury in
the case of the unknown dead man His
employer met him and inquired what
developments they had discovered ii the
case.
Wal" he said. eve the jury went
out thar and sot upon the dead corpus and
found that he was dead. We also fur
ther found yerdick that the feller had
committed suicide 10 himself, and that
no other pdsscn had done it but hisself
Thar want nobody TO slalne fur it but
jist his own self"
Next in Importance to the juryman is
the country justice of the peace. When
IN the course Of events a blacksmith is
called upon by the free and untramIneled
suifrages of his fellow citizens 10 leave
his anvil and dispense justice, 10 adjust
the neighborhood chickering's and uphold
the majesty of the law, he at once be-
comes an important parsonage.
Many genuine comedies are enacted in
justices courts, and if they ever reach
the public eye via the copy hook they
go far 10 alleviate the careworn and
tired brains Of those of the community
who mind their own business and have
no occasion to witness the many farces
played III the name Of justice In one
of the frontier settlements III the wild
west German cobbler was elected po-
lice justice. His reputation as an honest
toiler was well established, but his legal
knowledge and sense of humor were, SO
far, of unknown quantities.
One of his first cases was that Of
tough citizen vino was duly arraigned
for breach of the peace. The justice
heard the evidence in the case and pro-
nounced sentence of three months in
Jail This so enraged the defendant
that he ended q vigorous abuse of the
court by promising to call on him
promptly that day three months hence
ll41-1 1O4 q C4ctSo
The judge heard this abuse silently, and
then, without evincing any emotion,
cogitated as follows:
''Vell, you kills me today three months
ago, VIII you? Let me see. This is Au-
gust first. Three months viii be Novem-
ber first. Thanksgiving will be twenty
fifth. viii miss my Thanksgiving din
ner. Christmas is next. 1 will miss
Christmas, too. Six months from Au-
gust first Will be Shanuary. l makes i.
six months, und den you kills me, viii
II? You shust go right away to Jail six
months, and then l see you any more L
shust shoot you so full Of lead it viii
take Won steam derrick to lift you down
to your grave. You hear mey'
The six months were up long ago,
and the justice still sits upon his cob
bler's bench when not dispensing Justice
from his official seat The tough citi-
zen Is presumably herding cattle in Ari-
zona. W. g. BENTON.