The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1890-02-16
A CITY OF ASkERS.

n Civ OF hSkEHS.
That Chicago is u city of large and
progressive ideas is finely illustrated
by her present court calendars. The
amount of damages demanded in each
Ease shows a breadth and liberality of
mind, a sort of distinctive wealth of
imagination, possessed by no people SO
universally I'M in such a marked de
gree rs by the inhabitants of this city
of wind. Close examination proves
hat there is nothing small about these
litigants except possibly the grounds of
their litigation. Glance for a m
at a few of the cases that came before
the courts. either for trial or for some
preliminary tinkering. On last Wednes-
day alone.
Francis f.. Duffy sued Potter Palmer
for $4,000 damages for the loss of his
o%vercoat, which was stolen from q peg
i'm the Palmer House billiard room. n
$4,000 overcoat must be a pretty big
thing even for Chicago. and Mr.. Duffy
is frank enough to admit that the sl5,-
D represents not the value of the
overcoat alone, but more especially
what was i'm one of its inside pockets.
namely "A list of newspaper advertisers
and their ratings. the most complete. he
says in the country. Mr.. Duffy wishes
the court thoroughly to understand
that he doe not spell the last syllable
of his name .er', and that nc one can
trifle with him or his overcoat without
seeing him suitably compensated.
William Walsh asked a jury to in
struct Chaplin n Gore, a liquor firm. to
pay him $4,000 damages for h loss of
"a small piece of his skull, about the
size, according to the evidence, of "a
%iive-cent piece. Mr.. Walsh was en-
gagged in hosting ice for the firm. when
h machinery gave way and collided
with his head with the result mentioned.
The wound, he says, was very painful;
but notwithstanding that a part of it is
missing, Mr.. Walsh by no means seems
to have lost his head completely. H.
deed, the amount of damages he seeks
would indicate that that organ
is somewhat bigger than formerly.
Mrs. Ellen Il. Malone asked Judge
Jameson for u decree of separate
maintenance, because her husband,
James, is Sc cruel and inhuman. James
ave her 80 cents to buy two pair of
stockings. but instead she bought one
pair for 81 cents and spent the remain
ing Is cents in purchasing other dry
goods. For this breach of trust James
struck her in u face, and as il was
only a month and three days after their
wedding it was more than h could
stand. In this case the plaintiff does
not demand exorbitant damages, and
if Mr.. Malone would give her say $40
a week for h privilege of never going
near her again she would be happy. A
somewhat similar case is that of Fred
erick Zabjeck, whom Judge Tuthill re-
fused to release from Jail, where he is
confined for not paying the lady who
was n Mrs. Zabjeck S3 a week ali
mony. lie owns a brick block and
proposes to keep il, Jail or no Jail.
w. II. Allen, u s~witchman, requested
the Chicago, santa Fe X California
railway to give him $1,000 because "a
tank of naptha gas blew up and burned
m bruised him: and Joseph Reinstine
asked $1,000 of the Chicago III Light
company, for injuries received at the
hands of their gas.
These are only n days samples OF
the daily grist in the Chicago courts.
Many, perhaps the great majority, of
the actions are worthy, but il is inter
esting to note that Chicago people Of
the present day are not suffering from
acute modesty. The city's big grab fol
the worlds fair has infected all classes
and il they haven't got what they want
they are determined to ask for it, on
the principle that they won't he any the
worse of i'm any event.
NkTI. Nj ~. IT. Tl-s 1880 ~