The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1891-04-02

torted the lawyer, s'since you can ~
peat things that you say occurred years
ago, and you can not repeat what you
read moment ago.
Inc witness was nonplused, and the
jury was obviously amused at his dis
,comfiture
a quick-witted lawyer thinks on fall
gallop Many successful cross-examtn-
ers havesbeen men who could keep up Z
running fire of Jokes anf comments and
never lose sight Of the main point, who
could lead q witness along by suavity
and politeness and acquiescence and APP
parent obsequious Difference into pit
falls Of contradiction. Such men win
let smart witness talk on until he
drops some unfortunate expression that
subjects him to being bounced upon
and demolished at one fell swoop.
A leading counsel for the defend
ant in an accident damage case, where
the injury had been occasioned by a Jet
OF steam scalding the complainant's
back and neck as he was driving past
the defendants place, argued to the
jury that the plaintiff was guilty Of
contributory negligence and should
have looked up to avoid the accident.
The quick-witted counsel for the COM
plainant retorted: ssOh, no! If he had
looked up, instead Of suing for damage
to the back Of our head we should have
had to charge you for the loss of both
eyes,
In a trial for murder, where the
killing was done by shooting, the
counsel for defendant made good deal
Of fuss and introduced quantity Of
medical testimony to show that the
wounded man had been unskillfully
treated. At the close of a confusing
cross-examination by defendants coun-
sci on the length Of the probe used to
find the ball, the direction of the wound
and the danger Of probing, the. district
attorney put the question very tersely
by asking: Doctor, was it the prob
ing or the shooting that caused death2''
In the trial for burglary the peoples
witness showed that he was on watch
in the hall when he heard some one
fumbling with the lock of the door, and
that he then slyly turned the knob so
that the thief could come in easily.
The glib-tongued lawyer for the
prisoner at once said: .Why, your
honor, this witness was the real
burglar, for it was he and not my
client that really opened the door,
The result of this timely remark was
that the prisoner got off with light
sentence for an attempt at burglary.
A good deal Of quick work is often re-
quired of lawyers in the fling Of liens
on real estate or other property, in
cases where the obligations are many
and the assets few, and the first conner
is the only one who gets served. A good
deal OF wit is often displayed in the
method Of making levy. Benjamin
F. Butler, When. he. was a young lawyer,
got q wide reputation for sagacity by
attaching the water wheel Of a mill in
an action for debt. 1t used to be COM
mon thing for lawyers obtaining judg-
ments against the city to attach the
pictures in the Governors room of the
city hall.
A good deal of quick wit was dis
played by the late Samuel J. Tilden
and his co-laborers, who traced the
| frauds of William M, Tweed and his
followers SO as to put the evidence in
clear shape before a jury. Such work
could hardly be done by any but great
corporation lawyers in the habit OF
grasping subjects comprehensively and
of handling great interests involving
large amounts of money and intricate
details of business.-N. Y. Sun.