The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1891-02-25
ONE OF LiNcoLN's EARLY CASES.

ONE OF uNcoLN'S EARLY CASES.
The Great Man Whitfield . Little wind-
mill 70 Convines the Jury.
In tho year lS48 there was q memo
~ble lawsuit In Chicago between Par
ker and Hoyt over the infringement Of
a patent right Of . water wheel. Adams,
Butterdeld and Others were attorneys
for the plaintiff. and Abraham Lincoln
for the defendant. During the progress
of the suit John Brink, Esq, now Of
Crystal Lake, Ills, CHANGED to be In
the city, and the following Is his &C.
count Of it:
The trial lasted thirteen days and OK.
cited IN unusual amount Of interest.
Whea, Mr.. Brink reached tho city he
found every one talking about the suit
and The great supreme court lawyer,
Abraham Lincoln. Judge Drummond,
Of the United States district court, pre-
ided at The trial He sustained Lin.
coin In Ill Of his propositions and In al
Of his objectons to tho positions taken
BY the opposing counsel.
In The eou,se Of the trial . nume was
made and water applied to tho wheels
for the purpose Of demonstrating to the
jurors the exact facts In the case. In
dian meal Wa thrown into tho water 10
show tho jury moro clearly tho effect Of
The water on the wheelA Soon after
thh experiahsnt had besn made Lawyer
Adams said 70 NJ. Brink, Don't you
think W have the bsst Of the caser'
Mr. Brink replied: II do not know that
! am suitable judge, ~ I did not a..
rive here until tie suit bad been IN
progress two or three daya But this
man Lincoln seems 70 hold you i've fel.
Iows pretty snug"
Then Adams sid: II would rather
6ght every lawyer In the state Of nN-
nols than Abe Lincoln, because he u q
natural man, . natural lawyer and nat
uTal mechanic in tact, natural any.
thins-and he knows more about that
water wheel than tho man who made il.
and don't know anything about It."
While Tie sttosnsys for the plaintiff
were making THAR pleas Lincoln ~
there, and although listening attentive
y, Whitfield out . pine stick about hall
an inch square and . foot long. Prom
that hs cut Of two pieces about thre>
inehes IN length, and with these twe
| pisces b made the wings Of . wind
mill. He fastened them together b.
vunains pin through the center Of Ii,
two wings and that pin into tho end O
TIE other and longer stick. After hav
Ing put It together be blew upon Il
and whsn Il worked 10 bis satisfactios
= b took Il apart and placed Il In hi
pocket
Thsss vsss sighty-iour witnesses OF
u Two ddsA and Mr.. Brink think
that Lincoln took no notes, but tzuste,
wholly to memory.
He requested the Witnesses to b
present during bis plea, and said II b.
made any mistakes in regard to thei
testimony he wished them 10 cores
bin. While presenting hb lido Of tn
49, ~ took out The above mentioned
Windmill from his pocket and putin,
y together blew upon Il and e1plaines
Il to ths jury. He assured them tha
Il any Infringement had been mad
Parker had lnhingsd upon The Ok
time windmill, and that Hoyt bad no
inhtngsd upoo Parker. Adams was I,
make ths elodns p'sa, and in uncoln'
speech h anticipated what Adan
voaA ~. md b. Til means waakans<
u toses Of hb pasA lincoln voa hi
easa md The jury vsss out only . Ht&l'
over two hour. -Chieago TtibunA