The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-01-14
ONE OF LlNooLN's EARLY CASES.
The Great Man Whitfield q Little |
Windmill to Convince the Jury.

The Great Man Whitfield a Little
Windmill to Convince the Jury.
From The CHICAGO Tribune.
In the year 1S3s there was q memorable
lawsuit in Chicago between Parker and
Hoyt over the infringement Of patent
right OF c saterwheel. Adams, Batterfeld
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, ILL.,, CHANGED to
be IN the city, and the following IS his ac-
count Of it.:
The trial lasted thirteen days and excited
an unusual amount Of interest. When SIR.
Brink reached the city he found every oae
talking about the suit and the great
supreme court lawyer, Abraham Lincoln.
Judge Drummond OF the United States dis
trict court presided at thu trial de sus-
tanned Lincoln in all of his propositions and
IN all Of hs objections to the position taken
by the opposing counsel.
In tie course II the trial a fiume wis
made and water applied 10 the wheels for
the purpose Of demonstrating TO the jurors
the exact fact in the case. Indian meal was
thrown into the water TO show the Jury
more clearly the effect Of the water ON the
wheels. Som after this experiment had
been made Lawyer Adams said to Mr..
Brink: Don't you think we have the best
Of the caser' Mr.. Brink replied: 81 do not
know that l am a suitable Judge, as / did
not arrive here until the suit had been in
progress two or three days. But this man
Lincoln seems to hold you five fellows pretty
snug"
Then Adams said: II would rather fight
every lawyer in the state of Illinois than
Abe Lincoln, because be Is a natural man,
natural lawyer, a natural mechanic
in fact, q natural anything-and he
knows more about that waterwheel than the
man who made it, and ! don't know any
thing about it,
While the attorneys for the plaintiff
were making their pleas Lincoln sat there
and, although listening attentively, whit.
tied out pine stick about half an inch
square and foot long. From that he cut
off two pieces about three inches in length,
and with these two pieces he made the
wings Of windmill. He fastened them
together by running q pin Thorough the
center Of the two wings and that pin into
the end OF the other and longer stick
After having put il together he blew upon
it, and when it worked to his satisfac ion he
took it apart and placed it in his pocket
There were eighty-four witnesses on the
two sides, and Mr.. Brink thinks thinks that
Lincoln took no notes. but trusted wholly
to memory.
He requested the witnesses to be present
during his plea, aud said If he made any
mistakes in regard to their testimony he
wished them to correct him. While pre-
senting his side of the oase he took out the
aforementioned windmill from his pocket.
and, putting it together, blew upon it, and
explained it to the jury. He assured them
that If any Infringement had been made,
Parker had infringed upon the old-time
windmill, ard that Hoyt had not infringed
upon Parker. Adams was to make the
closing plea, and in Lincoln's speech he
anticiDated what Adams would say, and by
this means weakened the force OF his plea.
Lincoln won his case, and the jury were out
only a little over two hours