Daily Yellowstone journal., 1891-01-30
ONE OF ulNcoLNs EARLY CASES.
The Great Man Whitfield a Little wind
mill to Convince the Jury.

The Great Man Whitfield a Little Wind
mill to Convince the Jury.
In the year 1S4S there vas a memo.
rable lawsuit in Chicago between Par
ker and Hoyt owe the infringement of
apatent right of a water wheel. Adams,
Butterheld 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 il:
The trial lasted thirteen days and ey-
cited an unusual amount of interest
When MIR Brink reached the 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-
sided at the trial lie sustained Lin
coin in all of his propositions and in all
of his objections TO the positions taken
10y the opposing counsel
In the course of the trial a ilume was
made and water applied To the wheels
for the purpose of demonstrating 10 the
Jurors the exact facts in the case. In
dian meal was thrown into the water to
show the jury more clearly the effect of
the water on the wheels. Soon after
this experiment had been made Lawyer
Adams said TO Mr.. Brink, Don't you
think we have the best of the casef
Mr.. Brink replied: Il do not know that
/ am a suitable judge, as / did not ar.
rive here until the suit had been in
progress two or three days. But this
man Lincoln seems TO hold you five fel-
lows pretty snug"
Then Adams said Il would rather
fight every lawyer in the state Of Hi
nois than Abe Lincoln. because he is a
natural man, a natural lawyer and nat
ural mechanic-in fact, a natural any
thing-and he knows more about that
water wheel than the man who madeit,
and don't know anything about H.
While the attorneys for the plaintiff
were making their pleas Lincoln sat
there. and although listening attentive
", whitfield out a pine stick about half
an inch square and a foot long. From
that he cut of two pieces about three
inches in length. and with these two
pieces he made the wings Of a wind
mill. lie fastened them together by
running "a pin through the center of the
two wings and that pin into the end o;
the other and longer stick. After hav-
ing put il together he blew upon il.
and when il worked 70 his satisfaction
he took 1t apart and placed it in his
pocket.
There were eighty-four witnesses on
the two sidss and Mr.. Brink thinks
that Lincoln took no notes, but trusted
wholly 10 memory.
lie requested the witnesses To be
present during his plea, and said if he
made any mistakes in regard TO their
testimony he wished them { o correct
him. While presenting his side Of the
case he took out the above mentioned
windmill from his pocket and putting
it together blew upon it and explained
il 10 the jury. He assured them that
If any infringement had been made
Parker had infringed upon the old
time windmill. and hat Hoyt had not
infringed upon Parker. Adams was 10
make the closing plea, and in Lincoln's
speech he anticipated what Adams
would say. and by this means weakened
the force Of his plea Lincoln vol Iii.
case, and the jury were out only a little
over two hours. -Chicago Tribune.