The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-10-30

brought against certain Heorew4 cnaa go
I with having attempted fraud. The stase
had gone tn TnucA expense in securing
evidence, the work being done by the heI~
uty United States attorney, the cnief pros
ecutor knowing little or nothing OF the
Z details. One day Harrison, knowing there
/ was no chance for his client, intimated 20
the prosecuting attorney that he was WILL
/ ing TO plead guilty and take sentence
| Much 20 his surprise the prosecutor. think
/ ing this an easy way 20 dispose OF
troublesome matter. accepted the PROPOSE
1 ton; the plea was made and Judge Gresh-
/ am i'm posed fine aid short term OF I'M
| prisou,nent, no provision being mace ior
| costs, which ran far into the hundreds
! after the compound method of reckoning
practieed in courts had been skilfully ap-
/ plied Naturally the deputy prosecutor
/ objected when he learned what had been
/ done, and at next session OF court applied
/ for a correction Of the ruling, Judge David
! Davis presiding. Harrison had enjoyed
/ the discontinue of the prosecutor and
( made light of his threat to ask for correc-
/ ton until ne was suddenly reused oy near
/ ing the court order the record changed to
| provide for the payment OF costs. Harri-
! son came forward with rush, as II cnarg-
I ing the enemy.
| "Your Honor, object, he said. This
was criminal proceeding. The record
! was made up at another term OF court and
cannot be altered now. 1t is impossible,
| Well, Mr.. Harrison" drawled the
| court, with broad and benevolent smile.
Well, | have ordered the record
| changed, and / guess, Mr.. Harrison. the
order will stick"
In a trial where Senator VOORHEES, ap-
| peared on the opposite side Gen. Harrison
! ridiculed the position assumed by his op-
| ponents, saying that It reminded him OF a
! buzZard which alignted on dead limb but
| kept its wings outspread; If the limb broke
no
| it would be standing
Mr.. Voorhees,, in response. said he had
| met Mr.. Harrison in court on many oc-
| casions and that the same buzzard was
| always present on the same dead limb.
Precedent, that fetch before which the
| average lawyer BOWS down, was not sacred
! in Harrison's eyes. 1t was the custom of
| his partners, while he was III the senate,
| to leave knotty questions for him to dis
! pose of in his intervals of leisure. One of
| these was a case on appeal to the state
/ supreme court in which a school question
was involved. the county commissioners
! seeking a reversal of the lower courts de-
! cision. This decision was in line with the
| early ruling of the supreme court and the
! puzzle was TO find good grounds on which
| TO base argument for reversal. After
examination OF TIE subject Mr.. Harrison
was to have the ,Eecedents set aside and
| establish new rulihg-a very simple pro-
/ ceeding TO the unenlightened, but formid-
! able indeed to the initiated. He prepared
a brief holding that earlier decisions were
| not IN harmony with present conditions,
| that they should be oyerrued and a new
| conclusion reached. This was done, the
| cour, adopting his brief as a part of its
opinion.
AS to his companionable qualities and
sense of humor opinions differ widely.
One man asserts that he was witty. genial
! and exceedingly agreeable among his init
| mates, when his mind was not absorbed
| with legal problems, but that when his
| thoughts were thus concentrated he might
| pass his nearest friends without recognl-
| ton. An ex-judge of the Indiana supreme
court, Democrat in politics and man of
much personal dignity, quoted former
| pastor Of the presidents church as saying
that one day he felt that he knew Harri-
son like a brother, and when they met
again next day felt that he needed an in
| PRODUCTION. Il had but the most formal
| acquaintance with Mr.. Harrison" added
the judge drily, land felt that | needed an
| Introduction at every meeting"
| A busy Eawyer of close observation and
| positive opinions asserted boldly that
while Harrison could thrust and parry
| with the best OF them in legal encounters.
and was often sarcastic and cutting, he alb
soluteiy lacked the sense of humor. at
| has developed somewhat in later years.
| since ne went INTO the senate ana
had an opportunity to expand, ;" he added,
"but formerly there was not a CLEAN OF it..
| have q theory as to this lack of develop
ment. The man had no youth in the
proper sense. He married at 20, and a
number of dependent relatives made his
cares and responsibilities heavy. This
would have q SOLDERING effect upon a man
of more natural gayety. He had many
| friends in Indianapolis who had been
worshippcrs at his grandfather's shrine
not many years before, and the shadow of
a great name. greater in Indiana even than
elsew here, may have added to his serious
| ness.
"For years." continued the speaker
with more force than eioquence, "his nose
was held to the grindstone until the
sparks flew. Such experiences take the
humor out Of life, although in his case the
enforced concentration of mind upon his
calling made remarkable lawyer. His
six years in the senate was very beneficial
to him. New experiences and contac,
with men of wider cultivation than those
he had been accustomed to meet developed
him in the right direction. When he re.
turned TO practice he was broadened and
strengthened in every way and had lost
nothing of his familiarity with the tech
nicalities of the law. The reverse of this
is apt to be the case with men who return
to practice after period of public iife.'
Said another man who had known him
all his life: II doubt If Ben Harrison
ever took mental recreation voluntarily
and of deliberate purpose until driven to
it by the instinct Of seii-preservation in
recent years. | notice that be goes to the
theater occasionally now In the first
year OF the war an amateur dramatic soci.
ETY. gave performance for the benefit OF
some benevolent cause in which there was
great local interest. Mr.. Harrison came
with his wife. having all air OF unwilling
ness and being dragged, or, AZ Harrison
vernacular has il, drag into the festlvi.
ties. Instead OF watching the play and
applaudlng, as il was his bounden social
duty 20 do. ne became absorbed in the
study OF proofs Of u iegal brief " hch he
had thoughtiuliy brought along in his
pocket. The indignation Of the perform
ers was great. and the otfense rankies vet
in the minds of surviving stars, the ONLY
excuse for him being chat he had no ap
! probation of art or humor"
There are people who have seen amateur
! theatricals compared TO which the drives;
of briefs was wildly exciting. and these
may argue that his conduct on that histri
onic occasion is susceptible of other ex
plantations.
HYMN OF FREEDOM