The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1892-06-11
a CANE wAear rAE wlNNER Los1.


He won His Case, but He Made Up His
Mind That There was No Fun in 1t.
Il makes the man who would rather
20 to law than go on good old time
hay ride mad enough to lose n suit, but
when he brings suit, wins his case, gets
damages and then finds that he is ont of
pocket a fine round sum, he can give the
ordinary man points and discount him
besides at the Diogenes game Of hating
the world. One New Yorker got taste
of a legal dose the other day which is
likely to make him hesitate about using
the same prescription again.
/ He wanted damages from man who
/ he declared had injured his property.
/ He wanted all the damages he could get
/ too. He was earnest enough to insist
that the damages ought TO be run w in
the thousands. Now if he had been con-
tented to take his case into a district
court this story would probably never
have been written. But as he estimated
his wrongs not by single, plain, every
day "cart wheel" dollars, but in blocks
of 900 each, he was forced TO take his
suit into the court of common pleas.
Everything went swimmingly for his
side. His lawyer proved beyond doubt
that the defendant had caused damages
to the plaintiffs property. The judge be-
heved it, the jury believed it, in fact the
defendant himself and the defendants
counsel believed it.
If ever there was clear case Of
damages it was right there in the com
mon pleas court And so the plaintiff
got verdict for forty-nine dollars
But it is one thing to get a verdict and
another thing to take what goes with
it. 1t happened in this case that If the
defendant received a verdict for less
than fifty dollars he was liable for costs
He did not know much about law, and
though he was disappointed at the
amount of the damages, he looked tn
, umphantly at the other side. He wa
d disgusted to see the calm smile ON the
! face of the defendants lawyer. But {
r moment later there was gnashing o
teeth when his counsel told him abou
the costs
Il have to pay the costs, do Il" hi
snapped.
- Eyes"
/. after l have won my case have t,
e pay costs for the other side:'
a "That is the law
"Well, it's mighty nice law tina
makes the winner lose, amt it, Wha
do you thinl, ] went to law for? Do yol
think / wanted to spend money for fun
Do you think after that fellow ha
spoiled my property l want to pay hin
for doing it? What do you think / am
anyway muddy Drained, cross eyed
half hearted lunatic2 How much ar
r the costs?'
t "Three hundred and sixty dollars"
s "Three hundred and sixty dollarsl
5 win case and get damages and los
i $31l, do l? | can substract the amour
5. of the damage from the cost and max
!. out a check for the balance, can ]
d Well, suppose | can so long as l hav
n to- But / want you TO understand tina
IS the next time go to law it will be be
D. cause / am q candidate for a lunati
asylum The next time have you TO
e a lawyer it will be when I'm the de
fendaut in a case like this and want t
lose.
do you hear?" he screamed. "Whe
n | want to lose I'll have You, say, S
l. that can come out ahead of the game
IS And the next time a man damages IN
r property I'll invite him to come in an
= knock the roof off the house I'll hav
ar him use my piano for toboggan on tn
!, hall stairs. I'll invite him to play
" game of tenpins in my dining room an
m will use my great-grandmother's te
II service for pins, and if he wants to jun
{, through our 5000 japanese screen like
- circus rider he can do it,
M "Then maybe he'll want me to su
n: him, SO that l can get stuck for cost
again. And III sue him; oh, yes, I
sue himr and he snorted so loudly tha
N the court usher's afternoon nap was di
turbed.-New York Tribune.