The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-01-02
JUSTICE LAMAR.

"a 4teoNresQue Jurist Looks More Like
AsAs&@2s@ Pest Than : Judge.
ESzs 4 noak pacturssque figure on the United
n sA9tg aapfeEne bsnph ID that Of Justice La
zsl ~ ~ physical appearance no is a. littlt
saM4eaA 1Hssne ~ possible. He might be taken
us . poee q tor IN anarchist, but hasdly
az 41A6Re. Hia mannsr in court harmo'
Asn t4sas NttAA hia appsaraacs. He nevor seems
AsNAe l1seA9 AoaMhat Il koinR on. but sits with
Hmo@NeQ espect. sunk In the leather cush-
1o1e ~ 40 big armchair, overwhelmed on
~ 49, N me enolmcus frame OF Justice
A?seylle g q ~ other basking in tho be-
NatA IN ragged tufts Of beard, is usually
teesiAg or his breast. His black
4Atx. barely st0uohed with gray. flows
down over hts shoulders, and his
Syss ~ dreamy and distracted look.
gaee ~ = while. during an unusually strik-
andturn TO = reference. but that is all. He
taxes mo more interest, apparently, i'll the
cases argued before him than any one of
the spectators lined around the room. The
Nissisaippi justice 10 noted for his absence
ct mind. Frequently, when he comes to
the capitol, he tnrns instinctiyely toward
TAG senate chambor, after the habit of
former years, and, II alone. he has been
known to get into the cloak room and pre-
pare 10 hang mp his coat and hat before be-
8su8tAN ~ AO0llAO WUOTo 10 Ice oSCaSAoh
ally he drops n a reverie on TIE bench.
from which he has to be aroused by
one Of his associates, and HIS at
tendent 10 constantly on the watch to
prevent his scandalizing the court by
waking "a Up Ps s9 avenue With,
No was secretary OF the interior he had a
bad habit Of going down to the department
at all hours of the night and getting lost in
the corridors. Sometimes during the day
even he would leave his desk and take a
turn mp and down the corridors for q half
hour al : time. and then, in starting back
to his room, he would almost invariably
turn the wrong way, and impose upon an
accommodating subordinate the task of
guiding linn to his desk. Dui ing these
and submissivsly, apparently oblivious to
the ridiculous situation in which he was
placed.
He 10 i man of moods, says the New
York Recorder. At times he will devote
himself with intense application to the IN
other timss he will shun the semblanoe of
mental effort for = week at a stretch. For
this reason he 10 cratic in his treatment of
the cases handed over to him to review.
He was equally uncertain in his moods
when . member of Cleveland's cabinet. On
one occasion q newspaper max applied to
him Tor permission to see the papers in a
certain .csaa. Of removal from Office, and
met with : ~persIrptory refusal. Having a
pretty intimate knowledge of his whims,
Inc young man a few days later called with
The Same request. Lamar happened to be
buslness trim. and with no recollection
,f the former refusal, he ordered the papers
70 be placed on q table in an adjoining
Then. pointing to them. he said:
There they are, writing paper and every
hing you want. and there" he added, good
pointing to a closet, "is a bottle
II whisky. II you need anything else ring
Tor it,"
The justice enjoys riding. although he
indulge in this pastime to the same
sxtent as three or four years ago. But he
Till keeps a staid and amiable old family
horse, on which he may be seen Oh pleasant
lays ambling along from tho capitol to his
louse on Massachusetts avenue. He trusts
the alertness OF the animal to keep from
Stumbling over fences, and he has been
een more b once jogging past content
IDLY. with an umbrella tucked complacently
his arm.
1t is a tradition of the court that the JUS
ices shall not meddla in party politics,
md in q general way this tradition is re- :
pected. ~ !