The record-union., 1893-10-21
MISSOURI JUSTICE.
How 1t is Administered in the Rural
Districts.
a Citizen Arrested, Tried, Convicted
and Landed in Jail Within the
space of Three Hours.

Space of Three Hours.
That justice is freely dispensed to ali
corners in the petty tribunals of Jackson
County, known as the Justice Courts, no
one will deny, says the Kansas City
Journal, but in the particular case OF
George Miller, who now views the outer
world from the other side of the steel
bars of the Jackson County Jail, there
seems to have been too much justice, too
speedily as well as too unequally divided.
Arrested, tried. convicted and landed in
the County Jail all within the space of
about three hours, and for a crime OF
! which it is yet doubtful if he was guilty.
such is Miller's history. And to make
bad matter worse the complications ofthe
/ law are such that it is highly improbable
that ne can regain his liberty, even should
he establish his innocence of the charge
placed against him.
The case has its humorous as well as its
serious side, and for its unique features
and original legal methods. Mlller's
trial is probably without an equal in the
court history OF Missouri. 1t seems that
/ Miller, who is young man Of good char
acter, had been employed i'll Main
street restaurant until illness compelled
him to abandon his position, though he
was almost penniless. In his dilemma
he found a friend in the person OF Ed
ward j. Froisey, who offered to support
him until his recovery If he would take
care of Froisey's little farm, on the south
! side of the Blue River, near Troost ave-
nue..
This proposition Miller gratefully ac-
cepted and the next day was installed IN
the Froisey household, where also lived
| Froisey's aged mother.
| All went well with Miller until last
Saturday morning, when, as he stepped
! from The back door, he observed all 1ndI-
vidual, unknown to him, just leaving the
! hen house with fat pullet under each
arm. He had been particularly cautioned
| by Mr.. Froisey to keep a lookout for
chicken thieves, and he thought this an
opportunity to display his valor and
earn his patrons everlasting gratitude.
Hold on, there. young teIIer," he
shouted; where you goin' with them
chiclIens?"
The stranger looked tough rs he re-
! piled: ''Say, is dat any OF your funeral?"
IF you don't drop them chickens I'll
! blow the roof Of your head off," yelled
! Miller, making a dash for the Kitchen,
! where loaded revolver was lying.
| DQb With IO lOd ppOctAONA VIZ ~
was making rapid tracks for the gate, and
he did not fire on him. Half an hour
later he was considerably astonished
when d Constable hove IN sight and ar
rested him on charge of assault with in
| tent to kill. Having no choice In the
matter he went with the constable.
| Now the thinly settled and purely agri-
cultural region lying south OF the Blue
! boasts the presence OF duly elected JUS
tice of the Peace, a well-to-do farmer, by
1 name D. p. Antony, and as legal proceed
] ings in "Jedge" Antony's court are by
no means as plentiful as the bull-frogs IN
| his meadow, that official prepared to
make the most Of the case.
He had no courtroom ready, but the
! spreading branches Of giant apple tree
/ in the orchard near by served the pur-
! pose admirably, and here the court was
established with the soft side OF log for
/ bench and seats enough on the grass
/ for the thousands of spectators who
might or might not choose to attend.
Bring in the prisoner" thundered the
! Judge. ~ And straightway the Constable
! appeared dragging his victim unWill-
! ingly to a seat at the other end of the log.
! The complaint was read in the Constable's
most dOletul tone and the Judge StrOked
! his whiskers and meditated. "AhaW
! quoth he, this, [ see, is serious case.
| We must have jury" 1t was the
| prisoners pTeToSdtINe 70 a5A lOA d Jui y IL
! he wanted 1t, but that made no differ
ence The Constable sailed forth and
soon returned with ''six good men and
| true" five farmers and d workhouse
guard, recruited from the road near by
where gang Of county prisoners were at
work. The six solemnly arranged them
selves in a semi-circle on the grass before
the Judge and the trial ~ began.
| Miller briefly told his story, and then
| tho Sfr3pupr whom he DallnVG1 UUIItV Of
! the scene and told his story. He claimed
/ that he owned the chickens, they having
wandered into Froisey's yard, and he was
! simply recovering his property. That
! ended the trial, and the Jury thereupOn
! filed into the jury-room, the cleared
space beneath an adjoining apple tree,
where they were speedily joined by the
Judge and Constable, and together they
arranged the verdict. When they re-
| turned 10 the courtroom Miller was in
! formed that he had been convicted of
threatening to kill" and that he had
| been fined S25 and costs, amounting in
all to $50 40. He could not pay, and so
Judge Antony tore a leaf from a note
book loaned him by one of the jurors and
made out his commitment, ordering
Marshal Stewart to confine Miller in the
| County Jail until the fine and costs were
/ paid.
And then court was adjourned, the
! farmers returning to their wheat fields,
! the guard to his prisons and Miller was
taken away by the Constable, and within
an hour the door of the County Jail
! opened to receive him.
!