Arizona republican., 1894-12-29
SAVED BY TWO INCHES.
An Observation From a Prison
 CTS Standpoint.
A Tnree-Sided CnnteSt for the Medal for BreVity and Abrupt
 ness is Declared Draw.

A vile aspersion was cast upon the police court yesterday by a gentleman named Murphy who sometimes avoids ting the name of Grady. MT. Murphy or Mir. Grady is frequently in police court. not as an auditor, or as a person inspired by curiosity. He cares noth ing about police courts and in fact has an unfavorable opinion of them. Ones opinion of a court is of course an en- tirelv personal matter. The expression of it is what gives it a public and offensive character. But when Mr. Murphy alias Grady goes to police court he usually goes at the suggestion, in- stigation or solicitation of somebody else. Yesterday Marshal Molloy was at the bottom of it.
 Another gentleman named Jack Burke was also in attendance. A rumor had in some manner reached Marshal Molloy that Messrs. Murphy and Burke were incubuses or incubi on society. That is they were not contributing in any way to the general wealth, that indeed they were not contributing even to their own support, and that, therefore. the city would be richer without them.
 They were taken into custody and subsequently, into the presence of the recorder, where. the marshal detailed in terse, succinct style the obi bjact and general nature of the rumors affecting Messrs. Murphy and Burke.
 If the marshal's style is terse and succinct, the recorders methods may be described as terser and succincter No basket is maintained in which to throw waste bits of time and language which are broken of during the pro gress of trial in police court. There is no such waste. 50 before Messrs. i Murphy and Burke were aware that court had been opened it was all over and they had been tried, convicted and l sentenced to fifteen days.
 | MT. Murphy manifested disposition to inquire how it had been done and to 1 express private views upon police court rules. He has good voice, an artesian 1 flow of language and brogue which dls- closes his ancestry. He naturally likes to exhibit all these gifts. He con- menced to uncover them. In the meantime Marshal Molloy was rap- idly ilnpelling him toward the corridor which by a circuitous and downward route leads to the city iail
 He hadn't time to say anything until he reached the door sill which separates 1 the court from the corridor and then he only had time to remark that he had i been "KangaroOed, by which 1t was understood that he meant to compare the police court Of Phoenix with those tribunals which frequently constitute a feature Of iails and in which the judge is usually the most hardened criminal in the institution.
 1 Recorder Schwartz arose from his seat and approached MT. Murphy not with the intent of doing him bodily harm but to ascertain what position he exactly occupied when he uttered the disrespectful word. It was found that he was standing with the balls of his feet on the sill, his tees slightly pro- ! jecting into the court room. The greater portion of the body however was in the corridor, and without the jurisdiction of the court. Therefore the original sentence of fifteen days was allowed to stand. Had Mr. Murphy Ethough, been standing two inches farther south he would have gotten fifteen years.
 But it really made no difference to MT. Murphy whether his sentence Was years or days. He escaped within four hours. He was assigned to the busi- ness of chopping municipal wood. To insure his presence at meals he was at tached to heavy iron ball by means of long chain. The officer in charge turned his head to spit and at the close of the expectoration MT. Murphy was gone. He had withdrawn his foot from the iron ring. So after all his inn prisonment rivaled the proceedings of the marshal and recorder in terseness and succinctness.