The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-09-02
PoRTIA LAW CLUB IN ARMS.
MRS. FOLTZ REAL SARCASTIC.

=: \ op&es couldn't be mentioned in the same
.,:preath with the case of Foltz VS.. Cotfey at
+: st Nicholas Hotel last night. There
!. : weren't any Topsies, but there were
:. PGTIlas Of all sizes and ages, from the
-; * can of the club. 10 her scarlet mortar
boaEd and ensanguined robes to the neo.
Fhyte in flowing white and hair coiffed
: .dqgaressa.
:: They had all assembled at the first
Teetlng Of the Portia Law Club after the
SKINNER vacation. and the word had been
=. passed around that Judge Coffey of the
Martin will case, of the Probate Court, of
the interview on women clients, was 10 be
:. toasted by Mrs. FoltZ There was no
-. doubt in the minds Of the ladies of the
=: elpb and their guests that Coffey was a
- bold, bad man, and, my! what a skewer-
= lin e and splitting and trusting they would
-: RIve::him. How Mrs. FOlz had her war
. : pa in on pardon. ladies, only figure of
us peecb-and how she would pepper and
salta6d haste him! What spuuenng of
:: the gravy of satire and sarcasm there
would be s his tender carcass was being
roasted beautiful brown.
= :. a MD IL IS FnllZ was In be the chef with
. all: the ladies' of the Portia as her assist
an Is; and my! while the bold. bad Cotfey
-: was a-roasting how pleasant it was to
: think tba' dozen of the pupils of Mrs.
Eilen Coursen- Roeckel would sing paens
.<+6f Victory.
:. 1t was plain to all the ladies that Coffey
Z had no grounds for his Interview. They
W guild settle him this time; and, when the
= paElQrs were full of the ladies and their
quests, and the pupils had caroled, and
: Nj. Arthur JOhannsen had played valse
: Of NIeuxteHps, and Mrs. f ed Barto had
=: Tecited ''Prrdta." all eyes were turned on
=. tile central IN trance. Through it marched
Mrs. NJ. L. Harrison.
= IT ain the registrar" she said to a re-
- Porter, 'and l shall open the meeting by
saying sOmething-oh, awfully nice and
: short,
-: She smiled divnely and looked Just as
sweet and nice, you know, as if she wasn't
: paving the way for the grinding of Coffey
:: as: she assembled the dais-they called ii
oars; anyway, in the time of the original
:: PQrtla. And when she had finished
: Through the door marched Mrs. Foltz. pre-
coded by a boy bearing a lamp, her face
fusf9ed with excitement, looking particu-
: LARRY bright in her red. red robes. Her
= appearance was greeted with cheers, and
- THE ex: parte proceedings began.
= i -SQme three weeks ago il seems the Judge
-: had granted an Interview, in which he
- St<ted that women as clients were sus-
:: 1ielous, unEelia BILE. unreasonable, migrate
. ::10l ana vulgar minded"
= HHSuch are the charges" said Mrs. FoItz,
10 which we are called to plead, and for
%. and :on behalf Of the daughters and sweet
hearts, the wives and widows and mothers
. of men, answer not guiltyP
III. Judge COffey stands as the sole witness
:" under this indictment. Other Judges in
=. .terYiewed refused TO concur. Still Judge
.Ggfey's position gives him apparent
weight. But the real value of his testi.
-: mony depends not upon the accident of
:. his position. but upon his experience and
capacity for measuring the facts within his
:: knowledge.
-: :. ':,Judge Coffey has been about twelve
:. Years Oh the bench, and during that time
=: fhecGps tiiutiOn has forbidden him 20 prac-
:: ttce law. and l assume he has not done
=. SUI Prior to that he had a desk in Mr.
:: Plunketrs office. and l doubt not had an
:: ardent desire to practice law But as
=: fact in no general sense did he practice
= : law at all. Anyway. the most diigent
search liz our court records dscloses that
the then plain J. V. Coffey had just one
=, woman client Mr.. Coffey must have DOS
= sessed that peculiar faculty of rousing all
=. Der belligerency or been singularly unfor-
s-tunate in his explaining his management of
her. business, for 1t is told as an open Sc
= cret that many a time and oft when her
- warllke tread was heard in the hall he
-.bolted the inside door and slid down the
;: pannisters for he back street. Doubtless
-. this. " oman was a Tartar.
In abort, Judge Coffey permits this one
=. woman to so ill his soul with terror that
-, her image excludes every other type of
woman client. To him there is but one
:: type-the one woman client, the terror of
. his youth.
*':ButeVen If Judge Coffey had general
experience his very nature prevents him
:. giving al unprejudiced judgment. He is
:: man of quick feeling and is peculiarly
: sensitive to conditions. He takes on read
:: lily the color of his surroundings. His emo
=. tions come readily to the front and respond
= with singular alertness to every emotional
q. wave that passes by. His judgment will,
:. therefore, take the color OF the passing
:. emotion. 1t is because Of this that this
: interview and the sentiments contained
in it became possible. He had for days sat
in the Martin will case. The belligerency
-. Of the defendants guardian had aroused
=: him, iTritated him, almost maddened him.
he was attempting to govern woman VINO
was an dUOmdty III COuil anu fIuldtiUn
= Of all the laws of her sex. The situation
was trying to any one. 1t was doubly so
to him, and in the resentment that grew
- out of the preplexing condition. when his
whole soul was filled with antagonism at The
oeliigerent ami contumacious woman be-
lore INN, he allowed her 90 become the
.,1pe Oh all women and in an outward calm.
pu9, IN an inward storm, he uttered the
WORDS OF the interview"
From her own experisnce and that of
..0sue! attorneys In ths city. Mrs. Foltz
continued, against that Of Judge Cofrey
ana MS lone tartar client" She conclnded
that women were better pavinS cIisnl
than men. that thew are no more sn.n J,.I,,
'than men. and that since the dawn Of n.
tory the characteristic of the sa "" .n VI n,o
IN men. All the great masters of 90 hn =, vs.
nature-Shakespeare. Scott. Hnan "ul pSI
zac-unite in making faith and oo"s, Dal-
the characteristics of the sen II O'unuenee
ter of unreliability, she said thew ame mat
more guilty han men. Asipstano"le no
ing that women are not unpratey,', "o"-
cited instances coming under .Jndae - que
fey's own observation. where the ro wi