Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1895-10-30
HIS WITS SAVED HIM.

"A man who has his wits about
him, remarked learned judge, .'is
greater than he who conquers city,
or words to that effect. for he is
always sure of getting there.' quotes
the. Washington Star.
I'm respect of what?' was the in
quiry, mado with the Interior purpose
of drawing the judge out. for he
knows good many things worth the
telling.
''ln many" he went ON, "but in this
particular case ] refer to an experience
l had when l had been praotioing for
two or three years. and had an idea
that Coke, Blackstone ct al. were scarce
ly in it with me in the ordinary busi-
ness of the courts. There were a lot
of young fellows at our bar. and l anu
free to confess that we did not always
maintain that dignity of the law which
Is one Of its strongest points. Some-
times we even exceeded the limits,
and now and then somebody had fine
to pay tor contempt. We had fun ut
times with visiting lawyers. and the
best practical joker in the lot was
always held in great respect by the rest
of us.
Zone day an old lawyer from the
neighboring county seat was defending
prisoner for stealing COW. believe.
and l had the other side and was quite
sure of making my case. The old fell
low had been in our court many times,
and he was the slowest and longest
talker think l ever listened to. He
didn't seem to know when to let up.
Well. ON this occasion he had been
talking until the young fellows were
worn out, and they thought they would
teach him a lesson and at the same
time help me in downing him. So
office. got blank and an envelope
and fixed up a telegram which read:
Great Caesar, governor, won't you
ever stop talkingp'
''Then they got n boy to bring the
message into the court room. and they
sat around the bar to sec the old man
fall dead when he read the dispatch
The boy came in all right and the
sheriff promptly delivered the message.
or course everything became quiet
when this point was reached and the
lawyer asked permission of the court to
read his message. He tore it open
amid breathless silence, everybody
watching him, and those who were in
the joke expecting an explosion as soon
as the end had been reached. But there
was nothing of the kind. He read it
over slowly once, then more slowly
again, and then he looked up at the
judge and over to the jury.
May it please the cor1t,' he said
in tremulous tones, L have just re-
ceived message announcing the death
of a very near and GEAR relative
who,' and his lip quivered, was more
to me than l can tell, and l must ask
to be excused from speaking further
"This was an entirely unexpected
turn to the affair, and of course the
jokers were powerless to change the
current. They simply sat dumb
founded, while the old fellow was
asked to finish his speech. He finished
very briefly. but it was to the point,
and when my turn came to end the
business was not in it with the grief
stricken man by my side, and the jury
gave the case to my opponent without
leaving the room.
''After it was all over the old law
yer called one of the crowd aside and
said something to him with mild sort
of a smile that resulted in his taking
up collection among us sufficient to
pay for fine dinner for the entire
bar"