New-York tribune., 1895-01-20
FROM BENCH AND BAR.
GATHERED FROM LAWYERS AND ANON"
THE COURTS.

GATHERED FROM LAWYERS AND A"io-'"
THE COURTS.
Justice Pardon g. Williams. OF the supreme '""''
~ the Win Judicial District, who Will hou tie w
,raordlnarv over and Terminer in this city, peslh
. - ,,o-~,,r il ,ittIe known 10 New-Nork law
,..rs lie has been for ten years Supreme court
Iustice and the members OF the bar OF W"'er'oM -,
where ne lives and OF other parlS o' "'S j"''
district speak in nigh terms o' MS muuS''Y al.
ability He j. nf.y-two years "Id' Is d "duNe VI
Iofferson County and WAS graduated from the ~.
i, .. r.riv.rsiiv He was admitted 10 the bar
In ise, and from 1868 10 1874 was Dstrct-Attorney
80 Jefferson County For the succeeding yen y&eIis &
he practsed his profession as mePT itIiam. NJ US E arm
,d somewhat strict In his demeanor as Judge
lie has had much experience In the srlai oi cina ar
scc,,sed Of bribery and cxtoriion Will take place
before him. Some OF the aDeS Nv l, I oficer
and The District Attorneys office VIII be rere@ntch
Iv EXPERIENCED members Of the stan Inc traiS
viii excite much public attention anl 'he ne Mo,n ,h 81
with interest 10y the New-forh Bar
r,-Iulee George shea Who died last week. was
perhaps better known for his social and literary
Qualities than FOR the impression wmch ne maze
ON the judicial history of the city lie was mos'
interesting conversaiionalisi ana his mind was
filed with a store Of knowledge on subjects iaT
removed from ordinary legal education. lie was
seen at his best in the library, In which he had
gathered remarkable COLLECTION oi curious ana
valuable books manuscripts and furniture II Is
~ h. honeJ thai me autobiography on which he
was al work for some years before MS dtilh i 80
fr clrnpleied that II may be published "a ne "roie
IL Ills ACQUAINTANCE with weil-known men. both
I'm this country and in Europe was arge h ahu i I'e
drnt OF his friendship with these men the volumes
viii be full of entertaining remniscenccte, Judge
Shea WAS chief Judge Of the Marine OF NltF N'urt
for twelve years, beginning IN lS'V
Tine sessions Of the New-York State Bar Asso-
,fiI nnf att Z act
u much larger number of members Of the bar
than usually gather on such occasions. but those
who were IN attendance fairly represented the
best elements in the profession. The papers read
were in some cases thoughtful ana IN others en-
tertaining and Will MAKE. when pubIishrd, val
uabe volume William li. davenport OF HfooN-
hn added an unusual element Of humor TO the
proceedings by relating some OF his experiences
az public administrator j. Newton ffero' the
most active ana industrious member OF IL" ass"-
ciation In carrying out the work or law reform
read several valuable paper. HIS tribute 10
David Dudley Field was warmly received ana H'e
work of revising the code OF civil Procedure on
the line OF Mr. Fields work Was alEhh,'d oy vi
Fiero's efforts Some method should be- dcNlssi
for attractins larger numbers Of lawyers To the
I meetings OF the assocauon. ne lhic OF IN" an
mua sessions Is probably fixed partly because the
Legislature is then In session TO recrlNr Suss's
| lions made 10y the lawyers The middle oi Jan. an
iS"i WIN , 10" v,,. h~j IN the weck preceding
The nrst Monday OF January, many lawyers would
br a: l,isurr and might be- willing to devote
mart of tbeir HOLIDAYS 10 listening the addresses.
Shaking hands win the Judges and eating good
dinner with their fello" nemh - oi ne ass",ltlol
as its President the association has houored one
who ~ Chairman of ihc Jud rihI} '"m'll''r
of tn, upper branch oi The state Legislature.
Cr.ot,.ntv advanced the cause OF useful lcgisla-
lion suggested by prominent members oi thr bai.
The Court Of Appeals disposed last week OF
most - the case. ON tho ctlandcr and began th"
tl... ala. DIR Na
Der Of preferred cases i- large and when th"
general calendar f. reached th" delays in litigation
viii be more apparent than ever before. nor aIt
2ii cases on thr pIeirrrrI ,"'' nnsi ana ,n H s,
OF the cases on the ne" 'a'ndhr nave 'I-
Inc y.turns were Md Onl, q few of the case.
older than October lN'. hnl me nli"D,t ,i
cases which have D. cn more ihan year "n "pi"'I
to The court is large.
An accident which happened lus' seven years
ago has caused litigation which hhs continued
almost steadily ever since. but which may Dee
ended by decision made Last week hy 'h" Court
Of Appeals. John Clcar,. iaborcr. had his l"E
broken at Pier 50 ~. North River. on January y.
lsS7 while assisting ir unloading vessel li' De-
gan an action against the oceanic steam Navigation
Company which owned th" pler IN" cas-" was
tr cd IN the United States Circlit Cour.. and hs ~
appeared that the heavy door which f"A on 'Ieay
was not In good condition. the injured mas sue
c.eled In recovering over fego damage. The
White star Line paid to Cleary the amour OF he
verdict and then began an action neainst D." span
ish company which the pier had been ''ie'l
by the White star Company Will" ii VA noi n'"'Iri
h.h 'he pier under this lease when The a'fii'u.
~ n'',,rrrd I'M. White STAR Company sought io hold
anl expense. IN" ground iha u WAS i-tpon.i'lr
fnr ne condition of the door The General Term
OF the superior Courf held that i could not recover
anything. bat the Court oi Appears i'N"is'I ihr
fIr,tl h.
Term unWingly acquie~ced in mis- judgment au'
the Cour, Of Appeals has SUSTAINED a. The span
ian Comuany had a lew DAYS before tb" accident sub
leased the pier to Other vessel ""n.r- ana y j., pos
currencc Of seven years "s"
Irving Erowne's article in tho January number
Of "The Green Bag" on Charles p'Couof. D. un-
pleasan, reading. opening up the disaFr"'abie
contests which form the part Of Mr. OConors his
tory which member. Of the Bar are most unwilling
| 10 remember Mr. OConor's peculiar ability. his
rigid integrity his generosity 10 his friends and his
frequ.nt succ,sscs receive scaniy notice. while sey
eral pages are devoted to considering bis "disn-
terestedness" in the Forrest divorce case and his
criticisms Of the Court Of Appeals gfOw lnS out oi
the decisions n the Tweed cases. Mr o'onor had
some inirmiue- oi temper am "'i'I il'-'
but they dG obscure the r'inarkah" character.
istics which kept him Tor many year. ~ me @ MTd
of the New YORK Sar. ne sam hu''p'i 81 u.
Green Bag" contains the final nsialmcnt oi John -
Iindsays carefully written sketch % tn" court Of
star Chambc'. HAMPTON J" arson 'oHiilp1ies =
review Of the Of the slo"p ActN" which lasted
10
lion Of some of the most eminent Judges ~ the
early Federal courts.
Governor Altged. of Illinois. has had little favor
among lawyers Of that state since his action In
the cases Of the condemned Anarchists but that
part Of his recent message to the Lcgislnure re-
lating to the reform Of legal procedure IS warmly
aDproved Members OF the Illinois bar have fre-
auenily suggested changes from TN" antiquatcd
forms employed in the courts. but there has been
little advance. Governor hltgcld says that the
system Of Jurisprudence borrowed from Eng
land a century and has scarcely been I'M
proved while In England reforms were begun
seventy five wears ago. and have continued since,
until appellate courts no" r"vers" cases only be-
cause Injustice mas been done and not on unlm-
portant tcchncnliiica. The Governor adds. The
whole system should be revised and simplihed o
that IL Will give our people more prompt ana