The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-09-06
STORMING a TENEMENT
A LAWYERS STORY.

n
thin cold rain had been falling all dav
and the FOOTBALL team came steaming into
their warm quarters, drenched with wa+
and black with mud. Yet, in spite of their
dismal appearance, they were in tremen-
ious spirits. The afternoons practice had
been full of encouragement, and the COACH
es had put new enthusiasm into the com
bat. which had of late become somewhat
perfunctory. AS the players flung off their
soaked canvases and moeskins. which fell
to the floor like plummets and lay in ooz-
ing masses, they broke out into shouts of
exuberant good humor and snatches of
song.
In a corner of the dressing room sat the
graduate coaches, among them the famous
Marshall 81, known in his day as 1.-THE
Cannonbalr'-the most resistless tackle
that ever broke a line. The men of '9Y
who had never seen him before were in
awe of his fame, but not of his appear
ance. True, he had a good, clear eye and
a strong jaw, but he didn't look particu-
1arly big or formidable They had liked
his coaching, which was terse forcible and
TO the point There was a sort of com
forting assurance about him which the
other coaches lacked. Ihey often failed to
direct the team inteligibly, and, when the
players misunderstood, scolded them and
made them nervous. Still, the men of '97
were, the whole, little disappointed
with 1.-THE Cannonball.'' They had expect
ed demigod, and found only a mortal
nay. a man a little less than mortal, for
in their heart of hearts they knew that
their own "Ajax'' Butler could toss the
veteran about like baby. STILL that gave
them an additional feeling of personal Sc
cCrity when the thought of Yale crossed
their minds and added Zest to their en-
joyment of a days work we'll done.
The coaches had talked football so I'M
ceasingly all day long that they were just
finding leisure to ask each other the per-
sona1 questions of old friends meeting after
a long sepa ration.
THE Cannouball,' it seemed,
an attorney and counselor-at- law-"in the
city and county of New York, ST." as he
put it. Warren, So once end rush. and now
the teams physician, was chatting him.
1T must be tame work for an unbrokep
buffalo like you to trot in harness. Don't
you ever feel like tearing loose and throw
ing the witness over the jury box, to re-
lieve your feelings?"
Its not all tame-the law" said 1.-THE
Cannonball," with a grin. Its a mans
work, and a football education is not
wasted on it,
Where does the football come in?' asked
the Doctor.
1T came in strong in one case I had In
fact, 1 invented the flying wedge some
years before Brother Deland, though as 1
filed no claim in the Patent Office, he gets
all the credit"
rs it worth hearing?"
ut iS--just that.
Can we follow it?"
.I'u try to make it plain enough for chill
dren. 1t was thus: A few years ago my
chief had been attorney for builder and
done good work for him. OF course, he had
charged him what it was worth, and
though the builder liked the work, he
didn't like the bill He paid it, but We
didn't see him in the office any more.
zone day he reappeared in a raging hur-
ry He had been economizing on legal adj
vice a%i was enjoying the consequences
The situation, as he sputtered it out, was
this. He had employed contractor to
build an apartment house on West Tenth
street to be completed by Jan. 1, 1892 On
the strength of this contract, he had leased
all the apartments in advance; and 1t was
now Dec. - the house was full of wet plas-
ter. the windows were not in, the steam
fittings were not in, the stairs were not In.
nothing was in His house was just roof
walls, floor and cellar. Only extra work
night and day, would finish it on time; and
if it is not ready by Jan. 1, of course all
his tenants would come him for dam
ages.
1.-THE contractor was making the trouble.
He had seen by election day that he could
not complete the work under his con-
tract and in order to save his damages he
was trying to Brighten the owner into some
modification of the contract, by merely
dawdlng along with the work and not at
tempting to complete it,
To- oil
ent had retained had applied for injunc-
ton forbidding the contractor TO come
upon the premises {for he refused to quit
peaceably), so that the owner might finish
the contract himself. Now an injunction,
Doctor is as delicate matter as search
after the vermiform appendix; If you don't
cut just true or exactly in time, the subject
dies. The Center-street gentleman had the
rudiments of an idea; but his papers were
hopelessly bad-so bad that not only had
his application been denied, but he had
prejudiced the judge then at Chambers till
the mere mention. of the case enraged him.
Something had to be done, or client
would be heavily damaged. SO, after
council of war, the chief resolved taking
possession-peacably or forcibly-at once,
while he worked on a new application for
an injunction. The contractor kept a big
foreman and a dozen laborers on the prem
plastering. The basement windows were
boarded up and they had put in stove
there and kept guard on hand all night.
No one was allowed in the house except on
a permit from the contractor-and between
him and us was oper war.
The chief is a fighter. He telephoned to
Pinkerton, had two detectives sent up to
the office and told me to see that the po-
lice put them in the house and kept them
there till further notice. He had me made
Il special deputy sheriff for the occasion,
and started out.
THE sheriff's badge didn't work as / had
hoped it would. The house-door
slammed in my face, the policeman on the
beat wouldn't act without more authority,
and l badly puzzled.
THE Jefferson Market Police Court was
only couple of blocks away, and the big
clock tower seemed to beckon to me. /
had sudden Inspiration, and hurried over
to the court Judge Keegan was on the
bench, one of our late Tammany jurists-
a bad-tempered old ignoramus, but inor-
dinately vain. / showed him my badge.
said l was peace officer about to enter
on certain premises, that resistance
offered and | feared a riot / talked about
treSpaSs; ftreSpasS on the case (trespasS off
the case, it was), 'trespass quare clausum
fregit,' false imprsonment'-Hea knows
what! To each argument / added the flat