The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-11-08
COURT ON THE FRONTIER.
His Honor Took Fright and Fled for
His Life.

HIS Lie.
From the Chicago Times-Herald.
Strange and unaccountable reasons get
men together In concerted movement.
There was once a grand jury up in Halves
county. in one of the Missouri river terri
tories which-but perhaps you would bet
ter hear the whole story and then you will
understand how easy 1T is under any cir
cumstances in the world to mass men into
combination for some definite object. In
those old territorial and steamboat days
the population of Halves county, though
limited in quantity, was swift in motion
and morality. A man who dismounted
from the lower Missouri steamboat at the
levee was obliged to wear a saddle blanket
over his head as he walked up town to
keep his vivid bushes from signaling the
down boat to stop. This was especially
true In the case of Hensford, the county
seat, and 1t got worse as you progressed
into the other settlements. The county-seat
was sat down In by a sort Of general riff
raft of bull-whackers, steamboat rousters
and horse thieves of all northwest nation
alities. There were also others whom 1t
was a matter of pain to mention The
condemnation made the night an orgy
with sides and end gates painted red and
the voice Of virtue was as the voice of a
deaf mute.
Into this county seat one day came
Judge Arlngton-now a federal judge in
that same Dakota country-to hold a
small amount Of court, and to sentence
some three dozen representatives
Of the off-scourings of the
earth to be hanged. The sheriff
had the jail packed with criminals
of all vicious sorts, and there was a gem
eral clamor for debut of the district
court so that the population outside the
Jail might have descent chance to get
inside, where 1t belonged. Judge Airing
ton therefore, Travelled up the Missouri
river, and, being met at the landing by
band of distinguished villains, was es-
corted up town to the hotel, which was a
saloon as well, and In n room I'm the sec
ond story Of which It had been designed
that-court should be held. sort of plat
form was put up at one end of the room,
the support thereof being beer kegs, and
the work Of impaneling a grand jury was
entered upon. The grand jury exhausted
a large share of the population of the
town, and the sheriff was Obliged to lib
crate two distinguished desperadoes from
the jail to complete the panel; but as
these two were held for merely incidental
murder instead Of horse stealing, this was
considered all right The remainder of
the Jury was built up Of half-breeds, bull
whackers, rousters, freighters and dance
hall keepers, and when ii lined up before
Judge Arlington for instructions before
going down stairs TO the room in the rear
of the saloon for elaboration on pros
pectlve indictments 1t was the hardest
looking throng that ever got together in
the holy name of justice.
do not know exactly what occurred In
the rear room behind the saloon before the
firing began. 1t Is certain that seven
rounds of liquor were served to the grand
Jurors In the first hour. and when Enoch
Weatherwax was triumphantly indicted
on sixty-two accounts for horse and cattle
stealing, the barkeeper threw open the in
tervening door and asked the jurors TO
kindly take possession of the stock, the
occasion being considered by him as one
of the great moments in the history OF me
town 1t was shortly after TINS that the
first bullet tipped up through the noor ana
past the left ear Of the judge. few mo-
ments later another and half a dozen oth-
ers followed, and TO the Judge 1t seemed
that an inverted rain storm Of bullets had
struck that region and his place was else
where. lie did not know just what the men
were fighting about, but guessed II to be
the third count In the Middleton indict-
ment As q matter of fact, they were not
lighting at all but were merely celebrating
the event Of the court sitting, and although
the bullet which went through the heshy
part of Judge Arlington left leg was pro-
ductive Of some pain stil It was meant
solely as a witness Of the esteem In wnlch
he was held. The judge didn't know that
and. looking out Of the window, he saw
the Rosebud coming down the river With
out a word 20 anybody he made running
Jump and cleared that window Ike sort
Of forensic antelope. Twenty minutes lat
er he was on the Rosebud. and had crawled
as far up on the bow as possible so as 70
get out OF town the quicker
He had not waited to direct the sheriff