The Irish standard., 1896-11-14
'WEXFOR;D.

terry, on the 23d ult.,s the. funeral cortege
being Representatives. all classes, and
very large. ss+ E.
1. SCARED THE JUDGE.
Legal Procedure in Early Days: in the
]- 1a Northwest ,S.
Is Strange and unaccountable. reasons get
men together in: concerted movement.
There was once a grand jury. up in, Halves
county, iii 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 it is under any cir
Gums tances IN the world to mass men into
coordination 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, 9. saddle blan-
ket over his head as he walked up town to
keep his vivid bushes from signalling the
down boats to stop. This was especially
TRUE in the case of Hanford. the county
seat, and it got worse as you progressed
into the other settlements. The county
seat was sat down in by a sort of general
riff-rah Of bull whackers, steamboat rous-
nationalities. There were also others
whom 1t was matter of pain to mention.
The conglomeration madd the night an
orgy with sides and end gates painted red
ana the voice OF virtue was as the voice
of adeaf, mute.
Into this county seat one day came
Judge ngton-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
offscourtngs of the earth to- be hanged.
The sheriff had the jail packed with GRIM
mats OF. all vicious sorts, and there was
general clanlor for debut of the dis
trict, court SO that the population outside
the jail might have decent chance to get
inside, where it belonged Judge Airing
ton therefore Travelled up the Missouri
river; and, being met at the landing by a
band of distinguished villains, was escort
ed UP town to the hotel, which was. a sa-
loon swell, ami in q room in the second
story of ,;s:hich, 1t had been designed that
court should be held A sort of platform
was put UP at one end of the room, the
support thereof being beer kegs, and the
work Of impa neEng a grand jury was en-
tered upon. The grand jury exhausted a
large share Of the population of the town,
and the sheriff was obliged to- liberate two
distinguished desperadoes. from the Jail
to complete the panel; but as these two
instead of horse stealing, this was consid-
cred ali right The remainder Of the jury
was built UP of half-breeGls. bull-w hackers,
.rbusters, freighters and dance-l1aN keep
ers, and when 1t lined up&before Judge Ar
liIlgton for Instructions before going down
stairs 70 the room in the rear: of the sa-
loon for deltberation on prospective indict-
.a1ents it was the ardest-looleing throng
that ever got together in the holy name
Of justice. e " y ;.<.Ntt
90 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
jurpws in sthe first hour. and when Enoch
sWeathefWaX was &triumphantly indicted
on ssi1ty-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 the
town, 1t was shortly after. this that the
first bullet tipped up through the floor and
past the left ear OF the judge. A few. mo-
ments later another and half a dozen 9TH
ers followed and to the Judge it seemed
that an inverted rain storm Of bullets had
struck that region and his place was else
where. He did not know just what the
men were fighting about, but guessed it
to be the third count In the Middleton in
dictrnel1t- AS matter Of fact, they were
not fighting at ALL: but merely celebrat ting.
the event Of the court sitting, and although
the bullet which went through the feshy
part$*os. Judge Arlington's left. leg was
productive. OF some pain, still itawas meant
solely. as a witness Of the esteem in which
he was held. The Judge didn't know that,
and, locking out OF the window, he saw the
Rosebud coming down the river. With
out a word to anybody he made running
jump and cleared that window like a sort
of forensic antelope. Twenty minutes later
he was on the Rosebud, and had craWled
as far up on the. bow as possible SO as to
get out of town the quicker.
+ He had not waited to direct the sheriff
to adjourn court. The court was abandon
ed by him while still in session. The legal
ly constituted grand jury was not GUY
tailed gifts powers, but was left to grind
cheerily on in It's murderous way as
though life was one. grand holiday OF In
dictnents and there#Wa no such thing as
acl0sed hunting season. The jury accepted
til AT view Of it, and when the judges
absence was made known to its members
the foreman simply shot a. 'volley out Of his
revolver: and declared that the powers
and authority of the i1uuistorial body
could not be swindle away from 1t by the
stanpeding of any tenderfoot +jurist who
ever ran to catch a boat to get out OF the
society Of perfect gentlemen. r.
J~''|s
Days passed into weeks, and Indictment
followed Indictment. There was no court
and no. semblance Of usual court practices
and customs, but Hardesty; the foreman,
insisted that it was the jury's' duty, as
American citizens, to maintain its unity.
After a while the body had indicted every
body against whom complaint had been
fled; and then 1t began to broaden its
scope It entered upon the fashion of ii1-
dieting IN a speculative way, just to see
what there was It. A man would come
to town with a wagon loaded with freight
and the Jury would hear Of It. and set to-
gether and indict him for cruslty to ami
imals aor something. and confiscate his
property. and if he made any complaint
the foreman would. sit down and reason
with him and show him that he ought to
be glad that the body had not indicted
him for horse stealing and murder. or
some offense punishable by g painful and
death. Steamboats, were Wis
led by videtes for the Jury, and passen-
gers were hauled into the back room and
expedi tiously indicted for as much prop
erty as they possessed, and il any OBJ
jscted the foreman was at great pains. to