New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1897-01-27
Easy Chair. \ \


Brambel, on the prospect OF securing
several milli@n dollars, had promised, as
a GIFT to Ftise tChicago s Northwestern
Railroad Cnapany, to paint their depot
at Sleepy Eye, inside rs we'll 'as out, l
readily knew what allied him. L saw at
once that unless something was done for
him, his condition would soon become
pitiable. concluded that any man, up
on whom wealth had been lavished as the
reward of geEius, who would waste the
least portion of it in an act of charity
to the dividend declaring system of the
<Vanderbilts, had shut one plsoeSin store
for him; and that nothing but immedi-
ate repentance or death could prevent
him from going e',ere. I certaiGly have
llsoped, therefore, for the sake Of himself
and his friends, that he may yet:ae per-
suaded to abandon his misguided inten-
tons and once more be restored TO rea
son. Rather no m6Mions at all, than that
they should Ike the ,means of filling the
mind of genius with such strange shall
lueinatiors.
The other night chanced to play a
game vt whist with two Of our cleverest
legal lights as opponents. Now a law
yer is naturally good whist player, and,
as he improves as a lawyer, he improves
in whist. Why? Because good law
yer must necessarily have the power Of
calculation; he must be analytical; lie
must he quick to reap Ri advantages;
quick to observe and accurate in draw
ing conclusions. Just so ia whist. The
good whist player goes beyond all rules;
he draws inferehces from all sources; he
examines the countenance aud actions
Of every player; notes the method Of
picking up and playing every card; gath
ers conclusions from every express
sion of surprise, of certainty or chagrin;
observes the manner of counting tricks
watches every sign of hesitation, eager
ness or disgust; and, combining all, he
comes into knowledge of the contents
of every hand and plays with precision
and skill that is absolutely inexplainable
to the man who has not yet acquired
this calculating power. Now, on the
evening in question, my opponents were
both good lawyers, and suppose it was
for that reason that I stood no more
show of winning than would woman.
Speaking about lawyers, reminds me
that hung around the court room a
cool deal last week, and one of the Pc
culiar things that noticed there was
the ease with which lawyers succeed
in having evidence ruled out on the
ground that it is incompetent and irrel-
alive, or something of that sort. What
often appears to be best evidence to
the intellect is rejected for the reason
that it isn't proper cross examination
Or not in compliance with the antlquat-
ed but we'll established, rules of court.
This practice may prove the best as a
general rule, but it certainly admits of
frequent errors. 1t permits criminals to
escape on techn,cality in court pract-
lie, who undoubtedly deserve punish
ment and who would be more apt to
receive it were it not for these barr iers
to probing every case to the bottom.
! have always entertained the idea
that self denial was a virtue, more or
less unknown to public officials but l
must confess that this notion was for a
| time dispelled last week when the dis
trict court clerks Of the state got togeth-
er and recommended the reduction, by
| one-half, of the fees now received for is
suing citizens papers. Just. think Of it!
The law now allows them 50 for tins
kind of service, but here they go to work,
all by themselves, and ask that they
be allowed only half as much! Their ac-
ton was so unlike anything had ever
heard of, that out of curiosity I began
to look about for precedent. 70 my
surprise found that not since the days
when Julius Caeser thrice refused a
crown has the world witnessed similar
display of heroic self-sacritice. It is true
that Hamilton Fish once declined a SAL
airy as secretary of state, but even in his
case it was merely the action of An indi-
vidual Here we have a whole lot Of
them, and everyone apparently moved
! Inv y anirit that transcen6s t,anoroe;+ :,