The age-herald., 1897-08-10
STORIES HERE AND TIERS

Yes, railroads squeeze the public somes
 times, but the public impose upon the raits
 roads very often.
 Juries like to give iverdicts against rail-
 roads, They do 1t every time they have
 any case whatever to base such verdict | upon
 I well remember suit an old friend of
 mine-and he was a lawyer. by the
 way-brought against a railroad several | years ago. He was riding from Columbia over the Augusta. He was in the smoking car a collision occurred, and he was | thrown against the front seat. He was not
 hurt. but it seems one of the engines ex- ploded, making a fearful noise, and he be- l came intensely excited-so much excited, 1 indeed, that his friends had to take care
 of him, and for two weeks thereafter he
 was confined to his bed Then he brought 1 suit against the railroad in South Caro- 1 lima court. His suit was for $5,OOO. He claimed that his nervous system had been 1 damaged to that extent He made fine I argument in his own behalf explaining in detail to the jury how his nervous system
 had been shocked and how the railroad
 company was responsible for it. | The jury rendered him verdict for the full amount he sued for. 1 remember another peculiar case, but
 in this case the railroad employed a shrewd detective, who saved it from a sure yer | diet of s1O,OOO
 The plaintiff in the case was a woman. | She was hurt in a wreck; was confined to l her bed for several weeks, and for months
 thereafter walked with the aid of crutches. l Through her attorneys she filed suit for | $l0000. Afterwards she went to a well known Florida winter resort and carried
 her crutches with her. | A week after her arrival well dressed
 and attractive middle-aged man registered | as from Boston at the same hotel l He claimed to be suffering from con- sumption. He also claimed to be mil- | honaire. Soon after his arrival he met the l good lady who had been hurt in the wreck | and began to pay assdious attentions to her. A few weeks thereafter he proposed matrmony and was accepted. She did not
 know he'was a. railroad detective. I A week after the acceptance the rascally
 detected posted confederate beneath | the long piazza of the hotel. Soon he and
 
 l the good lady appeared and took seats just
 above where the confederate was stationed. l Then the alleged millionaire, in an appar- l ently honest vein, told the good lady that l his doctor said he was suffering l from a mild type of consumption,
 and as she was a cripple for life and would | not be able to take care of him in his ill., ness, 1t would perhaps be better for them I not to wed. ti Nf
 'T am not cripple" quickly responded
 the good woman q am only using these 1 'crutches until I get a verdict against the | railroad for $10G00. Then I will discard 1 them See here, I will show you''; and with this she threw aside her crutches and l danced a jig up and down the porch. That detective was not killed, but he 1 was mean enough to have been l verdicts are not always what they should | be.
 l I remember a case in an Alabama court where a negro was on trial for larceny. | The case was argued and given to the jury, I When the jury was boiled it was found
 that six were for conviction and six for l acquittal. They argued for several hours
 among themselves, but not juryman | would change. Finally they became hum l gry and thirsty. This hunger and thirst
 grew until one of the jurymen for con-
 viction proposed that he would play game | of seven-up with any one of the opposite l six to see what the verdict should be. He
 won and verdict of conviction was I brought in.
 Apropos of the above, I am reminded of 1 a case which came up before an old justice
 of the peace in Dooly county, Ga.
 This juctice of the peace did not know
 anything about law, but he was a mon- | arch in his section of the county. He had a l little farm, and when he sentenced a ne- gro to Imprisonment it was to work on his | farm | Old Peter a well known negro of the l neighborhood, was brought before this | justice of the peace for stealing ham.
 Two witnesses saw him steal it. and so | testified The case was a simple one of
 facts and there was no doubt about old | Peters guilt.
 | But the old negro went to a shrewd law l yer in that country-Cope Winsow-and engaged him to argue the defense l When he approached Winslow he said:
 "Marse Cope, da's got me up fo stealth
 ham an wants you to 'fend me- | "Well, Peter, did you steal the ham?" ] asked Winslow.
 l "Yes, Marse Cope"
 "Then I can't defend you," said Wins | low.
 "Yes, you will Marse Cope, an you git
 me clar Now take this Marse Cope"
 and he laid upon the table in front of the | lawyer a ten-dollar bill
 Ten-dollar bills in that country were | scarce. Winslow undertook the case. 1 Witnesses swore they saw Peter steal | the ham. The case was made up and was
 a clear case of guilt After the witnesses | had all been heard, Winslow got up and l spoke as follows
 l Your Honor, it is useless for me to ar- l gue this case. You have heard the evil l dence. It is conclusive in as far as it goes, | but for fear that your honor has forgot | ten that paragraph in the old English