The Lamar register., 1898-02-12
SAVED THE DAY FOR HIMSELF
AND HIS LAWYER.
Wsa His Honor's Admiration - The
Andacity of the Gay. RoniekinE. I'm
pertnrb2bIs Patsy" Was Too Much
fsr ths Court to Withstand.

~k4tcs atlOTuey ID. ~ JaChsOu III lhc
Memphis Commereial-AppeaL The
sherir there, Capt. w. T. White. now
dead, gallant confederate soldier and
one of natures noblemen. met me on
the street and told me there was man
eon1nsd In the county Jail who wished
% see me. / was then 81 years old,
but would readily have passed for IL.
The clients name was Patrick Done
van. but he was commonly called
Patsy" Donovan. Going TO the jan
found man from 30 to IS years old.
an Intelligent. niee-iooking, devil-may-
cars lrishman. When l entered ne
erected me with Good evening. miss.
Pretending not to have heard him ad-
eress me as miss" and assuming much
dignity / told him l was the lawyer
whom the sheriff had promised TO send
Mn For answer he exclaimed: We'll,
I'll be d-d." and burst out laughing
laughing uproariously. l was irri-
eated to degree by this reception.
" beg your pardon. judge; it's a go.
You do look pretty young, but Tom
fthe sherinD says you are = daisy. Get
ne out OF here and my folks. who've
gut plenty. will pay you well for your
uouble." He told me his story. He
wAs skilled mechanic from Keokuk,
Iowa. and had been employed by the
governnlent In constructing a lock on
the hu-sel Shoals canal near Florence.
~ had shot the physician in charge OF
those works. This physician was
brother OF the United States engineer
IN control Of the canal construction,
aAd II was evident that the prosecu-
uon would be bitter. sparing no palms
or rxpense to secure a conviction. en-
aiIing long penitentiAry sentence.
The doctor and my client were both
men of reckless courage and oysrbear-
fng temper. both sometimes looked on
The wine when II was red. and both. l
sinfsrrsd. were striving for the favor
o. the same woman. clash between
tsem soon came. They had a savage
quarrel at their boarding house at din
nsr. The doctor being armed and my
client unarmed the latter had 20 sub
nit to unlimited abuse and would have
ben shot but for the interference OF
several men who were present Soon
aitsr nightfall of the same day my
client went TO the Doctors once and
rlsspins room. about a mile distant and
u secluded place. and, knocking at
The door. was hidden by the doctor to
ceme In. Entering he found the doc
tor putting on a shirt and thus for the
nonent disabled and. reuiarking.
'Y0u had the drop on me this morn
fng. but I've sot II on you now" fred.
dxikins the doctor In the neck and in
1fcfing a dangerous but not fatal
wcond. The case soon came on for
trial. While the defendants version
of ths occurrence as he had given It to
me- vas very different from the one in
the foregoing. yet II was so improbable
n Itself and so inconsisten: with the
attendant circumstances that Il looked
hke . sentence of ten years was in
evitAbie II the case was then tried.
10 gain a postponement an objection
w. interposed to the competency OF
The court on the ground that he was
related by afinity to the prosecutor.
This failed. Next an earnest effort
Wa made for a continuance. The
state fought this aggressiveIy, thus
giving warning of what was to come,
and It. too. failed. In sheer despera-
ton I then whispered to my client,
"Yonr real name is Patrick, not Pat
sy,' ISN'T it," CThe Indictment named
him patsy" Donoyan.) Then, moy-
ing to quash the Indictment for the
knisnomer, wrote out the defendants
Fsfidavit in support. The affidavit
stated that the defendants name was
Patriok. and that he was commonly