The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-12-02
HS Now At 53s =: The Weather in Law - Wit

( the man. After had shown the off,
! eial record, and proved that it had not
+ rained the night before. but the night af-
ter the fire, and that the wind had been
/ blowing steadily from the southeast, the
/ old farmer remained quiet. and let the
! case go in his favor; but when the trial
+ was over he came up to me and said:
% I amt sayin that ] don't feel CRATE
+ ful to We fur standip' up fur me bout
that rain an wind. but I wouldn't per
/ jure myself to save no man II did
rain the night before. and It bowed all
fred hard from the northwest that
day
IT did not attempt to convince the
man OF his error but put It down as an
/ other evidence Of the freakishness Of
memory In regard to the weather. Since
the trick of calling the weather man in
10 testify in trial cases has become gen
orally known, lawyers are more wary
about letting their clients testify about
the weather, and in cases in which the
conition Of the weather would be of i'm
portance lawyers come in and consult
me- in advance. Usually lawyers from
both sides come here and ask me to look
up the weather conditions for such and
such date. They are such frequent
callers that I can usually spot them be-
forehand, and later, when the trial comes
up 7 notice with interest the way the
weather question Is handled Of course.
7 am ready to give this information,
because If means probably if either side
is not satisfied. shall be called up in
court and made to produce my docu-
ments. IT is much easier to give the
lawyers their information in the Office
than to be hauled up in court There
are many civil cases in which the condi-
ton Of the weather must largely deter
mine the verdict For instance. when a
man sues a contractor for poor work.
the negligence Of the later may be proven
by showing that the weather was so
cold that nc plastering put on the walls
would be safe A dozen other contracts
depend for their faithful execution upon
the weather. Frozen fruit might cause
endles litigation If the weather man did
not step in and show to the jury the ex-
act condition Of the weather and the
range Of the thermometer Probably
hundred cases a year Of this nature are
practically settled to the satisfaction of
the juries by the testimony of weather
experts. Even in murder and similar
high crimes we are frequently called up
on TO corroborate the testimony of wit
nesses. You see. It might make de
cided difference in some cases whether it
had rained or not I remember one case
In which an attempt was made to con
vict man Of murder. and the prosecu-
ton went so far as to introduce false
testimony to prove the case It was
some six months after the crime. and
nearly everybody had forgotten the met
geological conditions. This testimony was
to the effect that the footprints eound
in the soft earth correspondent in every
respect to those Of the accused. I was
called upon to prove and did so. that
this testimony was all part Of a con-
spiracy to convict the man. for the tenn
.perat ure had been below zero for two
days and nights in succession at the
time the crime was committed. To say
that a murderer had left footprints IN
earth frozen as hard as iron was very
much ike condemning the whole theory
Of the murder and that was practically
what my testimony did. The prosecution
was ridiculed by all, and the jury
brought in Immediately an aequittal.