The age-herald., 1900-10-31
SKETCHES FROM
 EVERYDAY LIFE

One of the city's prominent lawyers lost a good fee recently. He had brought suit for client who had had the good fortune to be run over by a railroad train which wore out one of his legs. The result was that part of his leg had to be cut off, and his lawyer brought suit against the rail- road for ,00O damages. The company set up the defense that the leg cut off was longer than it really ought to be-" and that if they had cut 1t off too much they were ready to shave off the other leg until both were of uniform length. They did not have much faith in this defense. so they sent their claim agent to the plaintiff just before trial and settled the case out of court.
 The plaintiffs lawyer hearing of fl sent for his client and asked him if he had set tied the case.
 "Yes, boss, Is done settled it."
 How much did they give you?a
 Well, sah, de man gimme s75 in money an stficate from de company's doctor dat my leg gwine grow out inside year"
 
 For christ's sake, mister, for the love of God for humanity's sake, give me a nickel for morphine"
 The person addressed was passing by the city jail. He stopped at this heart-rend- ing appeal and saw behind the bars of the prison window a beautiful pair of brown eyes burning with an unnatural fever.
 Who you. and what do you want with morphine?"
 My name, sir, is Luther Justice I will die if 1 don't have morphine I am from Lee County, near Opelika, and was a pri- vate in the First Alabama during the Spanish war. I suffered from dysentery and was given morphine, and have not been able to get without it since"
 What are you tin jail for?''
 Larceny. I stole something to get money for morphine. I am in here for fifty days, and have been here eleven. Peo- pie don't understand it. They think I ought to stop taking morphine, but it is impossi- ble without treatment-I have tried it."
 This is but one of many similar sad cases that come under the notice of the Birming- ham police. These morphine fiends take sometimes as much as forty grains a day. Half grain will kill an ordinary man. When they are arrested the police are obliged to give them a certain amount of morphine daily to keep them alive. There is absolutely no hope for them unless they receive treatment at some institute This a rule they cannot afford, so unless the State will care for them they are lost.
 In such case as that of Luther Justice if the mans family are willing to take charge of him the police authorities would probably be glad to deliver him to their care.
 Unless his family come to his aid, and possibly they are unable to assist him, Luther Justice has thirty-nine days and nights of frightful suffering before him, and when he gets out of jail, by hook or by crook, by begging or stealing, he will drug himself with morphine to banlsh the horrors and soothe the bangs of long ab- stinenoe from this, to him, the staff of life.
 'Mr. Editor" wrote a Birmingham sub scriber to an out-of-town paper, please when you mail me my paper don't wrap tt so tight AS it is, it takes longer to un- wrap it than to read It."
 People who undertake to get up con cert on short notice have troubles of others to put up with as well as their own. The best advice to those bent on arranging snapshot concerts is Punch's advice to the man about to get married-Don't!
 Good advice, however, Is seldom followed, and someone undertook recently to arrange a concert for some distinguished amateur and professional singers. Next to the sing CT the accompanist is the most important parsonage. The first accompanist waited on said she was too nervous; her spirit was willing, but her fingers were weak The second agreed to serve, and everything seemd lovely, until at the next to the last moment came message that baby had the collie, and she therefore prayed to have her self excused. A third was then asked and accepted, but changed her mind. The man. agers thought it was a change for the worse, as they then had to look for number four. The fourth accepted, but at the last moment sent some excuse-she had bone in her arm, or something like that. Finally at the very last moment man was en- gagged who did not have time to think up an excuse-so he played to the satisfaction of all.
 There have been several safe robberies recently. The burglars, after taking what they could get, succeeded in getting safely away At Warrior and Woodlawn the post OlHce SdIeS were DloWn open Dy the SaI6- blowers. In one safe they got about S2o0s worth of stamps, and in the other $l.l5. This must have been discouraging to the rob bers. At Stevenson, according to the Chronicle, some robbers went to work In the usual way to blow open a safe. After working for hours with brace and bit drilI- ing holes In the safe, one of them discov- cred that the safe was not even locked. rnA h. open, and inside lay it's treasures-l5 centsi
 Burglars are human, after all, and are entitled to some consideration. They should not be expected to work for nothing. The next thing the Burglars Union will order a strike and then the police will have nothing to talk about.