Evening star., 1901-08-10
What TwelveHGood Men and True
Do Looked Up Together.
LET CARDS 0R DI& GIVE VERDICT
Why Blue Grass Foreman Could
Not Gwe a Decision.
VICTORY FOR SULLIVAN
Copyright 1901.)

Copyright 19O1)
Written for The Evening Star by W. A. Willis.
The deliberations Of juries after the
door OF the jury room has been closed are
not always Of that calm and dignified
character accredited to them by popular
opinion. Only on the rarest occasions
does anything of what goes on In the Jury
room become matter Of actual public
knowledge, for the average juryman is as
mum as an oyster about the cases which
he had been called upon to decide, but
there are occasional leakages from the
jury room calculated to shake the faith
OF the most conservative in the institu-
ton OF the twelve good men and true"
On this order was a recent damage suit
IN indianapolis, where the jury was called
upon to decide whether the plaintiff was
entitled to damages for injuries alleged
to be due to the negligence Of the city,
a telephone company and an asphalt cor
poration. Apparently, the Jury was OF
average caliber. Like many other juries
OF all cal1bers, they couldn't agree. After
they had been out forty-eight hours the
status Of opinion was seven to five in
favor of the plaintiff Some eight hours
later one of the seven changed his mind,
and the jury stood evenly divided at six
to six. There was every prospect OF an
indefinitely prolonged deadlock, when one
OF the pro-plaintiH jurors had brilliant
idea.
Wen never do sny business this way
he said. Lets get a pack Of cards and
play for it, the losers to accept the de-
cision Of the winners"
AS sporting proposition this met with
instant favor. AS a scheme for adjusting
differences it was hailed joyously. Seven
up was agreed upon as the form Of arbi-
tration. The jurors sent out for cards
and divided up into three sets of two pairs
each, the side which should win two out
OF three matches to be declared victor.
Each side had won game, and the third
quartet were just starting In when the
officer who had been sent after the cards
reported to the Judge. baiIiff broke up
the game and the jury was discharged
without reaching an agreement.
Won Five Jurors.
More definite of result, If common re-
port is to be believed, was the arbitra-
ment Of chance in murder case in Phila-
delphia. One Juror, who stood out for an
acQuittal against eleven for conviction In
a minor degree, offered to throw dice for
his vote against any one of the eleven.
The offer was taken up, and the story
runs that the man won five jurors, one
after the other for acquittal; lost three
of them back; then, after great deal of
see-sawing, landed the entire eleven. The
result was an acquittal, where the actual
sentiment of the jury was eleven for de-
cision Of guilt and one for decision Of
innocence. A somewhat similar transac-
ton In the jurys room Is told by lawyer
of Chicago, who claims to have evidence
that his client was convicted after six of
the jury had played ,pinochle against the
other six for their votes. One-half the
Jury stood for murder in the first degree.
while the other six favored verdict of
murder in the second degree. which would
have meant Imprisonment for life instead
Of hanging. The first degree crowd won
Ayo1 f1n0 1n
ing tried by this august body was hanged.
That was a Clever scheme which
Brooklyn jury evolved last spring to
avoid the unpleasant, consequences Of an
eight hours, they reported to the court
that there was no use Of their deliberat-
ing further, as they would never be able
to reach a common ground. The court
more. A night in the jury room was in
prospect. This wasn't to the taste Of the
Jurors. One Of their number evolved a
plan. They notified the court that they
would hand in sealed verdict. The "ver-
dict" was duly handed in and the turymen
sent home. When court convened on the
following morning the sealed envelope was
opened and to the indignation of the judge
the verdict" was found to be statement
that no agreement could be reached Beau
tifully as the plan had worked, it had un-
pleasant consequences for the judge hauled
the judymen up. and after severely lectur-
ing them, inflicted considerable fine upon
each and every man.
In Kentucky they have method Of set
Ting the differences of opinion which is oc-
casionally employed In the jury room. A
man named Kerr was on trial for fell
onfous assault and after the Jury had
been out for three hours sounds were
heard from the jury room indicative Of
something more strenuous than moral
suasion. Shortly after the jury filed in,
and the foreman, with a wild eye gleam-
ing from under purplish cushion of
swollen flesh, essayed to render the ver-
dict.
tered
''The court fails to understand the ver-
dict" said the judge with dignity
'Issutr; zhury fizem issutt," insisted the
foreman.
The judicial brow was growing black,
when up jumped No. 2.
"Please, you honah! the fo'man wants
to say that the jury finds the defendant
innocent, an begin yo' honah's pardon
he's doin' the best he kin. SEEM as how
he didn't reach that decision till he lost
fo' Of his front teeth"
Whereupon the defendant was duly dis
charged.
A Lively Time.
Probably the most riotous PROCEEDINGS
that ever took place in a jury room were
the result Of the trial Of an action grow
ing out of feud in a small Iowa town
last 1all. line LWO lduhllleS interested had
fought each other with fists clubs and
guns, each side declining to resort to any
thing but personal vengeance for alleged
grievances, until, to the eternal disgrace
of the Poes, who started the feud, one of
their number had one OF the other side
arrested for an assault committed on him
When the day of the trial came every
fighting man on either side was crowded
in the court room. but the sheriff had
exacted q solemn pledge from every man
that he would faots DRAW a gun or a knife
as long as he wass In the place, and the
sheriff knew that they would keep their
words. Believing that it would be less
trouble to acquff the prisoner than to con-
matters that there were eight friends Of
the prisoner on the cdury to four of the
Poes. The evidence. was put in and the
Jury retired. 1t All hinged on a question of
yeracity No sooner had the key of the
fury room doom been; turned in the lock
than one Of the prisoners relatives made
an insulting remart6 about the Poes for
taking an assault case into court The
words were hardly out Of his mouth be-
fore a Poe landed him on his back with
a blow on the point of the Jaw It was
the signal for " general mix-up and be-
fore the first bAllot4 on the solemn aues-