Evening star., 1901-08-10


on their feet and lighting hard. Three Of
the other side had fallen, and the walls
and door OF the room were spatter ed with
their blood The court officers who tried
.pa,, to paeify the Jury were banged around un-
all the Poes and all the friends Of the pris-
oner within hearing to the Jury room on q
run. A general mix-up Of the two families
and their allies followed that continued for
q week. The members Of the jury retired
to the woods to escape the wrath Of the
court over their disregard Of the sacred
oath administered to them and didn't come
out again until the court moved along on
the circuit. The prisoner was bailed and
the case was allowed to die q natural
death The court room had to be completely
refurntshed, for there wasn't whole table,
chair or desk left in It.
What One Man Did.
How old Dan Sullivan got verdict, alone
and unaided, against eleven hostile jurors
Is legal local history in the city of Troy.
For many years there had been q conflict
In that region between the farmers and the
city folks, and this feeling never got so
bitter as when either side was engaged in
any litigation. You couldn't get country
jury to decide in favor of city man. no
matter what the evidence might be- and II
was Just as certain that the plaintiff in an
action who happened to come from the coun-
try would lose If the jury was made up Of
ditlon OF affairs was that whenever a
mixed jury was drawn there was trouble
from the moment the key turned In the
door Of the jury room. Disagreements al
ways resulted, and there was just that
much more expense to the county for q
new trial Of the action. After while some
one who had something to do with the
drawing of men for the juries saw to it
that there was no more mixing. Despite
this precaution, however, old Dan Sullivan,
who was always having queer things hap
pen to him, managed to get drawn on a
jury to try suit for So 600 brought against
jurymen were countrymen and friends of
the plaintiff. Old Dan didn't make the
slightest pretense of discomfort over his po-
sition; on the contrary, he was delighted,
and made no secret Of the fact. The evi-
denCe was all put In and the jury retired
early in the afternoon.
The eleven countrymen talked the matter
over and decided among themselves to give
verdict for the plaintiff, placing damages
al $1,000. They didn't think it was worth
while to consult Dan, but merely notified
him of the decision they had come to, and
said they would go through the formality
OF a ballot. Dan calmly wrote out de-
cision for the county on his blank, and
when the result was made known the
eleven countrymen were very much sur
prfsed. They gave Dan line of~stock ar
keep him out all night If he didn't yield.
They took another ballot, but the result
was the same. Old Dan puffed away at his
cigar and smiled. He smiled his way
through a dozen more ballots, and an ar
ray Of threats that might have haunted a
less obstinate man. At pm the
condition of affairs was made known to
the court, who ordered the jury to stay
out until it reached a verdict. Then the
court went home end the jurors set about
laboring with Dan. They told him that he
was an old man and that the strain Of
night In jury room might result In max
ing him a sufferer for the rest Of his life.
Each and every one Of the eleven coun-
trymen declared dramatically that he would
never recede from the position he had
taken, and In other ways 1t was made
clear to Dan that he would have to yield.
Dan Had His Way.
After an hour or SO of this kind of talk
another ballot was taken. This time Dan
took another position. He found for the
plaintiff and fixed damages at six cents.
The enraged eleven informed Dan that
they wouldn't take another ballot until
he asked for it, and the eleven disposed
themselves comfortably around the room.
satisfied that before very long old age
would tell and Dan would give in. At mid
night the eleven began to get little less
determined. Two lay down on a bench,
but they were too nervous to sleep in such
quarters, so they sat UP and swore at Dan.
Whenever ye come around to my way
Dan the clock struck 2. At 3 o'clock
all eleven were lying down and trying to
sleep, but Dan even scorned his chair. At
o'clock two or three began to weaken,
and at few minutes after 8 o'clock eleven
hollow-eyed countrymen. very much sub
dued. came over to where Dan was stand
ing and agreed II he would find again for
the plaintiff they would fix the damages at
six cents. Dan sm!llngly accepted the prop
osition, and the vote was taken. AS the
foreman announced the result the sun
poked its head over the sky line and Dan,
with prodigious yawn, sank down on a
bench, and before the court officer could
open the door to let the jury out, was fast
asleep and snoring huge, satisfied snores.
Afterward the defeated jurymen learned
that for ten years their fellow juror
had been a sufferer from insomnia, which
rendered 1t utterly impossible for him to
close his eyes in sleep from the time that
the sun went down in the evening until it
came up again In the morning. At sunrise
every morning. though, Dan falls asleep,
and nothing in the world will wake him up.
So it was by a narrow margin that he won
his case for the county.