Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1901-06-13
PUZZLES FOR JUDGES
SIMPLE WORDS THAT HAVE TANGLED
UP ENGLISH COURTS.
Some Terms of Almost Everyday
t.e That Proved to Re Too Pro
found For the Intelligence of the
Learned Bench and Bar


found For the Intelligence of the
Iearued Bench and Bar
In case thar came before a famous
lord justice some time ago the counsel
for the prosecution in the evidence had
to mention blouse"
The judge asked what a blouse was.
and il was explained that this was part
OF lady's dress But the case came TO
q dead stop for the time, for the judge
did not know which part. and after
some hesitation the barrister admitted
that he wasn't sure. Several learned
brothers gave ihcir opinion, some opin-
ing blouse was the upper half OF a
lady's costume. while others insisted il
must be the lower half The entire
court. filed with learned celebrities
whose heads held all the laws Of Brit
ain, from pitch and toss 10 fnanslaugh-
ter. argued il out, but nobody was sure.
The Judge thought IL was the lower
half. but a junior harrister who had
lately been married said he thought
that that half was called skirt. but
did not feel certain. At length a lady
was called who set the court right.
Another odd dilemma happened not
long ago when in the HobSon horse
taking case the word ''fetlock" arose.
a fetlock. as everybody knows, is the
ankle of a horse. The court asked
what ii was. however. and the prose
cutting counsel was nonpluscd. The
witnesses were out of court save one,
and he knew nothing The judge
thought a fetlock was sort OF hind
knee. otherwise hook" but one learn
ed brother WAS quite certain il was the
lock of hair that hangs over a horses
forehead The defendants solicitor
opincd il was that part of the harness
which slips over the tail. the crupper,
and another legal celebrity agreed with
the judge. Finally the court had to call
a stable groom TO clear up the mystery
In case that was settled some years
since the recorder was brought up
short by n phrase used by the counsel
for defense. who spoke of a transaction
concerning a pound of "hlacklead.
This is n common and useful article.
but the counsel on being asked TO eX
plain its nature said il was a black
substance used for boot polishing. The
recorder thought il was mineral used
| in lead pencils. but another barrister
asserted il to he tough kind of lead
used for roofing houses" The case was
brought to standstill and one lawyer.
unsurpassed in legal knowledge de
clarcd that blacklead was a slang term
for pig iron as produced in the north
country fourth eNpounder of the
| law vaguely suggested il was the op-
posite of white lead, aA finally a do
nestle servant put the court right. and
the assembly at last learned that it was
used for backing stoves.
Another dilemma was produced lit
+ tie while ago ON the western circuit by
the introduction of the words dry
nurse" in an address to the court. This
bewildered the judge. who asked If a
dry nurse was nurse who dried ba
bies after they had been washed That
solution did not occur to the learned
| counsel. who after some hesitation
| said he thought IL meant nurse who
was not addicted to drinking and there
| fore most suitable TO look after infants.
Nobody seemed to know what the term
really meant. though several more
\ ttar dry nurse was one who could
not amuse children.
The court was again nonpluSed by a
statement made that somebody CON
cerncd in the case supposed to suffer
from melancnglia was really las jolly
| as a sandboy." The judge wanted to
know what a sandboy was in order to
form some idea as to the exact degree
of joility involved. The counsel could
not tell him, though one suggested it
was a boy who sanded the roads and
the other thought 1t might be a lad
building sand castles on the seashore
The whole court stopped to discuss
what sandboy was and why he was
jolly. but they could not solve the prob
lem.
II is hardly believable that anybody
should not know what a .'snaffe" is.
but London magistrate recently desir
ed TO be Informed. and nobody could
tell him what snafiie might be. \
solicitor thought it was the same thing
as the curb" and the clerk had an
idea ii was n kind of cold in the head
which horses caught. causing them to
shuttle a good deal.-London Answers.