The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1901-06-01

opinions to my secretary. who takes them
down in shorthand
THE ability TO dictate readily and in
concise terms is somewhat of a gift,
was suggested
The Judge expressed his agreement
with that remark. Brother Gray" he
added, writes his opinions entirely by
hand. He did that early when he was
on the bench, and prefers it now I am
not certain but Brother Shiras also
writes his opinions out in longhand. I
always prefer to write with a pencil,
and after my secretary prepares his
notes go over the manuscript and sup
ply what I may have omitted in the die
tation- When go north in the summer
do not take a secretary with me. " lille
there last year I did some work on a
series of addresses delivered February
at Yale college When I had written out
what I thought I had in mind I would
turn back and read it over, and found
my pencil had been more laggard than
my thoughts There were gaps in my
discourse where my pencil had made
bounds to keep up with what I had been
thinking
with the head resting on the left
hand, a favOTite attitude, Justice Brew
er chatted of his summer recreatons on
the shore of Lake Champlain. II live on
the poor farm up there" he said, with a
flash of humor. as he interested himself
in the topic, Whereupon he described
with relish the location of his cottage on
ThOmpson's Point, a few miles this side
of Burlington The late Mrs. Brewer
was born in Burlington, which natural
ly made Vermont a desirable state for
their summer home Many Vermont
towns have q poor farm where the old
and INDECENT portion of the population
are cared for. Thompson's Point is
rocky neck of land extending out into
Lake Champlain at a place where the
lake is only about a mile wide, between
the Vermont and the New York shores.
p .sf
farms, which cannot be utilized for any
purpose and which, while desirable for
cottages, cannot be purchased. A small
company of cottagers have therefore to
be content to occupy the delightful loca-
ton on long-term leases.
MY grandchildren have been up there
with me for the last = years. continued
Justice Brewer. zone day took them
a. ride in a cart to the town of North
Ferrisburgh, few miles distance. The
road led by the poor house. which de-
scribed to them as a. place where poor
old people are kept. One little fellow
out there''-the judge nodded his head
fondly toward the dining room, where
the prattle of the youngsters was still
very audible-"he's named after me
is a very quiet sort of a chap He did
not say q word for some time, but final
~, as the cart logged along. he said:
Sc Grandpa, aren't you old2'
YES" answered.
Aren't you poor?'
YES"
g When are they going to put you into
that house2'" And relaxing his gravity
of cOuntenance, Justice Brewer laughed
cordially at the remembrance of this
juvenile jeu d'esDrit.
st am going there again this summer
to rest" he added, with an intimation
that he had grown weary Of the hard
work of the last few months
Il have to rest up there 1 may do a
little work on an GRAFTON am to deliver
at the Yale bicentennia1 celebration in
October"
do you read novels in summer"
every little" he replied. Last sum
mer 1 read To Have and to Hold 'and-
here the judge gave look of earnest in
quiry and made several attempts at pro-
nounciation, finally succeeding with
zone of the novels of Henryk Sienkie-
wicz"
Anything in economies OF history?''
BLESS me. no; but very little'' he re-
sDOnded 'It is one of the penalties of
those who go upon the bench that they
can read little of anything except law"
4 am not a hunter or a fisher" he
answered to another question. MY only
recreation is tramping, chiefly through
the woods The wooded country in Yer
mont is not dense, and find much
pleasure in tramping long distances I was
never a good shot or a good angler"
You take no other exercise-do not
play gOlf?''
the bench" said Justice Brewer. Hes
breaking Judge AdcKenna in, too
Stories often published Of himself and
his Kansas friends on bear hunts in the
Rockies We're suggested, and the judge
launched into a "Reminiscences of an ex-
petition to Wyoming several years ago,
in which were Judge Dundy of the
United States district court Of Nebraska,
and Mrs Dundy; Mr. Elmer Frank, clerk
of the court, and Mrs Frank; Ed Howe,
the witty newspaper writer, and Mrs
Howe; Justice Brewer and other friends.
Some of the ladies in the party were
good shots with the rife. But it was
Judge Dundy who killed the bear on
that occasion" said Justice Brewer, mot
myself and he gave a vivid description
of the slaughter of a black bruin in an
unexpected situation.
But L can tell you a true hunting
story" he declared with zest. Some
time in the '70's several of US were on a
buffalo hunt out in Kansas. / think it
was near Bunker Hill The boys knew
i was not much of a marksman and they
had considerable fun at my expense.
They jeered me: they told me could not
hit a buffalo If had the muzzle of my
gun against him. One evening just at
dusk we were making camp, when 7
noticed a jack rabbit jump
Here is a chance for you good rifle
men, I said to them.
They all began popping away at the
poor jack rabbit, who Scampered along
unframed. Then took up my rifle and
aimed I plugged him right through the
head 1t was a lucky shot. was con-
tent to rest on my laurels during the
remainder of the trip
The conversati reverted to literary
matters. particularly to meritOrious ora
tons, Justice Brewer having recently