New-York tribune., 1901-07-28
HE TESTIFIED IN SONG.
THE LAWYER MADE THE PROSECUTING WITNESS
SING HYMN on THE STAND.
From The Macon Mo.) Republican.

From The Macon (Mo) Republican
caster, Mo. related the following legal incident:
zone of the most original LAWYERS ever met IA my my
was resident of our county lie IS some KIN 10
born humorist and could have made his fortune f.
the lecture field. When he lived up our way he Was
and girls charged with disturbing a religious as
senby out IN the count[y by Taad hc TG fas
tried before Squire A c. Bailey, good OLD
Like all cases Of the sort it attracted an immense
crowd from the vicinity OF the alleged -onlraEe - ~ ~
the church people TO spare no pains TO convict the
daeged no HS Court All the t ddftnda"s we2e chit
dren Of good families and It was their hrSt offence
and the Stale insisted that by their own mouths
they were cond@Innedi i. hrotHgr @ ss Se ,b 'ii,
prosecuting witness. He had conducted the ser
turbed by the unseemly behavior of the rioters
After he told his story in chief he sat down with
clasped hands waiting for the defendants attorney
to begin him II didn't have long TO wait The
Examination began like this:
".Brother Spears, you led the meetin' last night?
You prayed%
And preachedr
I tried TO-"
And sung
What did you sing?
".."The.e Fountain FiIlsd with BE BLOOD" @l Sir Sir
pocket and handed ii to the witness with the re
-. Please turn to that song Brother Spears
The witness did
""Thats what you sang that nghtT
1t is ST
"'Weli. stand up and sing it now. if you please
"'What"
Yoa heard what said. PTothsT ln1, Spears s. .4as,
Brother Spears with much apparent lndigIa-
tion. do ] understand that you refuse 10 furnish
legitimate evidence TO this jury?
Your Honor said Mr Dysart. 4 insist that the
witness shall sing the song referred TO just as he
did on the night of alleged disturbance. II is
part OF evidence and very important The Tea-
for It viii be disclosed later on.
There was a long jangle between the lawyers
and court finally ordered the witness to get up
and sing.
And mind you. Brother Spears, said Dysart
seriously you must sing il just you did that
night; II you change note you Will have to 80
back and do it all over again
''The witness got up and opened the book. There
IS a vast difference between singing TO a ConBTcRA-
tion in sympathy with you and a crowd OF court
scous Of the fact. You know how those oldtime
hymns sung in the baekwoods Scttemcnts| -
You begin in the basement and work TO the roof,
and then leap of from the dizzy height and finally
witness sang. Ie had good yO"c-that IS. II was
strong. 1t seemed 10 threaten the window lights.
The crowd didn't smile-ll just yelled with laughter
The juryneu bent double and almost rolled from
looked solemn. 1t wasn't any Theie We're only
two straight faces in the house. one belonged to
deaf man and the other to Sam Dyaart The
singer finished ard sat down. lie looked tired
speechmakng came Sam remarked 10 the jury
IF you gentlemen think you could go TO OF
Brother Spears's meetings and behave better than
you have here why you may be justified in con
but it gave the jury lots to think about. They
brought in a verdict of not guilty, with the request
that Brother Spears sing another But that
gentleman had gone home and court adjourned"