The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-07
QUEER FEES FOR LAWYERS.
Members of the Bar Not Always
Paid in Cash.


Even old lawyers do not always get
cash fees. and the stories of queer fees
that have been paid to Milwaukee law
yers alone would fill A volume. Burglars
loot. farm produce, labor of all descrip-
lions, almost everything imaginable,
would appear on the list.
The story of a fee told by one young
lawyer is one of the kind where a lawyer
does not like to have his name mentioned,
but it probably wasn't his fault. A Wis
itor was in the bachelors den of the
young lawyer, when he noticed an en-
graved spoon hanging by ribbon among
some photographs though it might be
a relic of some sentimental collegians
love affair.
client one time said the owner of the
decoration. Il had that given to me af-
ter ! defended old Bill Bradley, the
burglar. Bradley had been arrested,
the fashionable part of the town, and
among other things it was charged that
he had made away with a set of silver
ware lie sent for me. and from the
way he told his story l thought he was
right and had not mixed up In the bur-
glary.
well, he told me he had no money but
said he would make it all right with me
some day If l did get him out of his
trouble, so | went in and worked hard.
and finally cleared him. A few days at
ter he had thanked me and had gone
clear, without paying me, he drifted into
my office and said he had been trying to
scrape up some money for me, but
couldn't. Then he reached in his pocket
and gave me that spoon, one of the set
had just acquitted him of stealing. If |
took the spoon back l would convict my
self of having defended a man 1 knew
to be guilty, so / left it there when you
can see it. | think something of 1t, too,
| espo cially as old Bill was killed while
stealing ride toward Chicago a few days
afterward.
When l was practicing up north" said
Judge w. H. Halsey, -'f had fee in kind
that | appreciated as much as | have $500
fees at other times. had defended an
old farmer In a small suit, though | did
not expect to get any pay from him. The
| suit was decided in our favor and the old
| farmer and his wife went home. Some
months afterward the two came into my
| office with a Iiaekag,-aSald bundle tied up
| in a handkerchief. The package was a
roll of butter. the handkerchief bundle
was haZelnuts. and from the old farmer S
! pockets came two big, rosy-cheeked APP
| pies. That butter, apples, and nuts fee
| was as satisfactory to me as any l ever
received.
For ten years I have never paid to
! have an umbrella mended. said one law
| yer. The rich landlord of the story
/ book style wanted the store the old Grip
| pied umbrella man was using for a shop
| and started to force the old fellow out.
| / fixed him so that he was allowed to
/ stay, and ever since that l have taken my
/ rain shields to him for free mending. That
was all the fee l received for that case,
/ too
Il had the secrets of my own lodge of
! fered to me as payment for service, "
| said one attorney who belongs to several
| secret orders. Il was sitting In my office
! one day. when a well-dressed woman
came in and wanted advice. Her hus-
band, to whom she was but recently mar
| ried, was member OF a secret society.
- i think it's perfectly horrid of him.
| too she said, to have secrets and not
TO tell them to me. When he married me
| he said he would share everything with
| me, and the first thing | ask almost he
/ won't do. Can't you make him.?
| Il asked her to what lodge he belonged.
which l myself was member. Then she
| went on:
= / tell you what. if you will make him
! tell them to ME. / will tell them to you.
| to ray you for making him do what L
want. That's fair, isn't 1t? should think
| you would like to know such things; need
them in your business, you know
! i didn't accept that fee"
| Il had good offer from one woman
| that l did accept" said another attor-
! ney. for 1T was too good to refuse. al
| though 1t was not In cash. / had repre-
| scented her in an action for divorce, and
| after the suit had been won she wanted
nae to accept part payment in handmade
| lace. The samples OF lace she showed me
| were exquisite, so | told her il would be
all right. She gave me about ten yards
| of the lace. and it was worth every cent
| Of what credited to her for it
Il was paid in washing for a divorce l
| woman came to me one time with tale
! of woe about her husband and wanted
me to get divorce for her. She said that
she didn't want any work done for her
for nothing. but that she was not able to
pay money. She would do my washing
for 20 weeks though. II | would free her
| from her husband. She refused to let
| me act in charity for her, and as she
| wanted divorce 50 that she could marry
another man / accepted her offer. and she
| washed away, literally, her marriage
ties"
IN tell you of one of my fees. said
| another legal light Il was defending a
man who was charged with having killed
q dog out in Columbia County. The first
action brought against him was defective,
ana while the plaintiffs counsel was writ
ing out "A warrant | took my man to the
| door and told him TO get out of the county
| the Justices Office was on the border
| line-as quick as he could. In my hurry
| to get him out of the county. | forgot to
collect my fee, and i never saw him
! again E-Ft,