Evening star., 1902-08-23
VERDICTS IN VERSE.
Some Of the Forms Which the Vagaries
of Juries Assume

FROM the Detroit Free Press.
OF the vagaries of juries there would ap-
pear to be no end, and not the least of their
enormities is the preparation of villainous
verse, of which in evil moments they are
sometimes guilty.
There is one given in a breach of promise
suit In Pennsylvania. The defendant had
proved fathless to a fair lady of the name
of Wright, and the jury took advantage of
the plaintiffs patronymic to return their
verdict in verse. 1t ran:
The plaintiff in this case is Wright,
And well her suit has won.
One thousand dollars for the slight
Must come from Samuel Dunn.
Even Chicago jurymen have been known
to record their verdicts in more or less ex-
ecrable rhyme. In a paltry case which
tried their tempers no less than it taxed
their time, the good men and true thus
aired their grievance and announced their
finding:
Hungry, weary and sad,
we have looked without avail,
ANA now we re mighty glad
10 say this suit must fail.
Some years ago the members of a jury
In Kansas We're much incensed at being
locked up all night owing to the obstinacy
OF one OF their number, a man of the name
OF Knox.
On being ushered into the jury box next
morning the foreman solemnly rose and
thus delivered the verdict, which during
the nocturnal hours he and his indignant
colleagues had arrived at:
BY Knox our verdict was delayed,
And we in durance landed.
But kicks with Knox Improvement made,
We COW do find. all at one time,
The prisoner guilty of the crime.
The judge accepted the verdict, but, after
STUDYING for a moment the spectacle pre-
sented by the obnoxious Knex remark ed
that he could not agree with the third line
On another occasion the beauty of
youthful culprit of the feminine persua-
sion awoke the muse in the jury impaneled
to try her. This was at San Francisco
Whlch town the comefy delinquent had
made the scene of her unlawful pursuits
After hearing all there was to be said
against and for the prisoner the jury put
their heads together and a few minutes
afterward startled the court with this de-
liverance through the foreman:
We. We mark a,d1,vd with grief and sorrow keen
Ihat woman, fair ever seen.
shonid to such evil courses fake.
But maiden, whether fair or frail.
Must never over right prevail;
we therefore find her guilt full proved.
So now to jail she can be m9yed
After listening to this extraordinary ef-
fusion the occupant of the bench remarked
that his only regret on hearing the verdict
was that ne could not send each of the
jurymen to prison as well as the subject
OF their atrocious verse
He added that. after such an infiction,
his would be the lightest punishment that
ne was at liberty to inf1ict on tho girl for
her offense.
For one more example of jurymen's &C.
centric rhyming we must go to New York,
where not long since a faithless lover
was brought into court to answer for
breach of promise. The defense was that
the damsel was firt, and this seems to
have suggested the words in which the jury
thus expressed their finding:
The plaintiff is flirt, tits said
And thus broke her engagement;
But tender missves we have read
Disprove such disarrangement.
For trihing with the plaintiffs heart,
ANA bighttng her affection.
defendant must with dollars part
Two thousands our direction.
so Gayboy has recovered"
Yes, The lucky fallou, was roo moor to