Sunday Washington globe., 1902-02-09

many ponce courts, ana cannot az the
moment call to mind any place which
affords better opportunities for the study Of
character, nor one which provides a man
with a philosophic vein a more desirable
field. Have you ever tried it'
When was small boy being reared to
undertake my share Of the heat and burden
Of everyday duty in the working world,
was duly impressed by the instructors Of
my infantile mind that anything savoring of
a desire to know what was done in the
other half" was morbid, and anathema was
pronounced with stern parental emphasis
upon knowledge pertaining to the criminal
class, its environment cause, excuse and
punishment. In adolescence, to frequent,
nay, even to visit only once the police
magistrates daily levee was voted by my
chums bad form, and the secret kept
perhaps most inviolably Of many youthful
escapades was that of an occasional surrep-
titious penetration through the vaulted cor
ridors Of the local temple of justice into the,
to me, forbidden precincts of the courtroom.
Boy-like, my sympathies were invar-
iably with the accused, and / experience
thrill of satisfaction even as write when
1 recall retort made by witness TO some
remark of the magistrate, who in his
panoply of awe-inspiring solemnity was to
me an embodiment OF tyrannical and, for
me- unattainable rectitude.
remember that on the occasion of the
first of such visits my attention was attracted
70 a man-an old man ne seemed to my
bOyish eyes-whose appearance might most
ftly be described as "snuhy." He occupied
a seat on the front bench, took a keen in
terest in the proceedings and, I judged, was
waiting for some case in which he was to
be either a witness or a more important
principal. But the session dragged along,
case after case was disposed of with that
dispatch which characterizes the English
stipendiary courts, and still the snuffy man
was not called upon. The proc ession of
blear-eyed wrecks Of overnight drunks, of
heavy jOwled wife-beaters and soul-depress-
ing mendicants passed, the clerk closed his
book with snap, his honor gathered his
robe around him and with the other specta-
tors my shabby-genteel friend rose from his
seat with evident reluctance and slowly
made his way out
Months afterward / again visited the
court The same magistrate, the same blue
uniforms of officers, the same bored be-
yOnd-endurance clerk forever scribbling
in a huge imposingly bound book, the same.
or an amazingly similar, procession of mid
night brawlers, trembling aims seekers,
bullying brutes and sad eyed, hectic checked
OF brazenly impudent unfortunates, and
yes, the same old man, little snufier,
perhaps shade glossier about the should
ers of his frayed-out Prince Albert a little
dirtier of chin and of linen, but as interested
in the courts procedure, as alert in listening
to the mawkish excuses of the 2oo-pound
wielder of ox-lke FISTS upon the fragile
frame of patient, maddeningly patient
wife, and as regretful of demeanor when
the show was over.
Since then have had experience in many
such courts, but wherever / have gone, in
the eastern or western hemisphere, have
always found in every court some such
regular attendant. Not always so snuffy
perhaps, nor always so old, but someone to
whom the police court appears to afford a
diunal treat, necessary as food and more
inviting than the fresh air he cheerfully
exchanges for the stiffness of courtroom
redolent of stale alcohol and of that indie
scribable odOr .inseparable from the deni-
zens of vagdom.
Such a character always arouses my
curiosity. wonder how he came to drift
into daily attendance upon so spirit-damp-
ening a seance as a police magistrates
morning court Was his 6rst visit of curl
osity or necessity Did he FIRST become so
familiar with the prisoners standpoint that
when opportunity offered he had an over
whelming desire to view it from the other
side of the rail? And, having done so, did
the fascination of the place seize him at
once, or was it only through a long series
Of occasional visits that he was bound by
bonds beyond power of severance to the
habit of never-failing worship at the shrine
where the strong arm of the law holds
sway? And-ohl horror Of horrors!- should
1, betraying in youth yearnings toward
knowledge Of police courts, have in the
process of time, like the use Of drugs, be-
come the creature of passion which would
have made of me a slave, even as he, had
not vocation combined such visits with
duty2
And what does the police court habitue
do when there are no sessions? On sun
days and holidays I think have noticed
some individual cases wandering aimlessly
on a Sunday morning in the graveyard Of
the city which provides his weekday enter
tainment and one / know, varied his at
tendance upon the court by reading at a
secondhand book-stall dusty, depressing
looking volumes Of sermons
But his family Home? Friends? How
does he liver Does the evening hour briug
him loving care and cheerful comfort or
does he, as night falls, creep stealthily, as
by shame subdued, to some kennel, where
sleep, merciful leveler, weights his bird
like eyes, curiosity brimming, and dreams
come Of better places and better days when
he was not yet the pitied, pitiful and to-be-
pitied daylight ghost Of the police court7
Queer 'Uns."
You come across some queer 'uns, no matter
where you 60,
And why they come to be 50 queer is some
Thing don't know.
For all my life I've tried to learn how IL has
o. d.