The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1903-03-21
JIW BURnEYs
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Juuge OF court of justice finds it
imperative to waive forms and cere-
monies, and remember that he is a
man, as well as an official and that
there are times when he ceases to be
an irresponsible agent of a blind god
'dess who often cuts the wrong party
with her two-edged sword.
OF course a court is always a court,
but the judge is not always the wool
sack, Notwithstanding the opinion of
that Dutch justice of the peace who
considered himself always an object
of contempt. In such case, that is to
say, when the judge is a man, and not
a machine, sitting on high, with ban
dage over his eyes, his ears filled with
wax lest he, hear the warblings of the
siren, truth, and keen, twO-edged
sword in his hand with which to strike
at random, his proceedings and opin-
ions are nOtpointss of practice, orprece-
dents generally to befoIlowed, but are
said to "coram non judice, which is as
much as saying: mot before the judge,
but before the man." They are not
to be found in the sheep-bound vol
umes lining the walls of every law
yer's office; they are entered in that
great book known as Humanity" the
authority of which is never questioned.
In little town situated in the heart
of the Rocky mountains, so high above
the level of the sea that the meteor
illogical phenomena of its surround
1ngs could not be regulated by the gov
ernment weather bureau, since they
were always hanging upon the ragged
edge of some inscrutable law, or rule
of physics, some times showing in the
middle of July, or compelling the in
habltants to wear straw hats and linen
coats in January, there dweIt q COM
munity of individuals who delged for
good and other valuables in daytime,
and at night sat around in the various
places of resort, exchanging lies, or
devising schemes to get rid of their
hard-earned gold without receiving a
quid pro quo. In plain language, Ko-
komo was a miningtOwn.
Outwardly, its people were rough,
uncouth men, gathered from all narts
on tIre earth, with struggling boards,
cowhide boots and clothing thatwould
not pass muster in a civilized, well-reg-
ulated community. Inwardly-well,
every one was a psychological phe-
nomenOn.
A murder was committed one day,
and the murderer was caught red
handed, or, rather, he caught himself,
for he did not try to escape, actually
sending a message for the sheriff,
while he guarded the corpus deficit
himself. 1t was well toward evening,
and the thermometer had taken a sud
den fancy to drop 20 degrees below
zero.
There was absolutely no way of es-
cape for criminal, and when the sher-
iff escorted his prisoner to the jail, he
did not worry about the insecurity OF
that structure.
'Jim," quoth he to his prisoner, 81
hain't got no key, an can't lock you
up, but it's my duty to put you in
jail. for if 1 don't somebody win ac,
cuse. me of bein' bribed, besides its
thunderin' cold, Jim. Tell you what
you do, Jim, if you git too cold, coml
over to Samples, where I'll be, an
warm up"
Saying which he shut the door, anC
the prisoner was metaphoricalIy in thu
clutches of the law.
"Jim'' found it rather cold, appar
entity, for later on that evening he lef
the precincts of his prison, quite un
concernedly, and started out to fin,
the sheriff and get warmed up.
The sheriff at that particular tim
was enjoying a game of billiards a
Samples saloon, with the judge of tn
court, the clerk and about 20 prom
nent citizens standing OF sittin
around red-hot, big-bellied stow
watching the game. The sheriff ha
massed the balls in corner of the tt
BILE, and was about to make a she
when he felt his arm touched. Tur1
inginstantly, he saw his prisoner wit
an anxious look on his face.
well, JIM" said he, putting dow
his cue, what is it?"
Nothing much" replied Jin
''thought I'd come ever and war;
up. But say, Bill, if you'd made thu
shot you'd a missed. Give me tie CT
an III run the string out"
the cue and not only run the gan
out, but made string Of about
hundred over. Everybody at thi
quit the game and gathered abo1
the hot stove to discuss the man wi
could handle cue in that fashiO
all agreeing that he ought to posse
some redeeming trait, although
had Just killed Bill Jackson. tt
judge, after ordering hot whiski
for the crowd, set the pace for ii
to tell all about it.
"Thar amt much to tell, judge
said Jim, "but I don't allow it W
my fault. Bill Jackson has allus h
It in fur me-"
''No, it want about a woman" &C
tinued Jim, deprecatingly, as t
county clerk nude a suggestiC
"Womsn are in good many thin