The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-01-12
II STARTED WITH
 \ HALF DOZEN RAW The Steward Called Waiter Fool
 and a Farmer AND SOMET HING WAS DOING Whole Case Threshed Out In Judge Feagln's court-How B. M. Allen
 Kept Negro Waiter Out
 of the Rock Jail. .s
AND SOMET THING WAS DOING

Judge Feagin of the inferior criminal court of Birmingham decided highly in- teresting case Tuesday afternoon.
 On the inferior criminal courts docket the case was called "The Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of Bir- mingham against Charles Johnson" but it was really case of Tom Bosworth, a white steward, at the Hotel Hillman, against Charlie Johnson, a negro walter. Incidentally 1t was case of Dill and Allen, Bosworth's lawyers, against B. M. Allen, counsel for the negro.
 Johnson and Bee Elm" won, and won emphatically, but not until judge. clients, lawyers and hangers-on in the court room had been treated to one of the most en- tertaining and instructive little dramas ever staged in the criminal court. It was the unanimous opinion that the negro's attorney had never before in all his legal or histrionic career, been more eloquent, humorous, cajoling or con vincing.
 According to the evidence the trouble began with a half dozen raw" Bosworth the steward didn't like the way Johnson, the waiter, was serving the order one night in December to a guest at the Hillman. It developed that Bosworth was sitting cross-legged in the kitchen when Johnson came along. For reasons weighty enough for Bosworth at least, the stew ard called the waiter "a d. fool" Where at, the waiter treated the steward with silence. Thereupon the steward, his legs still crossed, added that the waiter was not only pluperfect fool but was farmer"
 That word was the straw that broke tha camers back. or to be more exact, the negro's patience.
 q ain't the only d. fool En aln't the only farmer roun' hyar," said Johnson, in sort of aside.
 At that Bosworth uncrossed his legs, picked up a pitcher and hit Johnson across the neck, infllcting a wound that bled freely. The steward then rushed upon the waiter, grabbed him and kept on paying him polite attentions. When the negro finally got away, he picked up fork and jabbed 1t into the stewards body twelve times. The white steward thought 1t over, talked to his lawyers and the result was that the negro was charged with assault with attempt to murder.
 Vassar Allen of Dill & Allen said it was a perfectly clear case, your honor. If the court please, there was nothing clearer under the sun. The negro had 1abbed the fork into the white mans body, in- flcting serious wounds The authorities all agreed the negro had been guilty of the charge and should be remanded to jail. MT. Allen was satisfied that Judge Feagin would agree with the authorities. Suppose said he that this had happened
 L. k.lx- .,1o nfA6 hA nt thing had been pulled off and suppose then that and so forth-for fifteen min utes. Would not defendant In that case be held for murder, your honor?
 Then the other Mr. Allen-"Bee Elm got up. He was interested in his brother lawyer, Vassor Aliens psychological pro- cesses, but, If the court please, these psychological processes, like the flowers that bloomed in the spring. had nothing to do with this case. What were the facts, your honor, and, If the court please, what, ah. what, your honor, was the evidence? The evidence was this, If the court please, simply this, your honor-the evidence, all the evidence in this case, if your honor please, was that this gentle man here (the steward) had while not only cross but also cross-legged, if the court please, quietly, calmly, deliberately, premediatedly, and if your honor please, wantonly called this boy here Cthe negro who by the way was about 25 years old) "a d. fool "A d. fool" if your honor please, and not only that, if the court please, but had supplemented that little pleasantly by saying. if your honor please, that this boy here was a. a. what, If your honor please? Why, if the court please. a--"farmerW
 , All this while Bee Em's'' eyere were rolling as Rafael makes those of his Cherubs roll as they look up into heavens own blue.
 "A farmer'r repeated Bee Elm" Then he drew silver dollar from his pocket and rapped 1t on the rail while he emphasized the point.
 "A farmer! Was that tribute to tho honest yeomanry of the land? If your honor please, 1t was an insult. and, if your honor please, 1t was intended to be an insult And then this gentleman here hit this boy here with a pitcher, almost cutting the jugular vein, if your honor please, and rushed upon this boy here and grappled with him, and then, if your honor please, this boy here with the blood flowing from his neck and not knowing what this cross and cross-legged gentleman here wruld do next to him, this negro boy here picked up a fork and defended himself
 And yet, with these undisputed and indsputable facts in the case, if your honor please, Brother Allen here gets up and invents this ingenious argument os his and says, if your honor please, that this gentleman here the steward, was not the aggressor and that this boy here was the aggressori
 'Why. if your honor please, it's the same old story This boy here is ne- gro, and this gentleman here Is a white man. And of course, Brother Allen tells