The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1906-03-02
Humor IN Court.


in the usually dry records of the court
and cited as an instance Mr. c. D. Ben
netts brief in the case of Quanz against
the Southern Railway, heard in The
Supreme Court shortly before. Mr.. Ben
nett's brief was said to have been the
shortest ever filed in that court. His eli
ent was suing the railway company foI
injuries sustained by him in fall down
a flight of stairs in the depot at Char.
lotte. To sustain his contention that
the defendant was liable in damages, Mr..
Bennett cited the court to Exodus,
twenty-hrst chapter, thirty third and
thirty fourth verses, which read as fol-
lows: and if man shall open pit;
or if man shall dig a pit, and not cover
| it, and an OK or an ass fall therein. the
owner of the pit shall make it good"
The Supreme Court reports, sheep
bound ard stately, look awfully dry to
the laymau, and as general rule they
| are; but here and there in them one will
find cases that are highly entertaining.
There are frequent flashes Of wit and
humor, and many classical illusions.
The judges are usually men of great learn
ing, which is brought to bear on cases
dealing with every conceivable phase of
human nature and every branch of
human industry.
Judge Douglass, of recent Supreme
Court justices, had the keenest sense of
humor, and his opinions were always
readable. He could turn pretty phrase,
too, as this, in the recent case of State
vs.. Van Pelt, in which he was discussing
the labor organizations when Kosci-
usko fell and Poland lay once more be-
meath the Cossack's heel, Sebastian an
nounced that Order reigns in Warsaw;
while Louis Napoleon, in Selling the
throne of France, declared that The EN-
pire is peace, North Carolinians seek not
the peace of despotism, but that peace
alone which follows the mutual recogni-
ton of equal rights and the impartial
enforcement of just and equal laws"
Occasionally you will run across pun,
as the following, which Judge Clark gets
off twice in the opinion of State VS.. Neal,
12O N. c., a case in which the defendant
was indicted for cruelty to animals in
killing his neighbours chickens that were
eating up his mothers peas. After refer
fowl" according to Milton, the judge
goes on to say: But after the defend
ants had sown their peas, they had no
peace, for the prosecutors chickens be-
came lively factors in disturbing both"
The eminent jurist then compares the de-
PENDANT, youth named Oscar. to This
,rreat namesake, the son of Os<ian;" and
again to the tyrant Nero. He had killed
some of the chickens and thrown their
lifeless bodies over into the prosecutors
yard, 'as the Consul Nero" says Judge
Clark, caused the head of Asdrubal to
be thrown into Hannibal's camp" And
then the judge gets off the pun again, for
he says the prosecutors thoughts were
bent as much as his chickens were on
peas"
One of the funniest cases in the North
Carolina reports is that of State against
William Linkaw, 50 N. c., page IA. In
this case the defendant, citizen of Robe
son county, was indicted for disturbing
religious worship by singing out of time.
In the statement of the case it appears
that the facts were as follows: Defend
ant is a member of the Methodist church;
he sings in such way as to disturb the
congregation; at the end of each verse his
voice is heard after all the other singers
have ceased. One of the witnesses being
asked to describe the defendants singing,
initiated it by singing verse in the voice
and manner of the defendant, which pro-
duced a burst of prolonged and irresisti-
BILE laughter, convulsing alike the specta-
tors, the bar, the jury and the court"
at was in evidence that the disturb
ance occasioned by defendants singing
was decided and serious; the effect of it
was to make one part of the congre-
cation laugh and the other mad; that
the irreligious and frivolous enjoyed it as
fun, while the serious and devout were
indignant. 1t was also in evidence
without ohjection) that the congrega-
had been so much disturbed by it that
the preacher declined to sing the hymn,
and shut the book without singing it;
that the presiding elder had refused to
preach in the church on account of the
disturbance occasioned by it; and that
on one occasion leading member of the
church, approaching that there was a
feeling of solennity pervading the con-
gregation in consequence of the sermon
just delivered, and fearing that it would
be turned into ridicule, went to the de-
fendant and asked him not to sing, and
that on that occasion he did not sing.
1t also appeared that on many occasions
the members and authorities expostulat-
ed with the defendant about his singing,
anu liz NiSlui D>'hSS ShOhihS Jul Vi ~
To all of which he replied: That he
would worship his God, and that as a
part of his worship it was his duty to
sing Defendant is a strict member of
the church, and a man of exemplary de-
pertinent"
1t was admitted by the State that he
was conscientiously taking part in tn.
religious services; and the court held that
while it seemed that he was proper SUBJ
ject for the discipline of his church, he
had committed no crime
Speaking of the ''order that reigned in
Warsaw" the writer is reminded of an
incident that took place in the Superior
Court here on one occasion. A case was
being tried that had been sent up from
Squire Ed. Ingram's court. "Old Man
Ed" as he is Familiarity known, lives
on the Great Pee Dee, as what is called
| the GRASSY Islands," He is rough, red,
shaggy, and unkempt, but withal a good
citizen and a man of means He is a
firm believer in fair play, but thinks law
useless Inconvenience. He was a wit
ness in the case referred to whenit got to
L r