Perth Amboy evening news., 1906-02-01
JUDGE STRONG
TO Be FARMER
Veteran Jurist Will Abandon
Blackstone and the Bench for
Horticulture and the Hoe.

When Judge Woodbridge Strong,
of the Court of Common Pleas, at the
expiration of his term in April, doffs
the ermine, abandons Blackstone,
and steps down from the bench to
give place to his successor, he will
take up the hoe and the pruning
knife and devote the major portion
of his time to horticulture, agricul-
ture and the development of his l3O
acre farm at Dayton.
This veteran jurist. who next
month will celebrate his 18th birth
day, and who has been a member of
the New Jersey bar for half a cen
fury, was in q reminiscent mood yes
terday when seen by a reporter for
the New Brunswick Home News.
Judge Strong realizes hat he has
outlived his usefulness on the bench,
due to his defective hearing. but
were it not for that he would feel
like most ~jurists of his age do, that
he would like to die in the harness.
Yes, | have made my plans for
the future" said the judge. Months
ago, when | decided that my hearing
was becoming an impeachment, ! de-
termined when | retired in April, my
time would be principally devoted to
horticulture, in which | have always
been deeply interested, but never
have had the time to make the study
of it which | desired. | have a farm
of 100 acres at Dayton, where | a
delve into both horticulture and agri-
culture. There is where ! would be
found out in the open air most of the
time after | have put Blackstone up
on the shelf.
Naturally | have feelings of re-
greet upon leaving the bench, During
my fifteen years as Judge | have new
er felt that | was working. BY that
| mean that the duties were so con-
genial and pleasurable and | enjoyed
so much the reasoning of legal prob
lens that to me it was really more
of a recreation than a labor.
Justice With Mercy.
AT times | have been criticised for
l~eniency, but | have always believed
that justice should be tempered with
mercy, and that so far as first Of
tenders are concerned, erring n
can be more often reclaimed by kind
ness than severity. A good judge of
human nature as well as of law is one
OF the principal attributes of the just
iurist, in my opinion, and | have act
ed in accordance with those views
during my career on the bench.
why am | called the law judge of
MiddleseX county? Well, | suppose
there are many persons not in the
profession who consider that a pc
culiar epithet. Prior to 1859 there
was a presiding judge of the Supreme
Court and three lay judges, men not
admitted to the bar, who admins
tered the law which is now under the
jurisdiction of my court. By spe-
cial act of the legislature in 1869 a
court which had the title of Court of
Common Pleas, Court of Quarter
Sessions and Orphans Court was Gre
ated and under that act Charles T..
Cowenhoven was the first appointee.
Judge Cowenhoven sat from 1869
until 1874, when | succeeded him,
serving for five years, bringing it
down to 1879. A. X. Coggswell fol
lowed me from 1879 until 1885,
when Judge Cowenhoven was again
appointed, his second term expiring
in 1890. Judge j. X. Rice was Judge
CoWenhoven's successor, his term of
office extending from 1890 until 1896
When again assembled the bench and
have been there continuously ever
since.
Oyer and Terminer Judge.
Besides the civil cases which are
heard in the Court of Common Pleas
and Orphans Court and the criminal
sessions in the Quarter Sessions, the
Judge of this court is also an associ-
ate judge of the Court of Oyer and
Terminer, and has the right to sit in
murder trials.
81 really had no preference for any
one particular class of cases. They
were all the same to me. ] enjoyed
everything connected with the law,
and | certainly regret hat even now
| have to lay aside old Blackstone for
good"
His "Electric Cocktail"
Judge Strong is a great believer in
electricity and for twenty years has
taken every morning what might be
called an electric cocktail" lie
never fails to take a 'shock" before
leaving the house in the morning,
any more than some men do their
eye OPENER Judge Strong, how
ever, does not take it as a stimulant,
but as a nerve food. The most prom
inent caseS which Judge Strong has
had in recent years was the trial of
George M<Nalentine, the Perth Am