Omaha daily bee., 1907-02-21

Pacific railway, but declined.
While he never posed as a criminal law
yer some of his greatest victories have
been won in such cases. He has had six
teen clients accused of homicide, and all
have been acquitted. He defended D., j.
Arnold. who shot Grannis after street
fight in San Francisco. Another noted
criminal case in which he acted as advisory
counsel was that of Truxton Beale, for
merly In the diplomatic service, and one of
the Witnesses to the killing OF Stanford
White. Beale was charged, with Thomas
IT. Williams, of killing Frederick Marriott
the editor of the San Francisco News Let
ter. The case had some startling parallels
with that Of Harry X. Thaw Marriott was
said to have made an insulting remark
regarding the woman who afterward be-
came Beale's wife. The defense was car
ried to a successful issue by recourse to
the "unwritten law"
Apart from Delmas' native ability and the
genius which he himself would define as
hard work, he owes his high position as
the leader of the California bar largely
to the character of some of the most
prominent cases which he has tried. Del
mas is the only big lawyer in California
who has consistently espoused the cause
of the people against the Southern Pacific
railroad. and who has beaten the railroad
people to standstill. The Southern Pa
cific railroad, it should be explained. is
the worst-hated corporation west of the
Rocky mountains. When Frank Norris
pilloried this corporation as 1.-THE octo-
pus." he merely voiced the feelings of all
the people about him. Delmas, from tho
hat An ,1I,N all ~ 20 ford
Charles Crocker and Coils P. Hunting
ton in the great case of David S. Colton'S-
widow against these railroad barons of
the past, down to the present day, has
persistently championed all manner of
legal suits, big or little, provided they
were brought against the Southern Pa
cifc. The most annoying thing to the
railroad is that he has mostly won these
suits.
former law partner of Delmas, who
is now engaged in litigation with his
former chief said that Delmas had a
standing offer from the Southern Pacific
of $4,000 retainer, provided only he would
handle no more damage suits against the
railroad. "Delmas is such a fool" said
his former partner, that he never would
take this offer. and yet he was always head
over ears in debt. Delmas would sacrifice
anything To- the sake of friendship, or
good hatred. As for women, he sees them
all in a golden haze"
They tell this story of his schooIboy days
at Santa Clara: Delmas, the better to per-
feet himself in Greek. solicited the favor
OF private readings with Father white,
the best Greek scholar OF the Santa Clara
faculty. For the first lesson he brought
his own copy of Demosthenes oratlons,
whereas Father White brought none. "Will
you read from my book father?" asked
Delmas NO" replied Father White; II
need no book; know my text by heart"
For the next lesson Delmas came empty
handed. where is your book, my SOM
asked Father White. II need no book" said
Delmas 81 have learned my text by
heart"
ANY one who has ever toiled through
Demosthenes' endless orations may wei
doubt this tale but It comes from the lips
of Father White himself. His story is
thoroughly characteristic OF Delmas as a
student and lawyer. In Delmas' own
words, there is no such thing as genius.
so-called genius merely means hard work"
II this definition be true, then Delmas is a
man OF genius. His former partner, Sam
Shortridge, who is now defending the San
Francisco boodlers. told me that Delmas
never made a speech In court which he had
not thoroughly written out before and
memorized word by word. One OF these
speeches alone covers 1858 printed pages in
the court records. In some of Delmas'
important cases his closing arguments
lasted several days. Mr.. ShoTtridge also
told me that Mr.. Delmas never put a wit
ness on the stand whom he had not previ-
ous.y examined and cross-examlned in per-
son.
Some idea how this lawyer prepares his
ases may be gained from this reminis-
eence Of one Of his former law partners.
Franklin ] Bull. One day. so Mr.. Bull
told me. Delmas showed him an old wal
nut tree standing on the banks OF Coyote
creek. in San Jose: There stands my
first jury" said Delmas. Then he's told
how, many years ago. when he received
his first retainer he had anticipated all
the possible points in this, his first case,
during long afternoon walks, in the course
OF which he used 20 address himself TO
that walnut tree, as II It were a Jury box
When the case came up before the judge
Il never came to trial. because the very
first motion for dismissal was so forcibly
argued by Delmas that the court granted
the motion As Delmas put IT, MY whole
campaign was won in the first skirmlsh."
To his skill I'm the examination OF wit
nesses ne is said to add the gift Of eloquent
argument I'm which incisive analysis Of evil
dence is mingled with orat0ry OF a sort
that appeals to the emotions He belongs
to the old school OF orators, as distinguished
from the strenuous. the casual ana the
colloquial speakers I'm the more modern
fashion Vet as one OF his acquaintances
said last week when Delmas wants 20
be sarcastic his words are like vitriol In
a cup OF honey"
The most strilxing OF his mannerisms are
his flowing gestures and a habit OF looking
at a witness or into the jury box with his
head bent forward and his eyes cast up
ward. He has a habit Of holding his eye
glasses in his hand while gesturing As
he throws forward his head and turns up
his eyes he raises his glasses horizontally
and looks across them, forming a picture
that is distinctive and striking.
Reform All Along the Line.