The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1908-01-27


tacky lid damage case agaInst i
railroad 4 poor gIri had had her loot
cut on W 4 train. IN those days Il
was saying in Kentucky that -Bill
Goebels afterward the murdered gov
ernor OF Kentucky is the only man
who can get a verdict against a rail-
road in this state" The backwoods
lawyer hadn't drawn his petition prop
erIy. 1t was defective In as many
places as IT well could be. Judge Taft
took IT. read it over, and then amend
ed 1t until the best efforts of the keen
attorney for the road couldn't poke a
hole in it. That jackleg lawyer got
his verdict, and even yet, likely, is
Dragging of the hard fight he put up
when he "won that damage case
against the B. and a."
Saved Lawyer From auln.
And another lawyer of record in one
OF the most Important railroad cases
ever tried in a western court forgot to
ale an amended petition on the last
day of grace. The court had the pow.
er TO extend the time limit. but some
courts won't do that. The lawyer rush,
ed into Judge Taft's court one day,
never having seen the judge. That's
him coming now" said the clerk, as
a clear whistle sounded down the cor
ridor. And before the harassed law
yer strobe "Big Bill" Taft, as some
call him, alert. blue-eyed, breezy. The
moment he heard the lawyers name:
"Now, I'm glad you've come" said he,
az was afraid you were going to let
that case go by default. Let me have
the papers" And they were filed
The lawyer. who had faced what
amounted to professional ruin by his
negligence, went out with tears in his
eyes, saying over and over: What a
man he is! What a man he Isl"
One might go on Indefinitely OF
Judge Taft's career on the bench, for
there he made history. He was the
first United States judge to haul the
receivers OF railroads into court on the
charges of rebatIng; and that was be
fore the recent outcry on that subject
And his decision smashed the first
trust ever broken by federal court
He would have brought his nearest
friend. Myron T. HerrIck, later gov.
ernor of Ohio, into court on the charge
OF rebating at time when Mr.. Her
rick was the receiver of a railroad
in Ohio. But Mr.. Herrick was able to
satisfy the court that his action was
free of technical fault, and had, in fact
been imposed upon him by an obli
cation of his predecessor. 1t is proba'
BILE that Judge Taft was happier than
Myron Herrick was when that fact
was set out But there Is no doubt
that Herrick would have been faith
fully prosecuted II he had not been
in the right.
The same qualities followed him In
his later career. Witness the time
when, placed in charge of the work
on the Panama Canal, as Secretary OF
War, he received delegation OF stri!s.
ing steam shovel engineers. They
wanted more money. As always, Sec,
rotary Taft was willing to look into
their case. But that wasn't what they
wanted. "Well strike right now II
you don't agree to give us this raise,
said the shovellers' representatives,
truculenly. Secretary Taft's eyes be,
gan to CLEAN a bit as he looked al
them. DO l understand you rightly.
gentlemen" he asked. do you mean
TO say that you want that raise before
have decided. and that if you don't
get 1t you'll strike?"
Yes. he had understood them Just
right, they said. with swagger.
Then, gentlemen" said he. twill you
Hirdly step over to that table in the
corner and write out your reslgna,
tions?"
nat put dlIerent case upon IL
They didn't want to resign. Come TO
think of it calmly. they didn't wan:
to strike until he had investigated
their claims. Now, mark the essen
tial higness OF the man He didn't
visit his wrath upon these men be-
cause Of their illtempered, ill-advisel
threat He sent them back to their
work. investigated their case, heard
statements from the other employees
on the canal, and in the end refused
TO G'ant their demands unless at such
time as all the other classes of labor
should have a proportionate Increase.
And so well satisfied were they by this
time that their demands had. in fact,
been unfair. that they made no fur,
ther trouble.
Beloved BY the FiIlpinos.
OF his work in the Philippines cv.
cry one knows. The Filipinos used to
call him "Santo-Saint Taft. That