The Washington herald., 1909-08-01

/ tablished my Office IN sam Lindley's littla
( one-room bank. The carpenter with whom
/ I boarded and was patiently waiting fOr
( his pay built me three short shelves for
/ my library. consisting OF Dickens. Thack-
cray. and Burns, and the statutes OF south
! Dakota sam gave me a chair The
| keeper OF the livery stable let me have a
/ school desk that was stored in a corner
/ OF his haymow.
Gets His First Case.
"Old Mother Marble lived up the creek
on homestead. She was my first client.
Joe Kubel. a Bohemian. owed her some
money, and gave her a $40 gold piece.
She brought the coin 20 sam 20 learn n Il
were good. Sam balanced It on his index
finger and hit It with HIS jackknife. In
his opinion, the coin was a counterfeit.
He so expressed his professional judg-
ment.
" I hear Mother Marble said; in some
excitement, that there's a new liar in
town. I'll go straight 10 him
Sam proudly introduced US I sued
FOR so, emitting all reference in my brief
to the counterfeit gold piece. The at
torney for Kubel demanded fury. Kubel
said he had paid the debt. We replied
that the money so paid was bad. Kubel
insisted that n was good. He had Sc
creted it in bin OF oats, and the rust on
II proved its genuineness. I called sam
lindley, the banker. as an expert. Sam
declared authoritatively that pure gold
never rusted. We heard the Jury slam
the coin on the floor a good many times
The verdict was for us. Under the statute
was allowed % per cent OF the sum
recovered. besides my fee as an at
torney. The justice Of the peace turned
the coin over 10 me as an unclaimed ex-
hibit in the case I sent Il to banker at
Sioux Falls, and he sent Il to Washing
ton. In the course OF a month I received
a $50 gold certificate from the Treasury
OF the United States, with the statement
that the coin was perfectly good, but that
II had been effectively minted That was
my first fee as practicing lawyer.
Goes to Kansas City.
In 1853" Mr.. Ellis went on to say. "a
friend who had opened law Office in
Kansas City asked me to share in his
business. I had nothing to lose. except
railroad fare. and accepted his invitation
Tines. you win recollect. were horribly
bad The financial panic had shut the
factories, and the streets were full of
IDLE men. One Saturday night I had only
8 cents to my name. lived over Sunday
on crackers and apples. which bought at
market where prices late at night were
considerably shadeds Sometimes I did a
little collecting for a wholesale shoe
establishment A Judge occasionally gave
me the case Of an INDECENT prisoner. /
cleared one colored Individual charged
With murder and received S25.
Thoroughly discouraged. I heard the
step one afternoon of man In the hall
outside Of my desOlate little office. In
tuitively. I knew that he was hunting a
lawyer. / hadn't a penny in the world.
1t vas unprOfessionaI. a violation OF the
ethics Of my calling. but I opened the
door and stepped into the hall. The man
came right on. Well. he was an actor.
and wanted TO attach a minstrel show for
unpaid salary. He gave me s.. and I
went straight into the street and bought
a meal ticket and a bag of smoking to-
baeco. Then I made out the papers
"a sudden change came into nv life
about that time. An architect desired 10
superintend the construction OF the new
building at Kansas City. He
knew that John G. Carlisle. Secretary OF
the Treasury. was friend Of my family,
/ Journeyed to Washington at his ex-
pense. and he was appointed by tele-
graph. on my way TO the West
stopped at Covington. and saw a young
lady who had been much in ny mind
since boyhood. So l decided to return 10
Cincinnati practice my profession, and
get married. | was what might have
been called an interstate lawyer, and had