Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-10-04
SOME LAWYERS YARNS.
Legal Tricks of Yankee 'Squires to
Catch Automobiles.


While waiting for their cases to be
called for argument in special term,
Part l., of the supreme court recently,
several lawyers who have just re-
turned from automobile trips through
the New England states told of their
varied and queer adventures and mis-
adventures with cOnstables and rural
policemen and also with country mag
istrates.
One lawyer said that, riding in a ru-
raj district in Massachusetts with his
wife and child, his automobile was be-
ing run at a somewhat rapid rate
of speed by his chauffeur when it came
into collision with a truck loaded with
baggage, and he was compelled to
leave his damaged car behind in gar
age after an entertaining session with
local magistrate. This was the law
yer's story:
I'VE were running along through a
beautiful country lane with high green
hedges on each side. l do not believe
we were exceeding the speed limit in
that locality, but we were making good
time. Suddenly a truck turned around
a corner in the lane and we saw that
we could not avoid hitting it. My
chauffeur, with remarkable presence OF
mind, suddenly shouted to the driver
OF the truck, jump!
4 nd 10 ha
flying jump l ever saw. He escaped
the collision but we struck the truck
with such violence that the baggage
was scattered along the roadway and
my car was put out of commission.
We all escaped injury.
"A crowd gathered around us and a
rural constable told me l must appear
before a country magistrate. | was
taken To a feed store and into second
story room, where the proprietor, who
was a magistrate. at once opened his
court. In the room there were a num-
Der of flour barrels and boxes of feed.
After hearing the facts the magis-
trate told me what my rights were un-
der the statutes made and provided,
and he advised me that l could enter
one of three pleas, namely: guilty, not
guilty, or some other plea that l never
heard of before. The third plea was
cOuched in some verbiage which
sounded like a mixture of Dutch and
hog Latin.
Il told the magistrate that this third
plea sounded good to me and l would
| take it. He explained that that was
about the best thing that | could have
decided upon, as that third plea meant
| that | was guilty but that l did not
know that | was guilty and that under
it he could impose the minimum pen
atty. | told him that | was delighted
and that that was the plea for me. The
grand old magistrate then imposed a
fine of 81, and after leaving my auto
mobile to he repaired | started for
Boston with my family by train.
A few days after | reached here
received notice that the driver of the
| truck, who had Immediately after the
collision assured me that he had not
sustained the slightest injury, had at
tachcd my car in a suit for money
damages for personal injuries The
driver said that n few days after the
smashup he was examined by an X
Ray machine and was shocked to learn
that one of the small bones Of his
right hand had been injured. l shall
have t" give a bond to secure the re-
lease of my automobile and must de-
fcnd the damage suit.
But that old magistrate in his flour
uarrpl court was dandy, and that
third plea of his was one that should
br embodied in our Jurisprudence
the travelled advocate concluded.
Another lawyer. who toured Yer
mont as well as several other states