The Washington herald., 1910-04-17

see that l either had TO get into another
kind Of business or begin practicing my
self, and without a partner 1 bought
some cheap furniture and announced that
another lawyer had settled in Boise Tie
announcement created no excitement
The first year In Idaho was the most
melancholy Of my existence. | battlel
desperately for a living. and many times
was on the point Of surrendering.
was an utter stranger in Boise, and the
town was full Of attorneys, all of whom
had plenty Of friends and acquaintance.
But kept on. I don't know how or why,
and in the second year came brighter
days and improved prospects. Little by
little l built up a respectable business"
Your first case in Idaho" l said. had
TO do with q gambler
Killed n Chinamnn.
"Only indirectly. 1 had met gambler
on the train that carried me into Idaho.
He lived at Nampa. twenty miles from
Boise. one morning he telephoned for
me, saying that a man whom he knew
was in trouble. l found. on reaching
Nampa. that a telegraph operator had
killed a ChInaman. The operator had
quit work late at night and gone into
the kitchen Of the hotel where he board
cd to get a luncheon There was dis
pute with the Chinese cook, who took up
knife and chased the telegraph operator
into the dining-room. After the cook
had turned to walk TO the kitchen the
operator shot him in the back. killing
him almost Instantly The preliminary
examination was before an old justice
OF the peace named Lang. In his infor-
nation, Hayes, the prosecutor, charged
the telegraph operator with murder.
1t Is not murder, Lang said pretty
vigorously. to Kill a Chinaman.'
In view Of the known factsg Hayes
replied, I am compelled 10 insist upon
the charge rs I have made it. The law
will permit Of nothing else.
THE court. I saw. meant to discharge
my client. which happened little later
and so I refrained from cross-examining
the witnesses and from making an argu-
ment- Now and then would say a
harmless word or two. that Lang might
not forget my presence. AS we walked
away. I said to the telegraph operator:
I don't know much about the courts
in this part of the country. but anywhere
else. II you had shot a human being in
the back and killed him, you surely
would have been punished. I advise YOU
to get out of Nampa as quickly as pos
sible.'
The operator departed that night and
never returned.
MY second case came to meNbecause
the other lawyers in Boise had declined
to take It," Senator Borah went on 70
say. 1T was claim three or four years
old against a railway for the killing of
some live stock. The railway was new
and popular, and damage suits were then
Unheard Of in Idaho. I settled the case
TO the satisfaction Of my client, and after
that | was employed in criminal practice
and in litigation between sheep and cat
tie men"
Jack u Gun-fighter.
Tell me about Diamond Field Jack?'
I asked
He was a gun-fghter and a cowboy.
and was quicker With his hands and on
his feet than any person 1 have ever
seen. He worked for the Sparks arreH
Cattle Company. of Nevada. In those
days there was friction between cattle
and sheep men over the boundary lines
Of their pasturage. A line was never re-
spected. as the saying went, until some
body had been killed upon IT, Two sheep
herders, so it appeared, had been shot
down in cold blood and given no change