Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1911-04-11
AN IDOl. IN COURT
Made to Serve the Ends of Justice
 In q Case in Japan. ?
THE RUSE OF A WISE MAYOR.

pealed. Devised simple scheme
 That Discio.ed the Real culprits.
 One day servant employed by the proprietor of big store near Japan bridge, in Yedlo, was sent with heavy pack of valuable cotton goods on his l back to dyer in Honjo district. When the stores messenger reached Yoko. gawa stre. ne was ready to seek rest What mo1 safe than the little grove of trees set about the stone statue of the god Jizo. the patron saint of trav- eers and detcnSe.ess woman and chfl- d-cn
 The somnolent porter awoke from nap to find that his employers cotton had disappeared. In great distress be went to the sNorekeeper and confessed that he had slept and that a robbeI had made off with the goods during his slumher. The master would not be ueve his story, saying that it wollld have been impossible for robber to make off with so large q bundle in broad daylight. Unless the porter should pay for the lost goods he VOL Q
 
 In despair the porter took counsel of Mayor jO-oka
 "Ycu are certainly to blame 1of hoy ing fallen asleep" reproved the 1far"t "but JiZo is equally to blame, fJr ;e is a god bound to protect every anF who trusts in him. and ill this tnSt:l'S'e be has betrayed you. l will have htm hnf me trial"
 O-oka gave immediate orders to his court officers to go and arrest the .iZc of Yokogawa street and bring btrl pc fore the mayors seat for trial. 1lran of the officers departed on their 1eis- sion. They first bound the arms of the stone god with coils of rope; ther they tried to lift him from his firr rtdestal into cart. A great crowd assembled before the JiZo, attracted by the unusual behavior of the court ofscera When they were told that ,tizo had to go before the mayor for | 'hial the citizens marveled.
 The task of unseating the god wae too much for the three court officers and they sought aid of those standing about. They promised that in return for assistance they would admit n!' volunteer workers into the courtroom to witness the extraordinary trial Hundreds were spurred by curiosity to lend a hand, and when the stone god went through the streets strapne( to cart like an offender the crowf grew. It filed the great hall of justice when Jizo was placed before the plat form upon which sat the mayor. O-ok" addressed the god in stern words.
 You are a negligent fool, o JiZo!' he exclaimed in voico loud enough for all to hear. "You are supposed to protect every one who believes ir you and who renders tribute, yet this trusting porter here made prayer tf you, then fell asleep at your feet, anc he was robbed while he slept. You stand accused of being an accomplc. in this robbery. Have you anything to say for yourself before I pass sen tence?"
 Mayor O-oka waited for a few mo- ments as if expecting the stony lips of Jizo to open in reply. but when no answer was made by the god he pass ed sentence immediately.
 "Since you do not defend yourself consider that you are guilty" said his honor, "and I shall imprison you.'
 At this remarkable spectacle of a mayor passing sentence upon stone god there was litter of laughter O-oka thundered in voice of brass.
 "Who are all these people standing about here?" he inquired of his court officers. "Are they accomplices of Jizo or only plain thieves? They think this court is a penny show, and they laugh at the courts orders. Shut all the gates at once!'
 The scared attendants hastened to shut the gates of the courtroom. Then Mayor O-oka adjudged every man in the great crowd in contempt of court and fined each of them one tan Ia Xii mono length of cotton cloth. The hun dreds thus suddenly found in contempt were happy that their punishment had been so light at least, and under bonds they hurried to their homes to bring back the cloth fine. Before the day was done TOO pieces of cotton cloth had been presented before the mayors court, the name of each culprit being set down upon the one tan of cotton cloth which he presented.
 Before he would allow the, 700 to go, l however, O-oka retired with the DOT. ter who had been robbed to an inner chamber, and he asked the porter to look over the 700 pieces of cotton cloth and see if he could identify any of them as having been once in the pack he had carried Since every man. ufacturer of cotton cloth in Yeddo al- ways marked the selvage of each strip with little red trademark stamp the porter searched the edges of the many strips of cloth for stamp similar to that borne on the cloth of which he had been robbed. He found that two of the pieces of cloth brought to pay the mayors fine bore the stamp of his plundered pack. Instantly Mayor O-oka gave orders for the arrest of the two men who had brought this cloth. t<> <hD md .,11