Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-02-07


reached seventeen years and his son |
eighteen years The court then for |
the first time discovered that there was /
no constitutional right to trial by jury |
in mandamus case originally brought |
in the supreme court, and finding that !
the last verdict brought by the juries !
was plainly and palpably against the
evidence in the case, the court set it
aside, found that all the material facts
alleged in the petition were true, and
that the relator was entitled to the
writ of mandamus prayed for!
2. In 1906 Patrick Mccarthy, a
driver for the Spring Valley Mining
Company, was injured while working
ir it's mine at night by the falling of
a mass of rock from the roof of the
mine, and had TO have his arm am
putated. He brought suit, and his
counsel in opening his statement to
the jury mentioned that the plaintiff
had a wife and five children. This was
objected TO but there was no sugges-
! ton made to the court to stop the
trial on the ground that the minds of
the Jurors had been poisoned by the
statement thus made. Verdict for
$4,000. Upon appeal to the appellate
court the judgment was affirmed to
the extent of $4,000, after a remittitur
of $1,000 because Of the reference to
the wife and five children. Upon
further appeal to the supreme court,
the latter court reversed the Judgment
and remanded the case to the circuit
court for a new trial solely because
of this statement of the plaintiffs
counsel Upon a retrial of the case in
the circuit court, the plaintiff obtained
verdict for s11,500, and, Judgment
being entered on the verdict, the coal
company prosecuted another appeal to
the appellate court of the second dis
trict. That court, upon consideration
Of the record, found it wholly free
from error either as TO the law or the
facts, but, nevertheless, the court, one
judge dissenting. as a condition upon
which the judgment could be affirmed,
compelled the plaintiff to enter a re-
mittitur Of $500 on the ground as
stated by the majority of the court,
that otherwise the plaintiff would have
profited by the misconduct of his coun-
sci upon the first trial,
3. In 1891 one Donnelly sued one
McArdle to set aside a bill of sale on
the ground that the same was a mort
gage. The case was tried and dis
missed on the ground that the parties
to the action had been partners in a
junk business, and had both been buy
ing property illegally by bribing and
corrupting agents and officials of the
corporations. The case was appealed
and was reversed on the ground that
the illegality was merely incidental.
At the end of fifteen years the plaintiff
finally succeeded in getting a trial.
The complaint was dismissed on the
ground that instrument was a bill of
sale and not a mortgage. An appeal
was taken and a reversal granted on
the ground that the trial judge was
mistaken in fact. A new trial was
had, lasting another month. Volumes
Of testimony were taken. The COM
plant was again dismissed on the
ground that the instrument was a bill
OF sale and not a mortgage. Another
appeal was taken to the appellate
court, and il again decided that the
trial judge was wrong in fact. An
other trial was had. This time the
trial judge decided that the bill of
sale was a mortgage, giving judgment
for the plaintiff and directing that the
; defendant account, and appointed a
Z referee TO take the accounting. This
was an idle ceremony on the part OF
the justice. The plaintiff by this time
had no money wherewith to pay the
referee, and so the case now stands.
4. A child of twelve years was in
jured while playing on a railroad turn
table. To recover damages, she
brought an action by her next friend
against the company. Judgment was
instructed to be entered for $4,000
which judgment the appellate court o,
the third district affirmed. II wa.
objected that this instruction was er
rcneous because it did not require o.
the plaintiff the exercise of such care
and caution "as children of her age
capacity, intelligence and experience,
are Ndpdple VI CAtANASluS uAucI lu'
same circumstances and it was in
sisted that the omission of the wort
Experience" required the reversal o
the judgments of the circuit and ap
pellate courts. Five judges, the tive
others dissenting, so held, and tn,
n judgments of the circuit and appel
K late courts were reversed accordingly
How bright and intelligent" OF
serves Dean Lawson, must have beef
the twelve jurors in this case II the,
perceived this exceedingly fine point
which, though It was seen by fv
judges Of the supreme court, was no
apparent TO the other judges of tina
court, the three judges OF the appel
late court, or the judge OF the cir
cult court who presided at the trial
Is IL not a travesty upon justice 70
Ave judges in a simple case like thi
to overrule six other judges presumI
lively OF equal intelligence with them
selves and reverse a judgment for tn
omission from an instruction of
word, the insertion of which everyon
must be satisfied, to a moral certainty
could not have affected the verdict Q
the jury9"