The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1913-06-06
So. a, y demo, and a,d not notice

court NE4FLiEl a IGGkAANA+ "a 49,
the plaintiff. this witness also brought
A suit and although confronted VILE
his own testimony in the previous
case he obtained a Judgment OF st9o
! sometimes think the iures are los'
ing the sense Of humor, a serious
loss, for il makes men detect things
which have got out Of proportion
In another instance a lady was car
RED b. her station a few miles n
returned in the day time riding In
the parior car both ways She Cd
tained \ verdict for $4,000 based on
Instructions for punitive damages
The Judgment was reversed on me
ground that such instructions we're
ret properly given under the evidence
Upon a getrial she obtained q verdict
fer the same amount as actual IAN
ages. This sun Is | believe more
than the honored chief Justice OF this
great commonwealth receives for MS
years work, Why should the people
Of Mississippi pay so much for so III
tIe+ Where does the money come
from that pays these yerdicts II II
does DOT, come from them 1t Is their
mouey which Is being wasted and stol'
en-. and they don't even have the run
OF being drunken sailors.
We had at one time in our employ
as an engineer, a nan who had once
bSen paid several hundred dollars on
account of a claim OF injury 10 his
eye By the explosion OF a water glass.
The accident occurred a second time,
he had the sight Of n eye destroyed
and he claimed he was losing the 9th
er. A verdict was awarded In his
favor for S20,500, enough to have paid
the salaries of the whole supreme
court for about a year and nine
w~nths. ! believe tbut the actual cost
to the railroad company was s23 ,O00l,
The verdict was sustained by the SUI
preme court. one of the former jus
tees Of that great tribunal saying
from the bench that the only criticism
which could be made of the verdict
was that It was not large enough,
The learned jurist was unnecessarily
concerned. AS soon as the money
was paid over, the engineer bought an
automobile and acted as his W
chauffeur In running the machine all
over town, skilfully avoiding collisions
with other vehicles, and also expended
a portion of his award in going to a
ball game, observing the movements
Of the flying sphere. Most OF the
time since receiving the money he has
been running an engine upon another
railroad. The engineer himself has
run through every dollar that he got
In this way and he could have used
many more. The money has very
likely done him a great deal more
than good. The sum was
enough to have built a mile OF rail.
In Mississippi. Any man who by
labor and self-denial has accumu-
the sum to twenty thousand dol
will not enjoy this story, How
long did 1t take you?
1t is the size of the verdict that Is
the life Of the business. If the same
brought against the company by
4 negro were brought against a local
or merchant there would be
no verdict at all; yet perhaps under
The false idea that railroad companies
10 q profitable business and have piles
II dollars just waiting for some one
% roll them, the juror puts both hands
nto the lean purse and gets the money
nto circulation, He could not pick out
case where an excessive verdict will
the public more.
In another instance, under circum-
which were very suspicious.
the plaintiff set up the claim of haY-
Ing had his back injured by falling out
the rear end of a Pullman car, on
account OF a sudden jerk Of the train,
Testimony was given that the tail gate
across the rear end had been fastened
with wire and that this wire had to
be untwisted before the man could fall
through the gate. No one saw the in
fury among the employees of the rail
read company. A verdict for S25, 900,
equal to the combined salaries of the
railroad commission for over
four years (although the actual cost
to the railroad company in this case
was in fact $4,000, was rendered on
behalf Of the man. who claimed to be
paralyzed In his lower extremities as
a result of the injury and the money
had to be paid. Pending the trial the
refused to submit to the crit,
Ical test of anaesthesia, by means of
fake cases of paralysis are dis.
AS soon as he got the money
he plaintiffs health began to improve,
he made two trips to Hot Springs,
and now he is quite recovered. An
must have troubled the waters,
This amount of money would have
SO freight cars. Those who
nave "a had the experience cannot
appreciate the shame and disgrace
hat a lawyer feels when his client
pays a verdict of this kind-when all
lis labor and skill have failed-the
story has won and the very
courts OF justice have been made the
innocent instrument of robbery and
oppression. What / insist upon, how,
aver, Is that the Judge who tries the
,ase ought to feel lust as badly or
A short time ago in the interesting
little city OF Mound Bayou. which as
rou will remember is practically a
community composed OF negroes, a
" !
was opened. resulting entirely
the thrift and industry OF the
ace. This joyful occasion
the negroes to Mound Bayou
rom everywhere. Special trains were
un from New Orleans, Memphis and
or the day of the celebration
md the resources of the railroad com
,any were taxed to the utmost to find
equipment of any kind In order to car.
y all the people who offered them
ELVES for the Journey.
The hotel accommodations In
found Bayou were not as great as in
ome other cities of the country and
Unfortunately there came an unexpect.
d cold wave which reduced the TEN,
'erature the night the visitors went
.ome to something like freezing point
nd as they allege, no adequate ar.
aneements we're made to heat the
ars,
OF the passengers who came from
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