White Pine news weekly mining review. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1910-1920, 1915-09-26
JUR|ST REVIEWS
OLD TIME SCENES
JUDGE FITZGERALD OF EUREKA
RECALLS MEN AND HAPPEN
INGS OF DAYS WHEN HE HELD
COURT IN ELY.

Looking over the ground and meet
ing some of the old friends whom he
met here nearly thirty years ago,
Judge A. L. Fitzgerald now a resi-
dent of Eureka, after spending
pleasant vacation in Californa, drop
ped into Ely during the week. where
he has been renewing old acquaint-
anees while not engaged in Masonic
business demanding his attention.
The judge now enjoys the distinction
of being sovereign grand inspector
general of the Ancient and Accepted
Scottish Rite of Free Masonry.
In the early days when. auto
mobiles were as yet unheard of,
Judge Fitzgerald. together with
Judge Rising and Judge Bigelow,
covered the entire state of Nevada.
Judge Fitzgerald covered a district
from the extreme north to the ex-
treme south and travelled backward
and forward from Winnemucca tC
Phoebe. He recalls having driven in
to Ely at four o'clock a. m. in the
dead of winter and after attending
to court business demanding his at
tention, on the same day started of
in his blackboard for Phoebe. Before
the building which has in recent
years been remodeled and is now
used as county hospital was actual
ly completed as a courthouse. for
which it was originally built and
used. Judge Fitzgerald once held
court in the partially constructed
building This was also in the dead
of winter and through lack of pro-
tecton from the fierce blasts. the
jurist contracted heavy cold which
remained with him for several
months but he did not permit it to in
terfere with the great amount OF
work in the enormous amount of ter
ritory he had to cover He was elect
ed In 1886 and served fourteen year
as District Judge taking in this dis
trict. following which he was elected
to the Supreme Court bench of this
state and served with great credit tc
himself and the state for six years.
He has always been one of the
best known democrats and advocates
of silver in the country, and the au-
thor of the work entitled ''The Thirty
Tear War on Silver" He does not
however accept all the views of vii
liam Jennings Bryan. Senator New
lands and other accredited leaders
and points out in no uncertain man
ner where those gentlemen were mis-
taken and injured the cause of silver
rather than assisted it.
When the democratic and silver
party assembled in convention al
Reno in 1906 insisted upon putting
in its platform the words I'VE rejoce
that history has verified all the finan-
cial contentious of William Jennings
Bryan" Judge Fitzgerald pointed oui
to the convention that the statemen.
was not correct and refuesd to be u
candidate for reelection to the su-
preme court II bound by such
statement. Subsequent events have
beyond doubt proven the position he
then took to be correct.
The judge is undoubtedly one OF
the hest informed and most interest
ing takers on the subject in the
country.
In speaking Of this district he says
that the progress made is astoinish
ing, and after listening to his com
parison of things in general as he
finds them here today with what they
were thirty years ago one cannO
help being optimistic as to the future
of our great copper camp.