The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-03-26

that one day. while you were par
taking OF an innocent stew in the
midst of your assembled family,
. detective suddenly appeared on
the scene and arrested you on the
charge Of having shot and probably
fatally wounded . man. Suppose
that this revelation came as a COM
plete surprise to you, but that upon
being dragged to the hospital where
the injured man lay, you were iden-
titled by him as the guilty party.
Suppose then, that your only alibi
was the word Of your family, with
whom you were quietly playing
checkers at the time the man was
shot, and that this alibi was not
considered sufficient by the guard
ians Of justice. What would you
do?
This is what happened to a young
workman here, not long ago, and
he found that he could do practical
ly nothing. If he had possessed a
large bank account, there would
have been several favorable courses
open to him, but his possessions
consisted only Of . wife and three
young children.
The wife did what she could
however. Accompanied by her chill
dren, she went to the nearest
branch of the New York Aid society
and told her story to one Of its
attorneys. The attorney made her
tell it several times, and, at last
convinced that she spoke the truth
and that her husband was innocent
he decided to take the case. II
proved to be q difficult one. The
injured man had told his story, and
he intended to stick to it, but after
a desperate fight, the society's at.
torney was able to pick sufhcient
flaws in it to convince the jury that
the workman was not guilty.
Fortunately for those who are un-
able to afford the advice and assist.
ance of expert attorneys, . very
efficient legal aid society exists here
which handles thousands Of such
cases every year. Begun as a Ger
man society for helping German
! immigrants secure justice, in 1876
it has since grown into large or.
ganization, with five branches in
various sections of the city and q
sixth one in Brooklyn, which re-
Gently had to be closed for lack o.
funds. For the society, Of course
/ is a philanthropic affair. 1t doe:
the best it can as long as private
subscriptions last. but its activities
must cease Immediately as seon a:
these are exhausted.
UnliUs most charitable organiza
tons, the Offices of the New Yorl
Legal Aid society are dingy. Pow
erty- stricken suites in the most in
expensive buildings the locations
possess. The headquarters on low
er Broadway consists Of about three
small rooms, crowded with moth
eaten furniture, legal documents
attorneys, investigators and clerks
all getting in each others way
while the reception room provided
for the clients in a space five fee
by four containing two ancient ant
battle-scarred benches, which ar,
usually crowded with forlorn-look
ing applicants for justice.
The other day, the first applicant
summoned for consultation by tn,
attorney in charge was a widow il
somewhat furnished mourning, WHIT
burst into loud sobhing as she at
tempted to repeat her story. Thu
attorney already knew a part Of it
She had been in the Office a few
mornings before to complain tina
her husbands family would not le
her attend his funeral. He had dice
at his mothers house, and tn,
mother-in-law who had not been OF
good terms with the wife for SOM
time. refused to let her come to thu
house. Now. however, she was il
receipt Of bill for the funeral ex
penses, which the mother-in-lav
was quite willing for her to pay.
The undertaken, he wants hi
money, and he make . row." sh'
told the attorney. What shall
do"
Nothing" said the attorne.
briefly. If he sues, just come t.
US. Next case, please"
The fearful widow was usheret
out, and the next applicant, small
boy of II, wearing entirely too wor
ried an expression for boy of hi
age, faced the attorney with a cour
,ageous attempt at q smile.
How'd It come out?' he asked
striving to keep his voice steady.
"All right, Tony. all right" sal,
the attorney reassuringly. "Yo'
can stay right on with your grand
mother"
| Tony, the attorney later explain
ed. is young mariner whose great
grandfather kept a boathouse o.
the Marlem river; and for the pas
four or five years the boy has man
aged both. Somewhere in the of
ling Tony had father who made hi
existence known by occasions
grumblings, but the storm did nc
break until the ancient keeper G
the boathouse died and Tony an
his great-grandmother were left i