Evening star., 1935-03-06

forward to by his colleagues and
court habitues for choice tidbits Of
wit and humor, as well as salient
legal discourse. Many instances could
be given in illustration. but one will
suffice.
While engaged in argument Of the
tobacco cases under the Sherman anti
trust law, distinguished New York
lawyer, counsel for one Of the tobacco
companies, considered 1t important,
in driving home a point, to declare
that nobody except fools and dudes
smoked imported cigarettes" Justice
Holmes. with characteristic Difference
and smile, leaned forward and, with
delightful drawl. said:
Wit Is Displayed.
IT am not so sure about that
Sometimes I smoke them, and I know
I am not dude"
Born in Boston March 8, 1841, JUS
tice Holmes had a common school
education before entering Harvard,
where he was about to graduate
when the Civil War broke, in the
Spring of 1861. He at once volun-
teered, writing his class poem in camp
and receiving his degree later.
At Balls Bluff, near washington, he
was shot through the chest. On the
battlefield of Antietam an enemy's
bullet lodged in his neck, and in q
desperate charge on Maryes Heights
at Fredericksburg, Va, he was
wounded in the foot. -
Entering the war first lieutenant
in the Goth Massachusetts, Volunteer
Infantry, he earned a captaincy and
was discharged with the brevet of
colonel. For a time he served as aide
de-camp to Brig. Gen. H. G. Wright.
He was only % when the war ended
and he returned to Harvard. Within
two years he had graduated in law
and engaged in private practice in
Boston as a member of the firm Of
Shattuck. Holmes & Monroe until
1882, when he became a justice of the
Supreme Judicial Court Of Massa-
chusetts, of which his maternal grand
father. Charles Jackson. had been a
member. For two of the years de-
voted to practice he was an instructor
in constitutional law at Harvard.
Married at Ag. Of 81.
At the age of 81 he married Miss
Fanny Dixwell of Cambridge. Mass.
Their honeymoon lasted 81 years. un-
til her death. on April 80, 1929. They
had no children.
The Civil War lived vividly in the
memroy Of Justice Holmes and he
once said:
when the ghosts of dead fiters be-
gin to play in my head the laws are
silent"
After the Battle Of Antietam a tele-
gram went to Boston which caused
much anxiety in the home of the
young officer. 1t read: Capt. Holmes
wounded, shot through the neck;
thought not mortal; at Keedysville.
DR.. Holmes, already renowned as
great author OF stirring verse, started
at once for the bedside Of his wounded
son. But he failed to find him at
Keedysville, nor could he get definite
word of him in many another hospital
and camp. He wandered through
Maryland and down into Virginia, and
was advised that his boy had been
sent to hospital in Philadelphia, and
back tracked to that city. But his
search was fruitless.
He returned to the field Of military
operations in the South, eagerly, but
by this time almost hopelessly seeking
his missing son. Then one day, while
he was walking through troop train,
a bedraggled soldier addressed him
with a quiet How do you do, dad" to
which was given the equally calm re-
ply of How do you do. SON."
This Stoicism and absence of hys-
terra was characteristic of the relation
of father and son and of the outward
attitude of each to the world. Yet
the father could preach in his Army
Hymn:
Thy hand hath made our country
free;
To die for her Is serving Thee"
And the son could put that doctrine
into practical application. DR.. Holmes
wrote of his experiences on that trip
under the title, my Hunt for the
Captain" published in the Atlantic
Monthly at the time and published
again few years ago in an anniver-
sary edition.
No bitterness from war experience
ranked in the breast of Justice
Holmes. While he fought against the
Southern claim of the right Of States
to secede from the Union, he became
later a stanch supporter of other
State rights. When Chief Justice
White of Louisiana was presiding over
the court former Confederate ON
Ger sought his assistance to have q
CO ,ov,iouol Tho CIfof Tt1cfira Hn.
MED the request of his personal
friend, advising that he should pay
no more money on q losing cause.
Other members of the court refused
to grant the review and the litigant
finally appealed to Justice Holmes,
who granted the request as a compli-
ment from former Union officer to
a former Confederate soldier.
Always SaIuted Foe.
Justice Lurton of the Supreme
Court was a Confederate veteran. 1t
is the custom of the court for the
justices in their robes to form a line
and walk into court. headed by the
Chief Justice. The line passes be-
hind a screen. Justice Holmes, as
long as Justice Lurton was on the
bench, always halted behind the
screen. brought himself to attention
and formally saluted his former foe
as he passed.
Modernistic in the development Of
ideas, Justice Holmes liked antiques.
He had his Office in his residence and
fitted up the work room with fiat
top desk near a window and lined
the walls with shelves Of law books
and books by his favorite authors.
While he mixed them indiscrim.
inately. all we're located within easy
reach.
Valuable old rugs were thrown hap
hazard over a carpeted floor. with
clothes carelessly strewn about. Over
his desk was an old-style gas chan
delier with large glass globes, from
which hung toy skeleton. wired to
dance when agitated. Numerous
china ornaments covered the top of
the desk. Nearby stood q "stand-up"
bookkeeper desk, common in the days
of his youth, with its slanting top
and long legs. The furniture In all
other parts of the house open to the
l