Fun in Law Reports

1895

SOME OF THE CASES FURNISH FOOD FOR LAUGHTER.

Mistakes of Judicial Pens — Early English Common Law Severe on Clergymen — Citing High Authority — The Remarkable Opinion of Judge Lewis.

Many of the law reports are full of curious judicial slips. In a Georgia case, for instance, the judge, giving the opinion, says that "Montgomery, C. J., was providentially prevented from presiding in this case." This may have been a whack at Montgomery, C. J., or at the lawyer who argued it before the weary judge. This isn't quite as bad, however, as the theological slip of a Nebraska judge in a supreme court case, in which he holds that "the law presumes against the carrier unless he shows that it was done by the king's enemies or by such an act of God as could not happen by the intervention of man." His opinion of the relative positions of God and man recalls the story of the Adams county justice who had occasion to punish a party for gross profanity used in open court. "For taking the name of Almighty God in vain," said this worthy successor of Mr. Justice Shallow, "I shall fine you $10, and for offending the dignity of this court you will pay a fine of $60 and costs or go to jail."

Lawmakers furnish us quite as funny mistakes as law writers. When the supreme court of California came to pass upon the charter of the city of Oakland, a few years ago, they said of the phraseology of the charter that "the joint labors of Malaprop and Partington could scarcely have made such a collocation or dislocation of words and sentences as did this legislator. Among other things it gives the board of trustees power to license and suppress dramshops, horse racing, gambling houses, houses of ill fame and all indecent and immoral practices, shows and amusements." Such a license power might do in New York. It scandalized the pious town of Oakland.

If clergymen wish to know their rating in the ponderous sheepskin tomes, they can find it out by beginning with the very earliest English lawbooks in existence. In one of the black letter year books it appears that some one had been so unkind as to call a preacher a fool, with a good theological prefix to the fool. The preacher brought suit for slander, and the defendant justified, as the lawyers say — that is, he claimed that what he said was not slander, but gospel truth, and he showed that the words spoken could not hurt the clergyman, "for that it was a maxim of the common law" that "a parson might be a good parson and still be a fool." The court so held, but said that had the words been spoken of a lawyer or a doctor it would have been otherwise.

Lord Coke, the great fountain of our common law, had little use for the preachers, and in his third institute he says that in order that the Carmelite friars of Fleet street might perform their vows of chastity King Edward III had to prohibit all woman from passing through a lane next to the friar house. Apropos of preachers an old chronicle relates that when Alan de Neville, chief forester of Henry II, died a certain monastery begged for some of his great wealth. The king, with fine religious discrimination, said, "I shall take his wealth, but you may have his carcass, and the devil will get his soul."

Some of the funniest things in the lawbooks are the far fetched authorities that are cited to establish certain rulings. In a case tried before Justice Fortescue it was claimed that the other side had no right to be heard. The judge decided that it had. "I have heard it observed," said he, "that even God himself did not pass sentence upon Adam before he was given chance to defend himself. 'Adam,' says God, 'where art thou? Hast thou not eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat?' And the same question was put to Eve also."

But for exciting legal reading the famous case reported in 10 Pa. St. Report Daily takes first prize. Mr. Justice Lewis thus disports himself on the subject of restraining a widow from marrying: "The principle of reproduction," he says, "stands next in importance to its elder born correlative, self preservation, and is equally a fundamental law of existence. It is the blessing which tempered with mercy the expulsion from paradise. It was impressed upon the human creation by a beneficent Providence, to multiply the images of himself and thus to promote his own glory and the happiness of his creatures. From the lord of the forest to the monster of the deep, from the subtlety of the serpent to the innocence of the dove, from the elastic embrace of the mountain kalmia to the descending fructification of the lily of the plain, all nature bows submissively to this primeval law. Even the flowers, which perfume the air with their fragrance and decorate the forests and fields with their hues, are but curtains to the nuptial bed. The principles of morality, the policy of the nation, the doctrines of the common law, the law of nature and the law of God unite in condemning as void the condition attempted to be imposed upon this widow."

In Manby versus Scott, a case decided in England in 1662, Mr. Justice Wyndham thus prophesies as to what may be expected if a husband is to be held responsible for the contracts of his wife. His objections are a curious commentary on the marriage tie of those days. Among "the many inconveniences which must ensue" he specifies the following:

First. — The husband will be accounted the common enemy, and the mercer and the gallant will unite with the wife, and they will combine their strength against the husband.

Second. — Wives will be their own carvers, and, like hawks, will fly abroad and find their own prey.

Third. — It shall be left to the pleasure of a London jury to dress my wife in such apparel as they think proper.

Fourth. — Wives who think they have insufficient will have it tried by a mercer whether their dress is not too mean, and this will make the mercer judge whether he will dispose of his own goods or not. — Philadelphia Times.

Dowie Swears If He Had His Rights

Illinois, 1906

Then He Would Not Be a Bankrupt as His Enemies Allege

Chicago, May 16. — Attorneys for Dowie today filed an answer in the federal court in the receivership proceedings brought against Dowie some time ago. In his answer Dowie denied that he is insolvent, if all his property was restored to him.

Judge Landis, before whom the arguments were made, entered an order directing the attorneys to leave the matter alone, saying he would settle it himself.

Riots broke out again in Zion City yesterday, following disorder which attended Dowie's effort to address his followers in Shiloh Tabernacle Sunday. Crowds numbering hundreds gathered on Shiloh boulevard, near the general store in the afternoon, and engaged in a furious argument over the respective merits of their leaders, and the questions at issue in the struggle of "Doctor" Dowie and Overseer Veliva for supremacy.

One Dowieite was handled roughly by the mob and serious consequences were only averted by the arrival of the Zion police in answer to a riot call.

James Slater, a negro adherent of the "First Apostle," was escorted to safety by the officers, after being mobbed for his sturdy defense of Dowie. The crowd assembled again after the departure of the police, and another riot call was sent in, which brought out all the reserves of the station, led by Police Captain Walker himself. The mob was forced off the street corners and ordered to disperse.

FEAR FURTHER TROUBLE

The police are apprehensive of further trouble and have called in all their patrolmen from outlying points for possible emergency duty. Slater is said to have started the trouble by exploiting the virtues of Dowie to a crowd near the general store. He was interrupted by loud cries of:

"Dowie has all of my money."

"Dowie is a robber."

"Why doesn't he pay his debts?"

The negro became frightened and ran. He was overtaken by the mob and in turn rescued by the police,

DOWIE CHARGES CONTEMPT

Dowie took personal charge of seeking punishment of persons who caused disorder at his meeting Sunday. He instructed his attorney, Emil C. Witten, to draw Judge Wright's attention to the fact that the terms of the court order issued at the first hearing of the injunction proceedings against Veliva, to the effect that the "First Apostle's" meetings should not he interfered with had been grossly violated. He also ordered his counsellors to announce that all negotiations for the appointment of a triumvirate were off, and that the court proceedings should proceed.

—The Daily Review, Decatur, IL, May 15, 1906, p. 1.

Playful Kiss Doesn't Count

February 1914

Editor's Daughter Loses $5,000 Damage Suit Against Brookfield, Missouri, Pastor

Brookfield, Mo. — After deliberating eight and one half hours the jury in the case of Harriet C. Myers against the Rev. F. C. Atwood for $5,000 damages on the charge of forcibly kissing her, returned a verdict in the defendant's favor.

The charge made by Miss Myers, who is a daughter of Harry C. Myers, editor of the Linn County Budget, was first made public last November, although the alleged osculatory demonstration was said to have taken place more than a year before. Rev. Atwood, shortly after the charge was made, admitted from the pulpit that be kissed Miss Myers "on the side of her head, above the ear." He did this, he said, as the result of a "playful impulse."

Men Try to Beat Devil Out of Boy

1914

Holy Roller Preacher and Two Illinoisans Accused of Assault

Lad Sustains Broken Arm

Cousin, With Club, Ends Attack After He Is Seriously Injured — Fanatics in Jail Try to Pray the Prison Doors Open

Murphysboro, Ill., Feb. 10. — Noah Hickman lies at the point of death at his home in the foothills of the Ozarks, in Jackson county, as the result of flogging and trampling he suffered when he refused to accept the Holy Roller faith. Dolph Hickman, young Hickman's father, Walter Ellis and Adam Cripps were arrested on the charge of assault. Cripps was released on $500 bond.

Friday night the Holy Rollers held an all-night meeting at the Hickman home. Young Hickman, who is an epileptic, was told that he was possessed of evil spirits, and the Holy Rollers said they would trample the demons out of him.

Cousin Halts Attack

Hickman's father, one of his sisters, Ellis and Cripps bore their victim to the floor after flogging him and trampled on him. He sustained a broken arm, a dislocated shoulder and several internal injuries. The arrival of Tom Hickman, the boy's cousin, with a club ended the attack.

The Holy Rollers have held all-night prayer services at Macedonia, Dutch Ridge, Poplar Ridge and other remote centers in the hills. Some of them have killed off swine and let them die in the woods as things unfit to touch. The district is aroused and will try to stamp out the faith.

The Holy Rollers in the Jonesboro jail are attempting to pray the prison doors open.

The Ouija Declines

1920

William and Isaac Fuld are contestants in a comparatively unimportant suit in a Baltimore court. Each claims to have invented the Ouija board. Each one claims the right to profit from the sale of the invention. The court is asked to settle the dispute and decide who is entitled to the profits from the sale last year of 375,000 of these popular instruments of modern psychism.

Newspaper correspondents were quick to grasp the incongruity. A court with all its admitted human failings was asked to decide the question. The arbitration of the all-wise and all-known Ouija board was refused by those who might be expected to know its virtues best.

The Fuld brothers hit on a queer policy of advertising their wares.

Frequently it is reported that Ouija board devotees have become insane through too great faith in the mysterious powers of the omnipotent board. It would seem that the Fuld brothers were a trifle crazy so publicly to confess the purely mundane origin of Ouija. After such a confession in court it would appear that only those who already are mentally unbalanced would purchase Ouija as anything more than a toy.

If Ouija cannot designate its own inventor, what can be expected of it in other fields?

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, March 20, 1920, p. 6.

Father and Healer Held After Child's Death

1906

FATHER AND HEALER ARE HELD

Death of Philadelphia Child Without Medical Aid Causes Arrests

Philadelphia, Feb. 24. — At the conclusion today of the coroner's inquest into the death of Grace Bates, 3 years old, Daniel Bates, the child's father, and Rev. Ambrose Clark, assistant pastor of Faith Tabernacle, were committed without bail for trial. The father is charged with criminal neglect and the clergyman is held as an accessory. The defendants are members of the Church of Christ and both testified that they endeavored to accomplish the recovery of the girl through prayer and that medical attention was not provided for the child, who died of typhoid fever.

Minister of Gospel Under Arrest for Counterfeiting Coins

1907

Preacher Made Coin

Minister of Gospel Is Under Arrest for Counterfeit

SPRINGFIELD, Il., June 17. — A federal grand. jury Saturday night returned an indictment against Rev. James R. Kaye, formerly pastor of the First Presbyterian church, and now editor of the Home Herald, published at Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago, charging him with manufacturing counterfeit money.

Molds for the manufacture of counterfeit dimes, quarters, half dollars and dollars were found in the basement of the house which the Rev. Kaye occupied while pastor of the First Presbyterian church in Lincoln.

When arrested he confessed to making the molds, but explained that he was only experimenting with them to see if he could manufacture medals to be presented to the children of the Sunday school as rewards for getting new pupils for the school.

—La Crosse Tribune, La Crosse, Wisconsin, June 17, 1907, p. 4.


Pastor Charged with Counterfeiting

Rev. James R. Kaye, of Oak Park, was indicted by the federal grand jury on a charge of having in his possession molds in similitude with United States coins. Rev. Mr. Kaye came to Springfield for the investigation, expecting to be indicted. As soon as the bill was reported Mr. Kaye furnished bond for his appearance for trial.

The molds and dies were found in the basement of the house formerly occupied by the minister in Lincoln, Ill., where he was pastor of the First Presbyterian church. After the church was combined with the Cumberland church, Mr. Kaye went to Oak Park and conducted a prohibition publication. The dies were found early in the winter by workmen repairing a furnace in the basement of the house. The facts at that time were suppressed.

Early in May gossip about the finding of the dies was revived and Capt. Porter, of the secret service bureau, began an investigation, which ended in finding a number of dies and a plate for printing one dollar bills. The plate and some of the dies were found in an outhouse and others were secreted in the basement of the dwelling. Some babbit metal was also discovered, but there was no trace of counterfeit coins. The dies were declared to be exceedingly crude and would not have turned out coins which would pass, but this plate was said to be an excellent one.

Capt. Porter and a number of witnesses from Lincoln and other parts of Logan county were the principal witnesses before the grand jury. When the accusation was first made against Kaye, he denied the seriousness of the charge and declared the dies were for the purpose of making souvenir medals for his Sunday school class. He said he used lead and even melted some old silver but finding he couldn't get the sharp finish, abandoned the work. He insisted that the finding of the dies was conclusive proof of his innocence.

Rev. Mr. Kaye was a popular pastor and leader in social reforms in Lincoln. He was a conversationalist of exceptional ability. He was in great demand as a speaker before women's clubs and stood high in the councils of the Lincoln Ministers' association. Mr. Kaye lives with his wife and two children at 302 Wisconsin avenue, Oak Park.

—The Pointer, Riverdale, Illinois, June 21, 1907, p. 6.


Notice has been received at the United States District Attorney's office in Springfield that Rev. James R. Kaye of Oak Park, former pastor of the Wheaton Congregational Church, who was convicted on a charge of counterfeiting, has filed his appeal in the United States District Court at Chicago.

—Daily Herald, Chicago, July 16, 1909, p. 15.


KAYE DODGES FEDERAL PRISON

Former Pastor Is Re-Sentenced to Peoria Workhouse.

Rev. James R. Kaye, the former Lincoln minister and later pastor of a fashionable church at Oak Park, and convicted of counterfeiting two years ago, has won his fight to escape the federal penitentiary at Fort Leavenworth. He appeared before Judge J. Otis Humphrey in the United States District Court in Springfield, and was re-sentenced to a six months' term in the Peoria workhouse. Kaye began his sentence to-night.

The efforts of the counterfeiting preacher to keep from wearing a convict's garb have attracted wide attention. Members of former congregations have contributed liberally to make a notable legal fight. Kaye's frank explanation of how molds and counterfeit money came to be found in his former home at Lincoln and his denial of any criminal intent find partial vindication in his reduced sentence.

Kaye was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church at Lincoln, where he also gave lectures at Lincoln College on Shakespeare and Browning and occupied the chair of theology. He had more than a local reputation for his literary and educational abilities. After leaving the Logan County town to go to Oak Park to take the pastorate of a prominent church, Lincoln's citizens were surprised to learn that molds used for making money had been found in the Presbyterian parsonage.

The Federal authorities caused Kaye's arrest and had him indicted in June, 1907. The following January the minister was found guilty by a jury in the United States Circuit Court in Springfield and was given a two years' sentence at Fort Leavenworth on a charge of counterfeiting.

—Daily Herald, Chicago, March 4, 1910, p. 11.


Note: There apparently was a Saturday Evening Post article about Rev. Kaye. It is mentioned in an article from Lincoln, Nebraska, and apparently in the Saturday Evening Post article Kaye's former residence is given as Lincoln, Nebraska. The Lincoln newspaper checked old directories and couldn't find anything about him, so referred to him as "the alleged Lincoln minister," then went on to tell his story. (Lincoln Daily News, Lincoln, NE, April 19, 1912, p. 16.) But of course the Illinois articles make clear he was pastor in Lincoln of Logan County, which is definitely Illinois.

Comment: This sentence carries some weight: "He insisted that the finding of the dies was conclusive proof of his innocence." He must not have felt guilty of much. It also is conclusive proof of his ignorance. Obviously when he moved, or before, he should have disposed of the dies and not left them lying around. And obviously he should have been experimenting with some other pattern than United States coins and one dollar bills. Smart about Shakespeare and Browning and conversation, not so smart about making Sunday School medals.

Chicago Woman Declares She Is Persecuted for Alleged Occult Power

1901

OUR CHICAGO BUREAU SPECIAL
Occidental Buildings, Sept. 6.

Persecuted for Witchcraft in Chicago

Persecuted and buffeted because some of her neighbors think she is witch with power to weave uncanny spells about her enemies — that is the complaint made by Mrs. Alexandrai Kostokas before a justice of the peace. Her tale of woe is directed particularly against Mrs. Mary Cohen and Thomas Kelley, who, she says, have made her life a burden by treating her as a practitioner of witchcraft.

A horse belonging to Mrs. Cohen died and Mrs. Kostokas was accused of exerting an occult influence over the animal. Then Mrs. Cohen's son was stricken with paralysis and the alleged witch was held responsible for the stroke. Mrs. Cohen also averred that her own illness was due to the sinister influence of her neighbor. Mrs. Kostokas says these stories have been circulated so persistently that others have really begun to think she is endowed with a supernatural power which she makes use of to the detriment of her neighbors. She seeks a way to end the alleged persecution and invokes the court's aid.

—Dubuque Daily Telegraph, Dubuque, Iowa, Sept. 6, 1901, p. 3.

A Solomonic Judge – He Gets The Truth

1911

A Solomonic Judge

Judge William Jefferson Pollard, who has just been appointed by President Taft as one of the United States delegates to the thirteenth International Congress against Alcoholism at The Hague, Holland, which meets in September, is a temperance reformer of an original type. It was Judge Pollard who originated the Pollard "pledge plan" for reforming drunkards — releasing the accused on signing the total abstinence pledge for one year.

Judge Pollard, not long ago, had a driver brought before him, charged with cruelty to a galled mule. The defense was supported by a veterinarian witness who declared that the sore on the animal's back did not cause it any pain. Learning that the mule was on the street in front of the police court, the judge ordered court to adjourn for five minutes; took his cane and went out to investigate personally. With the end of his stick he gently touched the sore spot, at which the mule kicked every time.

"With all due respect to the expert testimony, I will fine you $50," said Judge Pollard to the accused. I asked the mule if the sore hurt him, and he said it did." — Christian Herald.

Your Chance to Visit the Famous Nathoo, the Hindoo Seer

Iowa, 1914-1915

Click image for larger version

Nathoo, Hindu Seer, Now Free

Soothsayer Nathoo, the Hindu seer, perfumist, and alleged beguiler of maids, who "love not wisely but too well," as provided a bond of $500 and is free. Jerome F. Bartlett and John M. O'Brien, of Muscatine, both well-qualified to protect the state with their property, are the sureties. The bond is for $500. Nathoo left for Muscatine, after providing the bond, as Justice Ewing immediately ordered his release from the county jail.

His hearing is on July 10.

—Iowa City Daily Press, Iowa City, Iowa, July 3, 1914, page 8.


You Will Miss Your Chance to Visit The Famous Nathoo — The Hindoo Seer, Astrologist and Psychological Reader, UNLESS YOU COME SOON

Beginning under unusual difficulties he has given 300 readings and has won three hundred friends and supporters since he came here one month ago. He has advised and guided thousands of people to happiness, wealth and success, and is recognized in all the larger cities as the greatest of them all. You who are worried, in trouble and in doubt can be helped by this man. He can tell you of your past and see into your future. With his universal knowledge, and psychological power, he can advise you as to what you should do to get the most out of your life and make your desires become realities.

Readings every day and evening, except Sunday, by appointment. 210 East Washington Street. $5.00 Reading for 50c. This special price is given to build a reputation here.

MANY OF YOUR NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS ARE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE OPPORTUNITY TO VISIT THIS MAN.

—Iowa City Daily Press, Iowa City, Iowa, September 3, 1914, page 4, advertisement.



"Count" Nathoo in Trouble
Iowa City. — The Johnson county grand jury is busy investigating the case of "Count" Nathoo, the Hindoo, who is charged with a crime against Alice Cornish of London, England. Nathoo was bound over to the grand jury after a preliminary hearing in July.

—Marble Rock Journal, Marble Rock, Iowa, September 23, 1914.


FAKER'S VICTIM IS SAVED MORE GRIEF

DEPORTATION WAS ORDERED

Alice Cornish Spared Sorrow of Outcast in England by Iowa Humanitarians.

Special to The Gazette.

Iowa City, Iowa, Jan. 20 — Count Nathoo, fake oriental astrologer of Des Moines, who last fall lured Alice Cornish, 19-year old English girl from Burlington to Davenport, from Davenport to Iowa City and from here to the capital suffered her the humility of arrest at that place yesterday for the second time, her first detention being in company with him at Iowa City where both were acquitted. The result at Des Moines, however, was not so successful and Miss Cornish, was ordered deported by United States government officials.

Only the intervention of Secretary of Labor Wilson, Congressman Prouty and Senator Cummins averted an execution of the order.

After hearing her pitiful story and knowing that deportation to England now when every new arrival needs a reference and employment is hard to obtain, Deaconess Martha H. Wurtz of St. Monica's home in Des Moines intervened in her behalf with the result that she will remain for the time being an inmate of that institution.

Count Nathoo meanwhile is still at large.

The 19-year old girl was born in England, but two years ago came to Muscatine to live with her aunt. She found life there anything but desirable and secured employment in Burlington where Nathoo met her. He lured her to Davenport and then to Iowa City where they were arrested, but later permitted to get out of town.

The intervention of Iowa's congressmen at Washington in the girl's behalf was secured upon the protestation against her deportation by such men as Bishop Longley, Attorney-General Cosson, James A. Davis, Northwestern railroad attorney for Iowa, and Ex-Governor Garst.

At first the order from the government officials was apparently irrevocable, but Miss Wurtz, the deaconess, decided to make a desperate effort to prevent its execution. The girl was utterly crushed by the order. In the best of times, without friends and relatives, without that essential thing in England, references of past employment, her lot would have been difficult, with all Europe under martial law there would be absolutely no place for her to go but the work house or brothel. She will stay at St. Monica's home for a year or two as a result of Miss Wurtz' efforts in her behalf.

—The Evening Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, January 20, 1915, page 5.



"Count" Nelson, self advertised as the "agent of God" and "Hindu seer," was bound over the grand jury at Iowa City, charged with seducing Alice Cornish, aged 19 a little friendless English working girl

—The Nashua Reporter, Nashua, Iowa, July 30, 1914, page 7.
—The Oxford Mirror, Oxford Junction, Iowa, October 22, 1914, page 7. Exact same item.
Note the wide disparity in the dates of publication, and "Nelson." Maybe that was Nathoo's real name?