OCR Text |
Show A PIOUS EXHIBITION. Forty lags Appear in the Police Court at Butte. There was a great side-show in Judge French's court Saturday afternoon, says the Inter-Mountain, when the forty vags raked in by Chief Meiklejohn were called up to plead. The office was filled with them, and as a consequence more or less confusion resulted. Some delay necessarily neces-sarily occurred before the judge could get the gang "strung out," but finally he raised his speaking trumpet and roared : "All you fellows on the right-hand side of the room stand up before the bar?' The men had evidently braced up to many a bar, and knew how, for they promptly obeyed the order. Looking them over for a moment, and carefully eyeing them through a marine telescope, the judge shouted : "You fellow, the third from the right of the line, are discharged. Go back there you chap wfth the red nose and a corn plaster, I lon't mean you." "Come up in front of the desk you mau that I've discharged." The culprit did as requested. The judge turned over the pages of a New England catechism, and then in pious tones exclaimed: ex-claimed: "Now let this be a solemn warning to you never to be caught sleeping in saloons again. Try and live a pure and upright life, and when you die angels will greet j'ou at the heavenly gates and a brass j band head your funeral procession. You I mav go." Step out there you man with the hair lip. I don't mean that fellow with his nose bit off. Come out here hair lip. That's it. Now let this be a holy warning warn-ing to you to avoid evil habits and bit whiskey. There is headache in both, you may go." Having started out the first squad, the Judge continued : "Now, all you fellows at present standing before the bar will go over on the right hand side of the room. You men on, the left hand side of the room, attention. All you that plead guilty, stand up." Not a sinner in the crowd moved. "All j-ou that plead not guilty, stand up." Every sinner in the squad got up. The sorting out process was gone over again, and the Judge gave enough holy advice concerning the wages of sin as would stock a whole camp meeting for a year. Then the prisoners began to plead their cases all at one time and in several different dif-ferent languages. The effect was terrific, and the judge made speedy preparations for death. After doing so" he produced his war club and got ready for business. The appearance of that terrible weapon and the active exertions of several police officers finally choked off the petitioners, petition-ers, and they were marched into the city i jail. j |