Show Value of One Kiss I What is the value of a kiss An Alabama court has decided that cour 250 is ample compensation for one hasty short kiss though the aggrieved party placed the damages much higher This startling judicial decision was handed down by the circuit court of tne state sittiog last week at Jacksonville Jackson-ville Ala There is nothing more prosaic or stupid on the surface in the world than legal proceedings and the papers in the case labeled Kendrick I vs the Atlanta West Point Railroad company for 3000 damages gave no clew to the interesting story which was I developed when the evidence was given According to the storv of the fair plaintiff Miss Lizzie Kendrick a pretty daughter of a Calhoun county planter she was journeying one day on the railway of the defendant company from Anniston Ala to Rome Ga The conductor con-ductor was a goodlooking debonnaire chap with an inclination toward a flirtation flirt-ation if the girl was pretty and with lots of experience I He was so good to me and did everything that he could to make the I trip pleasant that I couldnt help thanking him and from that we got I + n + 1tln nhnt nthn thln I lsmLi explanation of how it I came about that before the train had gone half way to the journeys end she I and the gay conductor were chatting away as gayly as you please The conductor con-ductor employed the avenues of adroit flattery to win her girlish confidences and she well she frankly confessed to the court that she liked him at the time At this point in her testimony the girls pretty face became suffused with I blushes She halted and hesitated for no apparent cause hI was this way you know you see we had been talking talk-ing about different things and the first thing I knew the train became dark and oh Judge must I tell it she stammered while the blood went and came again into her cheeks so that she was alternately as white as a lily and red as a peony Yes my child dont be afraid said the Judge kindly while not a ghost of a smile played around the judicial mouth playeq Well judge if Ive got to I was a tunnel and it awful Ions was And when the train was dark he that horrid I hor-rid manput his arms around me and kissed me There In the north the court and the attendants would have smiled audibly But they dont do such things that way in the south and it is a more serious undertaking to take an unwilling kiss The chivalrous old planters in the room had a stern look on their faces and the muttered comment com-ment was conclusive that it was fortunate for-tunate for the conductor that he was miles away That ended the evidence for the prosecution pros-ecution except the supplementary fact that other people in the car had been able to see the kissing in the dim light afforded by the solitary lamp The attorneys for the road made no attempt to prove that the circumstances circum-stances surrounding the kiss were other than those described by the plaintiff They knew that any tempt to do that would Instantly prejudice their case in the minds of the jury and result in their being mulcted out of the entire amount claimed So with suavity and Chesterfieldian diplomacy the counsel for the company contended that such a high valuation ought not to be placed on one kiss He pointed out that the railroad was very sorry that one of their conductors should be so unstil lant and the Jury was told how ho was I discharged the moment news of the occurrence reached the officials Their I plea was that they were very sorry and that they hoped the jury would not assess them the full amount claimed as they did not and could not control the mans actions 11 such matters although he was their employee i em-ployee The jury deliberated for over an hour add reported a verdict of 259 i |