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Show His Strong Sense of Duty How William M. Evarts Crossed New York Harbor on the Ice to Be Present at Beecher Trial In Brooklyn. Many of the professional associates of William M. Evarts were always of the opinion that his greatest triumph is a lawyer from all points of view was that which came to him through his management of the defendant's side of the civil suit brought by Theodore Theo-dore Tilton against Henry Ward Beecher for damages of one hundred thousand dollars for alleged aliena tion of Mrs. Tilton's affections. These professional friends knew full Df Mr. Evarts' marvelous management 3f the United States against Great Britain before the so-called Geneva arbitration ar-bitration tribunal. They were not unmindful un-mindful of Mr. Evarts' defense of President Andrew Johnson in the Impeachment Im-peachment proceedings brought before be-fore the United States senate sitting is a high court of Impeachment But Mr Evarts' association as leading counsel for Henry Ward Beecher In the Tilton suit involved the most prolonged pro-longed and exhaustive work he ever undertook. The trial lasted six months. Of all the lawyers upon either ei-ther side; and there were nearly a dozen in all Mr. Evarts was the only one who was at his place In the court room every morning at the opening Df court. He was also the only lawyer who did not leave the court room on one pretext or another, except at the lunch hour, until the session for each day had ended. In the early months of the trial, which began in the winter of 1874, the severest and most prolonged spell of cold weather New York had known for many years set in. Night after night the thermometer fell below the zero mark. Ice formed rapidly. Long Island sound was closed near Hell Gate and the steamboats plying between be-tween New York and Fall River were obliged to take the outside passage that Is to say, the ocean route on the south side of Long Island. It was almost impossible to cross either the Hudson or the East river by ferry on account of the ice. At last an exceptionally excep-tionally cold night even for (hat bitter bit-ter season caused the floating Ice to freeze and navigation between Manhattan Man-hattan and Brooklyn was practically closed. On the following morning Mr. Evarts Ev-arts was brought by his coachman to Fulton ferry, on the Manhattan side of the East river. The great lawyer looked forth from the ferry house and saw that the river was covered with Ice and that navigation had ceased the ferry boats were lying Idle In their slips. He was told that perhaps by noon navigation would he resumed to Brooklyn; by thnt time, it was thought, the heavy tide and the swift currents of the river would have weakened weak-ened the ice sufficiently to allow the boats to plow their way through it But by noon the trial would have been under way two hours; that would never do Without hesitation, Mr. Evarts stepped from the pier to a vessel ves-sel that had been frozen In alongside it and from the little vessel to the ice. Then, with careful steps, and feeling his way with an umbrella, but without displaying the slightest evidence evi-dence of timidity, he Journeyed Brook-lynward Brook-lynward across the first Ice bridge that had formed In New York harbor In many years, and, to the surprise of every one in the courtroom, appeared in his seat there as the clock struck ten. "How did you get over, Mr. Evarts?" he was asked. "By a natural bridge," he answered. "I crossed on the ice." "But why did you dare risk your life by doing that?" "It was my duty to my client," was the reply. (Copyright, 1!)11. by E. J. Edwards. All Rights Reserved.) |