Show WRITES OF AN INDIAN COURT HE WITNESSED former st geci geoage ge ulan now in new lork caa cit mixes humor and fact most antei WITH INDIANS MANY YEARS nicknamed slim avrich hi in their language is I 0 o u new york city february 13 1931 friend beckwith it has now been twenty five years since I 1 have spoken to an indian and while I 1 have forgotten many words of their language which at one time I 1 knew sti I 1 my last visit with them is indelibly written on my mind and Is very vividly recalled kb it was during threshing time late in july land I 1 was on my way vay from george to shem city a small smelter town three miles beyond what Is known as conger s farm on the indian reservation the atmos phere was sub tropical the load ot of grain I 1 was hauling was heavy and X determined to rest my team when I 1 arrived at the indian station on nearing the farm and at the last crossing ot of the creek I 1 beheld for or the first time in my life what I 1 thought to be a real living ghost and it was apparently waiting tor for a lift over the stream at mavery mya very hands yea yes this was before the amendment went into effect but loin oh closer approach I 1 found thia this ghost to be none other than my old friend simon indian whose exterior ep epithelium ept hellum possessed a superabundance of the carbon pig he ile was clad in pur white a recently laundered two piece pajama buit which had been presented to him on the previous day by the wife of the superintendent at the smelter ilia his hair had never been cut he had never shaved but he was immaculately clad and expectantly awaiting me tor for the lift over the stream the grade on the opposite side of the stream was steep and necessitate ed many breathing spells tor for the weary horses these hesitations al owed lowed considerable time for conver bation and the renewal of acquaint ance between me and my wonderful ly clad passenger arrayed solely in the pajamas the conversation was somewhat one sided hor wever and in the main of interrogations on my part with begrudging beg grunts and poorly correlated answers from him I 1 soon learned however thas hia his conservativeness was due to the fact that I 1 had failed to recognize and compliment him on hia his recently ac quiren position of dignity tor for he had been chosen as a judge at a special session of indian court tor for was not he honored by being selected as one pf of YOUR HONORS while the case was being reviewed and was ha he not clad commensurate with his new dignity and bearing well r guess THEN NOTICE IT I 1 did and it loosened the flood gates ot of his volubility we chatted easily then to our destination the court house or I 1 might say ithe blacksmith shop in which the trial was being conducted was a law rock structure about twelve by eight een with a flat tin roof a dirt floor and a door space which functioned las aa an entrance was the only and the i eole sole means of ventilation the in gerior was all seating capacity as tar far as obstructing furniture was con berned court had convened and no sooner had my associate a legal light on whose presence court was then waiting arrived than THINGS STARTED and I 1 went in and the honorable court itself I 1 three judges had been selected which trio were to act as judge ju ry and counsel for both the accused and the outraged local community the accused iwas not present and the sources of evidence were not restricted as to age sex nor gender and the presentation ot of their testimony was spasmodic erub arant VOICE iterate voluntary vo luminous hearsay per personal direct indirect libelous belous ll smudging and otherwise much ot of it was present ed in wholesale now as to the legal aggregation old shem was chief ot of the local bribe and an individual whose call ing had not been in vain and whose integrity and honesty of purpose was beyond question the second in corn oom mand waa was yellow jacket slightly younger than shem smaller in stat ure restricted in his mental atles and with a well established rep tor for borrowing most any article his heart might desire and that mostly when the owner wasn gasn t look ing and the third my ger simon it was evident from the pan demion lum of noise and babel of tion that one jackin a box often spoken of as askers was the accas ed and it was said and in words not uncertain that while at the pipe springs pow wow during the pre week he had had the good tor for tune to gain the acquaintance of milford tom s squaw evidently a lady of some repute it was clear from the super abundance ot of evi dence being broadcast trotti every angle ot of the court room that upon three separate and dig distinct occasions one each evening while the dancing and gambling was in full swing he waa was seen leaving the festivities and walking in a southerly direction and at approximately the same time the lady in question was seen ling away from camp in exactly THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 that they two had met was unan amous in the opinion ot of the congre gatlon gation thua thus like columbus they proved that the world was round and that dame rumor connects the ends of gossip making scandal of anything even among our dusky brethren as among ourselves and is as often wide of the mark it was high noon the beat heat on that tin root combined with the con ot of the court membership rendered the atmosphere just a little lesa less desirable than that reported in the famous black hole of calcut ta As I 1 review the case in retro I 1 am reminded ot of what the poet meant when he wrote about fragrance wasted on the desert air the case being one of an unusual nature and of extraordinary signie acance demanded all that erudition arra arrayed yelon on the bench that local in had to offer the trio med stated about an hour then came the decision ot of the associate judges SHEM was the first and was rigid in his earnest opinion that the peace and tranquility which had reigned within the of milford tom had been ruthlessly shattered disrupted and torn not to say trampled in the dust riven and made light of and that jackin the bosc box erst while known as askers should be compelled to pay a tine fine ot 2500 00 ind land spend thirty days in the hoos goat that from shem whose dig anity was ruffled by the enormity of the alleged ottense offense YELLOW JACKET followed wath nth the opinion that he yellow jacket was well acquainted with the lady in question and had met her on pre vidua occasions and while ho he agreed that a fine was perfectly in order STILL HE WAS SURE 3 ample since these two worthies had var led considerably in their rendition of judgment it was evident that what they had said would bear but little weight of influence on the ti fi naulty of the case and since OLD SI MON had attended court RO ROBED BEDl what he would say would stand as THE LAW I 1 lit I 1 I 1 true to his mental status modernistic io views and not biased as evidently were the associates jus tices cices of the bench 1 he would deliver HIS decision he held that the pow alow was given primarily that the indians might enjoy themselves he ile felt reasonably sure he said that the couple in question had helped to make the occasion a TOTAL SUC CESS and being contributors to euch such success he insisted that the accused GO FREE I 1 As I 1 drove away I 1 was impressed with the tact fact that when it came to decisions bathed in wisdom and judgment bowmon in all his glory was not arrayed as one of these should you survive this write again your friend R A M from a judicial standpoint with out his iwig or wool sack what is blackstone but a shyster lawyer but clothed how different sl si dpn spoke ex cathedra from the pa jamas no wonder it was right M Ms a name among the indians was yo u which means slim tall thin As he la Is over six feet two land and then a regular bean pole the nick name was a dandy slim or 1 in their language yo u has been quoted in these calums before thanks sir and brother tor for your nitty story 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