Stove Pipe Pete

The prisoner in this case, whose name was Dickey Swivel, alias “Stove Pipe Pete,” was placed at the bar, and questioned by the Judge to the following effect:

Judge: Bring the prisoner into court.

Pete: Here I am, bound to blaze, as the spirits of turpentine said, when he was all a fire.

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The Twelve Men

The other day, while I was meditating on morality and Mr. H. Pitt, I was, so to speak, snatched up and put into a jury box to try people. The snatching took some weeks, but to me it seemed something sudden and arbitrary. I was put into this box because I lived in Battersea, and my name began with a C. Looking round me, I saw that there were also summoned and in attendance in the court whole crowds and processions of men, all of whom lived in Battersea, and all of whose names began with a C.

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A Witness Against His Will

Judge:—“Constable, bring in the next witness!” (Constable beckons to a man by the door to step up.)

Judge:—“What is your name?”

Peter:—“Peter Lerch.”

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The Chair

“The average prisoner, approaching the moment of execution,” says Dr. Mereness, “is in a mental haze or wild delirium produced by the fear of death. In two instances, however, this was lacking. Both men, after being strapped in the chair, said: ‘Good-by, Doc!’”

The minute hand on my watch indicates 5:44 a. m. I am standing in a direct line with the chair.

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Remember This Guy?

Remember Dorian Johnson, the illiterate buffoon who sparked the “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” hoax by lying about Michael Brown’s death in 2014?

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Law

I am Law. I am Nature’s way. I am God’s way.

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Lynching

Within the last thirty-five years 3,200 Negro men and women have been lynched within the boundaries of the United States, an average of just a little less than 100 a year.

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Good

During a recent trial at Auburn, the following occurred to vary the monotony of the proceedings:

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Presumption Of Innocence

Into the judge’s empty office came the attorney for the defense, followed by his client. The attorney for the defense wore belligerent hair and spectacles. His manner was more upright and simple than his speech, which was full of guile.

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The Tyrannicide

A man forces his way into the stronghold of a tyrant, with the intention of killing him. Not finding the tyrant himself, he kills his son, and leaves the sword sticking in his body. The tyrant, coming, and finding his son dead, slays himself with the same sword.—The assailant now claims that the killing of the son entitles him to the reward of tyrannicide.

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Justice

There are many earnest souls occupied in trying to do people good.

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