Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 November 1896 — An Original Judge [ARTICLE]

An Original Judge

No more unique figure io to be found In the American judiciary than Judge Gaslin of Nebraska, and many are the stories told of this interesting personality, says the St Louis Globe-Demo-crat A 4 per cent a month moneylender had, through the instrumentality of a small loan, secured abpnt everything a homesteader possessed, excepting his farm, but with all the payments the loan refused to grow less. Finally action was brought in court to enforce payment of the alleged balance by means of a judgment against, the man’s farm. A jury had been secured which understood its business and In spite of the Instructions of Judge Gaslin, which favored the defendant, brought In a verdict for the plaintiff. “Mr. Clerk,” he said, “that verdict is set aside. It takes thirteen men to steal a man’s farm in this court.” On another occasion a nftin who had drifted over into Nebraska from Colorado, who was not familiar the manner of administering justice on the .Nebraska side of the border, appropriated a horse which he found hitched to a post in front of a country store. The horse'happened to be the property of Judge Gaslim The thief was captured and later bohnd over to await trial in the district court. A few days after Judge Gaslin met a fellow judge from another district and requested him ns a favor to come into his district on a day specified and sentence a horse thief, as Gaslin said he felt a delicacy In sentencing a man for stealing his own horse. The fellow jurist assented and incidentally inquired when the offender was convicted. “Oh, he isn’t convicted yet,” replied Judge Gaslin, “but I'll ’tend to that part of it.” And be did.