Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 71, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 March 1919 — How Long Is Five Minutes? [ARTICLE]

How Long Is Five Minutes?

By BEN WINSLOW

(Copyright) Every house in the little town of Ardeola had been wiped out by a “great conflagration.” That a village so insignificant could be visited by a catastrophe of sufficient magnitude to warrant an application of the word “conflagration" may seem paradoxical, but. in view of the fact that every splinter •of its thirty-nine buildings was ■consumed in the blaze, no other word would fit. Therefore the newspapers of Westvalia chronicled the fire that wiped out its little neighbor across the river as “a great conflagration.” The facts, although given in painful detail in the columns of the press the day after the fire, were brought out more entertainingly during the legal proceedings that followed several months later. The people of the late Ardeola blamed the Osage Valley railroad for the calamity, and they were so firmly convinced that the soulless corporation was the cause of their loss that thirty-eight of them brought suit against the railroad. The one exhome owner who did not seek redress at the hands of the court was John Lester, although his home was among the first to go. Lester was a lawyer and hid been referred to by the press on several occasions as “promising.” The other thirty-eight losers intrusted their case to him, and in order that he might ~go-4nto_the battle as the legal representative of the people, with no interests other than those assumed in that capacity he entered no claim against* the railroad. It was a very generous act indeed, considering that the people he represented, having lost their all, could pay no retainer; in fact, the amount he could recover, if any at all, being entirely problematical, no promises of compensation were given. That it was to be a bitter fight was evident. The railroad company, not satisfied to let its legal representative at Westvalla defend it, sent down three of the shining lights of the law department to assist him. They were on the ground the second day after the thirty-eight petitions were filed, whipping their case into shape for trial. The thirty-eight petitions were identical, with the exception of the name of the petitioner, and they set forth that the Osage Valley railroad owned a bridge extending across the Grand river from Westvalla to Ardeola, the said bridge being a drawbridge, and the said draw being operated and controlled by employees of the said railroad company. On the day of the fire —in fact, at practically the instant the fire started —the draw of the bridge, having been opened by employees of the railroad company to allow the passage of a tugboat, also owned by the said company, became clogged, and by reason of the said clogging of the said draw the fire-fighting apparatus from Westvalia was delayed in reaching the scene of the fire, the bridge being the only means of communication between the two towns; and furthermore, that by reason of the abhve-mentloned delay the fire gained such headway that the Westvalia fire department was unable to check it, It was upon the fiftts. set forth In petitions that the homeless inhabitants of Ardeola, hoped to recover. The first move of the railroad’s attorneys jvas to secure a consolidation of the.petitions, agreeing to pay full damages in each individual' case if they lost the case that went to trial. When Lester agreed, to that proposition the petitioners became uneasy lest they had made a mistake in intrusting their cases to the young man, and when he called only two witnesses—one plaintiff to establish the fact that the fire had occurred, and the driver of the fire engine to prove that the open draw had caused considerable delay—and then rested his case, a majority of them were quite sure that they had made a mistake. The railroad attorneys were taken off pieir feet by Lester’s procedure. They expected to see the entire membership of each of the thirty-eight families on the stand; but they recovered quickly and began calling witnesses. The only point they made was that the draw was open only five minutes. The operator of the draw testified positively as to the time, -and he was followed by the bridge flagman with testimony equally positive. They both stated that they fixed the time by the arrival and departure of passenger train No. 95. They testified that the train came into the bridge block at the Westvalia end at eigbt-twenty-flve and crossed the bridge at eight-thirty, and the engineer, fireman, conductor and brakeman on No. 95 corroborated their testimony. The petitioners were dlsappqinted in the cross-examination conducted by Lester. The only questions he asked tended to establish more firmly the fact that the draw was open only five minutes. “How much time do you desire fpr argument?” inquired the court. “I am satisfied with what time the other Side desires,” replied Lester. The railroad company’s Westvalia representative thought he Baw an °Pportunity to gain an advantage. He knew Lester’s ability as a court ora*

tor, and even before the trial he had intimated to his assistants that to choke off Lester’s talk would be a decided advantage. "f A hurried consultation was held by the four railroad lawyers, apd result the Westvalia representative stated that five minutes was sufficient. “I am satisfied with that, also,” said Lester. dashing the remaining hopes of the thirty-eight petitioners. They had counted not a little on Lester’s argument to the jury, and they knew that it took him more than five minutes to get warmed up. Mr. Stansbury was selected by the railroad attorneys to do their talking, and he devoted his five minutes to driving home the-fact—that the draw had been open only five minutes, and that five minutes was too short a time for the -fire to gain enough head way to be beyond the control of the fire department. Therefore the total . destruction of the town must have been due to other causes with which the railroad company had no connection. Though short, it was a splepdid argument, delivered in Stansbury’s most captivating manner, and It carried conviction to the minds of the jury. While the railroad lawyers were congratulating their orator the eyes of the petitioners were on Lester. It was his turn to talk. Stansbn ’y’s masterful argument would be picked to pieces and his laurels dragged in the dust. Lester rose from his seat, and with the customary “if the court please,” and “gentlemen of the jury,” he addressed them from his place at the table. “My friend of the other side, with eloquence that would move an image of stone, has convinced you that the draw of their bridge was open only five minutes, and that 4n that short time the fire could not have gained sufficient headway to be beyond the control of the fire department when it finally reached the scene. Will one of you gentlemen kindly take out his watch ?” The juror on the left end of the first row produced a large silver timepiece. “Now,” continued Lester, “will you kindly call time when my five minutes is up.” He parted the tails of his. Prince Albert and sat down. The petitioners were panic-stricken. Was the man mad? He was wasting valuable time. Why didn’t he pitch into Stansbury’s argianent and tear it into shreds as he did the arguments in the debate last year? Why didn’t he say something? But Lester settled himself comfortably in his chair, closed his eyes and idly twirled his thumbs. The juror holding the watch lowered his hand to rest in on his knee, and the court crossed and recrossed its legs. The railroad lawyers were nettled. They scented danger and put their heads together for a whispered consultation. —The other jurors craned their necks to see the watch. The juror holding it looked it in the face with a puzzled expression on his own; then he put it to his ear to see if it was running. The judge uncrossed his legs and tilted back in his chair, and Lester continued to twirl his thumbs. The .silence became oppressive. All eyes except Lester’s and the timing juror’s were fixed on the big clock over the bench. Surely the juror’s watch must have stopped. He examined the second-hand closely to satisfy himself that it was turning. It was moving, but so slowly that he thought the watch must be running down. He wound it industriously, and the noise, magnified by the deep silence of the room, resembled the clattering ratchet on a slacking-off windlass, The spectators began to get fidgety, pieicing the silence with heavy sighs, nervous coughs and much nose-blowing. Finally the Juror called “time,” and the court led a concert of sighs like escaping steam. Lester came to his feet. ' “Now, gentlemen,” he retnarked dryly, “you know how long the draw was open. It is for you to decide whether or not five minutes was long enough for the fire to get beyond control.*" In considerably less than another five minutes the jury was in with a verdict for the plaintiff, awarding every dollar demanded. Thus was silence golden.