People's Pilot, Volume 4, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 August 1894 — Badly Broken Up. [ARTICLE]

Badly Broken Up.

Some very amusing testimony was introduced a few days ago in one of the numerous “sidewalk cases” against the city being tried before a referee. The plaintiff, who had slipped on an icy sidewalk some time during last winter and had received quite severe injuries about the back, was a colored man, and one of the witnesses was a companion of his. This witness, it seems, had assisted the plaintiff to his home after the fall and bad also assisted in nursing him back to health. At the request of the plaintiff’s attorney the witness gave something of a detailed statement concerning the appearance of the injuries which the man had received. “You say the plaintiff was injured about the back?” “Yes, sir.” “What was the appearance of the injuries?” “Well, sah, his back was all black and blue.” “Well, yes, I don’t doubt that,” remarked the attorney, as he looked at the dusky face of the plaintiff, “but his injuries. What did they consist of? That is, how extensive were they?” “Well, I hain’t no doctah, sah, but I should say his injuries consisted of compound fractions. They appeared to me that way.”—Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.