Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 39, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 January 1907 — Come King Solomon Game On This Case [ARTICLE]

Come King Solomon Game On This Case

* A jury of six men in Squire Irwin’s court had about as puzzl ing a case before them Friday as old Judge Solomon, of the Supreme Court of Jerusalem had some years or more ago when two women claimed to be the mother of the same baby and each vociferously demanded the custody of the child. Solomon ordered his room bailiff, whose pictures look a great deal like he might have been the immediate ancestor of Oliver Robinson, the veteran bailiff of circuit and justice courts here, to cut the baby intwo, as evenly as he could and give each woman a half. Solomon gave the bailiff a sly wink with the order, by which the latter understood that the order was all a bluff, and only the motions of getting ready for the division were to be made. By the time this | was done the real mother wilted,just as wise old Sol knew she would and she got the whgle baby and the other woman was soaked with the costs.

In the case that was tried Friday the matter in contention was more susceptible of division than in the case Squire Solomon had and the precedent of his order and not his performance, was carried out. Another resemblance this case had to Solomon’s was that both parties to it 'o live ‘‘over Jordan way.” They were Frank Welsh, plaintiff and Mot Ritchey, defendant. It seems that way back in 1901 Mr. Ritchey went around with a subscription paper taking subscriptions for a fund to improve the Welsh cemetery, part of which subscriptions were paid and part to be collected later. In September of that year Mot was going 10 Kansas and Oklahoma on a trip, and he was over in Mr. Welsh’s neighborhood, and had the subscription paper with him,- and showed it to Frank and explained to him that the names marked with an X had paid theif* subscriptions, and the others not. Those paid footed up $17.50. That Mr. Ritchey offered to leave the paper and money with Frank, both parties agree, but Frank says he was doing rough work in rough clothes, in moving a house, and wet with sweat, and he asked Mot to take the paper and money to his house and give it to Mrs. Welsh. Mot did not remember of taking either to the house, but Mrs. Welsh says he brought a paper of some kind and handed to her, but no money. Bat Mr. Welsh is “positive Mr. R’tchey did not hand

over any money, and Mr. Ritchey is just as positive that he did. Both are men of thoroly good standing, financially and for veracity, and both undoubtedly were entirely in good faith in what they swore to; while no very important’ corroborating evidence was offered by either. Therefore the jury, after wrestling with the problem for some time, agreed that each man should pay to the cemetery trustee half of the $17.50 in dispute and each also to pay half of the costs of the trial. This verdict was in accordance with a suggestion made in his argument by Mr* Halleck, attorney for Mr. Ritchey, and members of the jury say that it was either that or a dis agreement. It was an unusual verdict, and Frank Foltz, attorney for Mr. Welsh, says he never knew of one just like it before—tho he may not have read about King Solomon’s case.