Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 80, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 June 1909 — A Jacobs Story. [ARTICLE]

A Jacobs Story.

W. W. Jacobs, the humorist, tells the following story: A lawyer defending a man accused of housebreaking spoke like this: “Your honor, I submit that my client did not break into the house at all. He found the parlor window open and merely inserted his arm and removed a few trifling articles. Now, my client’s arms is not himself, and I fail to see how you can punish the whole individual for an offense committed only by one of his limbs.” “That argument,” said the judge, “is very well put. Following it logically, I sentence the defendant’s arm to one year’s imprisonment. He can accompany it or not, as he chooses.” The defendant smiled, and with the lawyer’s assistance unscrewed his cork arm, and‘leaving it on the desk, walked out.