Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 15.pdf/352

 A View from the Stenographer s Table.

A VIEW FROM THE STENOGRAPHER'S TABLE. BY JOHN COLLINS. IN the trial of a law case each of the actors looks from his own point of view. That of the counsel for plaintiff is exactly oppo site to that of the counsel for defendant; while the court, seated on a pedestal, high above everybody else, views the proceedings from a lofty, judicial aspect; and of course his opinions are bounded strictly by the law as it may be applied to the facts in the case. The jurors look at it from still another point of view, which in many cases is not bounded by law, facts, or anything else. And the view from the stenographer's table! Well, the stenographer is not sup posed to have any view. But being human, he cannot help having thoughts about the ¡facts, and at times he even ventures to have his opinions on points of law raised by coun sel in their arguments to the court. These opinions may be right or wrong; he never theless holds them, until the point is decided by the court, when of course he knows ex actly what the law is. The stenographer is interested in the methods pursued by the different attorneys in the examination of witnesses, for on these largely depends the ease or difficulty with which he can perform his work. Some at torneys put their questions with a fiery impet uosity, shooting them, as it were, from the mouth of a cannon—or a pistol, as the case may be. From the polished lips of others the questions flow out in a steady, unbroken stream of great volume, like oil from the pipe lines of the Standard Oil Company, Sometimes, especially in cross-examination, an attorney will put a string of questions in rapid succession, not waiting to learn whether the witness answers or not, an3 the witness is compelled to squeeze his answer in between the questions, much as a pedes trian crossing a crowded thoroughfare is

compelled to dodge between the rapidly mov ing vehicles; and often he is exceedingly fortunate if he finds a chance to answer at all. Other lawyers ask a question in clear, intelligible language, with great precision, and wait until the witness has answered it before putting the next question. When the stenographer strikes an examination of this kind, after the red hot one above re ferred- to, he feels much like the traveler over an arid plain, who has been without water for a long time, when he comes upon a pure stream, fringed with grass and leafy trees under whose shade he may escape the scorch ing rays of the sun. When these fiery, im petuous fellows are pushing the witness to the wall, as they appear to think, the sten ographer sometimes fancies they are getting the worst of it all the time—in other words, that the attorney is improving his chances of losing the case by every answer he draws from the witness. But the stenographer may be wrong in this, as he doubtless is in many things. The following verse illustrates a feature which formerly gave no little annoyance; but it has been corrected in great measure, be cause the use of shorthand in the courts has tended to educate attorneys as well as sten ographers. The man who frequently sees his image in the mirror will be likely to keep his face washed. Upon the stand the witness sat; The lawyer handed him a plat ,On which were lines and figures drawn with engineering skill. "Now, tell the jury just the spot Defendant stood and fired the shot," The lawyer said, "and try to talk distinctly if vou will."