Identifier: americanadventure00stre (find matches)
Title: American adventures : a second trip "Abroad at home"
Year: 1917 (1910s)
Authors: Street, Julian, 1879-1947
Subjects: Daniels, Josephus, 1862-1948
Publisher: New York : The Century Co.
Contributing Library: University Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Digitizing Sponsor: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
Idid visit Justice Crutchfields court. The room in the basement of the City Hall wascrowded. All the benches were occupied and many per-sons, white and black, were standing up. Among themembers of the audience—for the performance is morelike a vaudeville show with the judge as headliner thanlike a serious tribunal—I noticed several actors and act-resses from a company which was playing in Richmondat the time—these doubtless drawn to the place by thefact that \\alter C. Kelly, billed in vaudeville as TheVirginia Judge, is commonly reported to have takenJudge Crutchfield as a model for his exceedingly amus-ing monologue. Mr. Kelly himself has, however, toldme that his inspiration came from hearing the late JudgeJ. D. G. Brown, of Newport News, hold court. At the back of the room, in what appeared to be a sortof steel cage, were assembled the prisoners, all of them,on this occasion, negroes; while at the head of the cham-ber behind the usual police-court bulwark, sat the judge 244
Text Appearing After Image:
PR ^m p 5? p. 2j CD ^ tr *• 3 f IW i CD *w cn •~ i £ k c rJ r > \ JEDGE CRUTCHFIELDS COT —a white-haired, hook-nosed man of more than seventy,peering over the top of his eyeglasses with a look ofshrewd, merciless divination. William Taylor! calls a court officer. A negro is brought from the cage to the bar ofjustice. He is a sad spectacle, his face adorned witha long strip of surgeons plaster. The judge looks athim over his glasses. The hearing proceeds as follows: Court Officer (to prisoner)—Get over there!(Prisoner obeys.) Judge Crutch field—Sunday drunk—Five dollars. It is over. The next prisoner is already on his way to the bar.He is a short, wide negro, very black and tattered. Alarge black negress, evidently his consort, arises as wit-ness against him. The case goes as follows: Judge Crutchfield—Drunk? The Wife (looking contemptuously at her spouse)—Drunk? Yass, Jedge, drunk. Always drunk. The Prisoner (meekly)—I aint been drunk, Jedge. The Judge—Yes, you

Note About Images