Archives/Special Collections, University of Illinois at Springfield

Monday morning from Brussels. And my frsl setting was Decatur, first town I had on my
end of it, And I'd have about fifty cases set for that one town. N'ell then in the meantime
they changeil ilaj-light-savings time. They had the old time then. IIere I comt in ;In 11or1r
late to begin with. Courthouse was full of people. Anybody had heen around that time,
I'd have just have given them the satchel and . . .
Q: Be gone. (chuckles)
A: . . . pay them their expenses and came on home. But 1 went up therc to sit on the judge's
chambers and had this court reporter there. And called different cases and I always remember
one prettj- proud - he was a senator, Senator McLIowney I think it was, if that name's
right and I think it is, because we got to be real good friends later years. His wife had
died and then he asked me to continue and I was tickled to death to continue for him. But
he thought I was the greatest guy on earth because I did continue. .knit then re had a fen.
other little cases and I kept my mouth pretty well closed and didn't say too damned
much. We got through them. And I talked to a lot of the fellows later on that I'd met
and the>- said - told them how 1'11 felt that first time - they said, "Well, \ye was just as
afraid of you as you was of us."
Q: Well. (chuckles)
A: And then after that, \\-h>, then ~ve'd go to smaller places and the) weren't so fortnal
anymore. Informal and felt more at ease at it. And ever)- other month you came aruund
the same circuit see.
Q: Hor much time was invol\.ed with this? Were you gone pretty much of the time?
.A That took two or three da) s every week yes
: And can you think of an example of a case that wouId kind of exempIify what you were
doing, or . . .
A: Oh yes. I had a lot of them. . . . For instance one time - well, this \\-as at what
town? It was Galesburg or somewhere that one woman sitting back in the t~ark and she
had her papers all over the - I thought shc was an attorney. Pinally I called urr if she
had a case herha, she was representing someone. See they always tcll you - that's where
they're \\.rang The)- always tell you that you can represent yourself, hut you can't. You
should hire an attorney in that partirular case. Rut . . .
Q: I see.
A: So she came up and she wanted to do their case. So I had her put her ease on. Wcll
she didn't know anything about law. And at the time she was from Tusarora. I think it
was over I'eoria probabIy or someplace where that name is from. They were rcprescnting
the school board. And this wrman had got hurt some way or another in the school
building. She was inspecting the new school building and she got hurt. And she was
radical you know, couldn't talk to her very much, but I tried to hold the case hut she was
always a-phrasing her question's wrong. They'd make objections and I'd sustain the ohjection
and we weren't gettinfi any place. And I felt sorry for her t'ecause really she hat1 a
case. I could take it under advisement, so I took it under advisement, see.
So Hill Brrk\\-orth, he handled more workmen's rompensation cases than anybody in the state
of Illinois. He was one of the best attorneys in the area. Almost every town I went to
he would have some casts there. So he was sitting in the back end and he camc up and
said, "Yuu know I was laughing, just laughing at you, I was just wondering just \vh:lt th~,
hell you were going to do in that position. You know that gal's got a case if she had
Carl Wittmond Memoir -- Archives/Special Collections, University of Illinois at Springfield