Hall Counnty NEGenWeb Project Presents

A History of the Hall County Whisker Club

This page is an index to an past memorbilia club of men with whiskers in Hall County, Nebraska.

A UNIQUE VERDICT: "NOT GUILTY"

Attending surgeons announced that Bill Suhr, kangaroo court victim, who was kicked just north of the solar plexus and sustained a rabbit punch in the vicinity of the obliquus abdominis externus, from Marshal Ray Hutton, will live.

The lamentable accident occurred while Hutton was arresting Suhr and his cohort in crime, Ben Cunningham, another barrister whose Irish blood came to the surface and vaporised before the Whisker club members, as he recounted the abuse and indignities which had been heaped upon him and his friend.

Charges Rough Treatment

Cunningham, his face ashen pale with rage, told of a journey which he and Suhr began to the scene of the kangaroo session. They were met by "Marshal" Hutton, he said, Suhr was pulled from the car, kicked in the stomach, and then they were left chained to a post while Hutton chased a colored gentleman wanted by the court.

Suhr's shirt presented a half-gone appearance. His visage told of injuries beyond narration, and he was seated in a chair when he began spitting out gobs of synthetic blood. He spat several times, and opinion among the whiskerites began to waver. It took almost complete reversion when Suhr flopped down on the sawdust, gasped, and closed his eyes on the hectic scene being enacted.

Physician Called In

A physician in the crowd was summoned, and while Cunningham split the atmosphere with condemnations and challenges to whiskerites, and the crowd answered with boos and yells, the M. D. examined Suhr. Then, while all was hushed and still, announcement was made that Suhr was badly hurt, and must be taken to the hospital at once.

The announcement was the signal for another explosion from the more-

than-vol-atile Cunningham, who continued to shout defiance at the members of the organized whisker wearers. With sentiment in the crowd divided over the justice of the act and sportsmanship of the victims, some one in the officials box spoke in a low voice to Cunningham and told him to "cut loose."

The smiling face of Bill Suhr appeared over the gate, and the ashen pale face of the defiant Cunningham broke into a smile and then into a whole-hearted laugh.

Stunt Cleverly Staged

The whole affair had been so cleverly faked that even officers of the club not on the "in" had been fooled by the airtight story of abuse, Suhr's spitting of blood, and Cunningham's spitting of defiance.

The one-act tragedy had been worked out less than an hour before the opening of the court by Paul Holmberg, Bill Suhr, Ben Cunningham and Dr. W. W. Arra-smith, who saw in the farce an opportunity to give the Whiskerites something different from anything they had experienced. So clever was the acting of the principals, however, that some were reluctant even this morning to believe that there was not some reality back of the scene, but, while surgeons are generally called to stop hemorrhage, in this case Dr. Arrasmith was called in consultation to learn what would cause synthetic hemorrhage. And the more that people insist the scene was real, the bigger kick the principals got out of the episode.

Verdict "Not Guilty"

Whiskerites went wild when the actual tenor of the scene was revealed to them. The entire crowd, sitting as a jury, was unanimously in favor of acquittal-the only time on record-but Cunningham and Suhr elected otherwise. Cunningham gave his signed check in blank, and Suhr turned over a check for $10 to the secretary of the club. Cunningham's check was filled in by club officers for $10.00.

26

THE WHISKER CLUB

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