"I do nothing for a living except cook, wash,
scrub, make beds, clean windows, mend my children's clothes,
mind the baby, teach the four oldest their lessons, take care
of my husband, and try to get enough sleep to be up by five in
the morning. I guess if some lawyers worked as hard as I do
they would have sense enough not to ask impertinent
questions."
An amusing incident is recorded of how a feminine witness
turned the laugh upon Mr. Francis L. Wellman, the noted
cross-examiner. In his book he takes the opportunity to
advise his lawyer readers to "avoid the mistake, so common
among the inexperienced, of making much of trifling
discrepancies. It has been aptly said," he continues,
"that `juries have no respect for small triumphs over a
witness's self-possession or memory!' Allow the loquacious
witness to talk on; he will be sure to involve himself in
difficulties from which he can never extricate himself. Some
witnesses prove altogether too much; encourage them and lead
them by degrees into exaggerations that will conflict with the
common-sense of the jury.
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