The St. Charles herald. [volume], September 08, 1883, Image 1

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ST, CHARLES HERALD.
Published Every Saturday, in a Rich Sugar, Molasses aud
Rice Producing Country.
VOLUME XI.
HAHNVILLE, LOUISIANA, SATURDAY,
SEPTEMBER 8, 1883.
NUMBER 36.
TEE $Ea OF DEADLY TOYS.
The days of marbles, top and kite,
And nil the toy? that boys excite.
Will soon have passed away;
And in their stead, that thin# of droad,
The pistol .toy tholr blood will shod
In a most wholesale way.
In dynamite we take delight,
E'n though it fill the Czar with fright,
And cuuscs Englund pain.
Give us t.h* dynamitic guii,
So that our boys can have some fun
With giant powder toys;
Let'iDjaya benzine and keroseno
Worked U]1 frith nitro-glycerine
For'our dear little boys.
Prepares them' for an early tomb
Before they're fully ripe?
It hag been sung: "The good die young,»
And, ffè.igh our withers are unwrung,
Our tears are left to wipe.
Now that the Fourth has pussed away.
With all its noise and revels gay,
Let powder-flonds prepare
A deadlier toy for every boy.
To help him join the hosts of joy,
And climb the golden stair.
—N. Y. Journal.
WOODEN COINS.
A Story of California Banking In Early
Days.
"You see," he continued, "I'm a
carpenter, and when I landed in San
Francisco I opened a shop and did
better than some huckies in the mines.
I did mostly tine jobs, such as fitting
up saloons, cabinet work and making
gambling truck—the last queer things,
I tell yon, full of tricks to cheat the
greenies.
"Une day, I got an order for a lot of
wooden adobes. 'Adobes' were gold
pieces of the value of fifty dollars each,
and the man who gave the order—the
played-out Secretary now hauling up a
toni cod yonder—wanted 1,000. I
smelled a rat, but kept mum, as secrecy
was the keystone of half my trade. I
set my lathe to work in a room care
fully locked, and in due time had the
contract filled. 'Now, I want you to
gild these slugs,' said the Secretary,
•and send them down to Adams & Co.'s
office about the time the mail steamer
gets iu. Keep dark and send in your
bill. I did. Old Moise let me have
one of his gilders, and he did the work
in good style. But for the weight, you
would never have taken those 'slugs'
for anything but the simon-pure article.
In the drawers they made, a line display
—looking what they were intended to
represent—$50,000 in gold. I boxed
them up, and sent them to Adams &
Co.'s under cover of night, and read in
the papers next morning of the arrival
of $50,000 in 'adobes,' consigned to the
banking house of—well you know the
place on Montgomery street, near Clay
—as for the name, that's nothing—it's
ns dead as the bank, its President, and
its Board of Directors. I smiled, but
said nothing. The addition of those
1,000 'slugs' helped the concern amaz
ingly; it was only three month's old,
but it stood on its legs at once. I took
some pride in the affair myself, as I was
the creator of its financial support.
"Thirty days passed. Then I saw the
Secretary. We met on the 'old corner'
one rainy night, and, after a drink, fell
a chatting. Jenkins had just been
banged on the Plaza for safe-cracking,
and this brought up the subject of rob
bery.
" 'Como over to the bank,' said the
Secretary; 'I've got something privately
to tell you. This place is too public.*'
"We crossed the street, entered a
small room, and resumed the conver
sation. It lasted till midnight and was
rather interesting.
A CURIOUS PLOT.
"The Secretary had received an
anonymous letter stating that an at
tempt would be made to rob the bank
on Thursday night. He said the direc
tors had given him full power to act;
that he wanted a reliable man to watch
the bank, and his watchman could not
be trusted, adding he wished me to ac
cept the position. I agreed, and the pay
was big; and, arming myself, went on
duty. This'was Saturday night follow
ing the conversation. I went on at nine
o'clock. When the Secretary left he
gave me a pitcher of toddy, also a hand
ful of cigars. He told me to drink when
ever I was dry, and cautioned me not
to use my pistol unless absolutely nec
essary. Something in his manner as
well as language aroused my suspi
cions. I tasted the liquor in tho pitcher.
It did not taste like very good toddy. It
had a brackish taste, and added to my
misgivings. I thought it drugged, yet
was so fond of liquor that in spite of
this I took a glassful. I soon felt its ef
fects, grew stupid, and at last sank into
a sort of semi-doze. I was drugged!
Another glass would have stupefied me
completely. As it was, I was helpless,
yet cognizant of events. About eleven
o'olock, as I learned afterward, I heard
the door in the rear of the room open.
1 had forgotten to lock it when the Sec
retary went out.
"I'was unable to move, but saw a
man with his lace masked enter, look
at me a moment, then pass rapidly to
where .the safe stood. He unlocked it,
took out a bag of gold dnst and moved
toward the door. There another man
received the bag and passed it out.
The second man then came back and
seized a pan of doubloons, which he
passed to his confederate. These put
away, the bogus 'adobes' were next
carried out; in fact, the burglars seem
ed most anxious to secure these, which
circumstance I afterward easily ex
plained. All this occurred in a space
of a few minutes, as the burglars seem
ed thoroughly posted in regard to the
location of their plunder. All this time,
tob, I lav motionless upon the settee,
anxious and willing to act, but unable
to move a muscle. At last the last pan
at 'adobes' was removed.
"The men then paused near the door,
and 1 heard one say; 'Is that all?' 'All,'
was the reply. 'Then fix him,' said tho
ii;sl speaker. 'All right,' answered his
fellow, drawing a slung-shot from
under his coat. My blood ran cold, for
I saw the villains had resolved to mur
der me as a clincher to their crime.' The
shock roused me from my tranco. I
made one desperate effort, silently cocked
the 'Allen's pepper-box' with which I
was armed, and fired at the two men as
they stood together. A yell followed
the report, the slugs fell rattling on tho
floor, and the miscreants heat a hasty
retreat. I heard the groans of the
wounded man as he passed along the
corridor,-but was unable to rise or fire a
shot after him; in fact, I lost conscious
ness; did not wake till it was daylight,
when I found a crowd around me. I
then told my story to the officers of tho
bank, who cautioned me to 'keep quiet,'
which I did. The affair soon blew over,
for in those days all was excitement,
and the robbing of a bank, even with
the wounding or killing of a man, was
but a trille on a boiling ocean."
"But how about the Secretary?"
"Jim Casey, who was afterward
hanged by the' Vigilance Committee of
'56, took me to see him the next morn
ing.
"The Secretary was in bed—sick, 1
was told, with rheumatism, but I
learned afterward he had 'accidentally'
shot himself iu the leg! Casey got me
to sign a paper, in which I stated that
I knew the men who robbed the bank,
and knew them to be well-known jail
birds. Warrants were procured for the
arrest of the rascalsj but, 1 believe, were
never served. I drew a cheek for $500
the same day, and was sent on a voyage
to Honolulu; cautiqned as usual to keep
my mouth shut. I was absent nearly
a year, drawing $100 a month for the
privilege of staying away. At the end
of that time the 'pension' stopped, and
I returned, working my way as carpen
ter on a whaler. 1 foiind the bank had
ceased to qxist—a gambling'saloon tak
ing its place. I felt I had been ill-used,
went in and fought the tiger, losing
everything, even to the pistol with
which I shot that rascal hauling in that
tomcod."
"What do you suppose was the ob
ject in robbing the bank?"
"Why, to corral those 1,000 'adobes.'
Some malicious individual,who doubted
the bank's solvency, put an item in a
picayune sheet to the effect that those
slugs wouldn't ring If thrown into a
saw pit. A little spark in a paper often
starts a blaze, and a 'run' was immi
nent on the bank. The directors, of
course, kept stiff upper lips, appeared
to treat the matter with contempt, hut
concluded to yank off their bogus coin'
under cover of a robbery. Another
f lass of punch in my stomach would
ave made it a success. Confound that
Secretary! I sometimes feel like chuck
ing him into the bay. He would have
killed me as coolly as ho would a rat."
"Did the 'adobe' fraud ever leak
out 3 "
"Yes, but counted nothing. The
bank was smashed the moment the
'run' was started. Ralston, who had
a weakness for institutions of that kind,
tried to save it, but couldn't put up
enough coin. He retired, and the bal
loon collapsed."— Sun Francisco Bul
letin.
The Hooded Leopard.
In Africa and Southern Asia tho chee
tah or hunting leopard is important to
the sportsman. The animals resemble
the common leopard in their markings,
but are more slender, having long legs
and certain external canine characteris
tics that are very noticeable, so that it
was long thought a connecting link be
tween the dogs and cats. In Persia it
is called the youze , and they are car
ried to the field in low cars, whereon
they are chained. Each leopard is
hooded. When the hunters come within
view of a herd of antelopes the leopard
is unchained, his hood is removed, and
the game is pointed out to him, being
directed in the pursuit by his sight.
Then lie steals along cautiously and
crouchingly, taking advantage of every
means of masking Ms attack, till lie
has approached the herd unseen within
killing distance, when he suddenly
launches himself upon his quarry with
five or six vigorous and rapid bounds,
strangles it instantaneously, and drinks
its blood. The huntsman now ap
E roaches the leopard, caresses him, wins
im from his prey by placing the blood
which he collects in a wooden ladle un
der the nose of the animal, or by throw
ing to him pieces of meat, and while he
is thus kept quiet hoods him, leads him
back to his car, and there chains him.
If the leopard fails, in consequence of
the herd having taken timely alarm, he
attempts no pursuit, but returns to his
car with a dejected and mortified air.
The hyena and ounce have also been
used in hunting, while the wild dog of
Africa is often in demand. In Asia
tiger-hunting would be practiced less
were it not tor the elephants, who seem
to enjoy the dangerous sport as well as
their riders, who are safely housed on
their backs. These intelligent animals
are also used in capturing wild animals
of their own kind, and are important
factors in the training and subduing
process that comes later. The horse
was formerly used in England to stalk
animals. They were trapped so that
the rider was concealed, and so feeding
along the animal gradually brought the
sportsman nearer the game. In the
inventories of the wardrobe belonging
to King Henry VIH. is the allowance of
certain qualities of stuff for the purpose
of making stalking coats and stalking
hose for the use of his Majesty.— N. Y.
Evening Post.
An Arizona Wonder.
Very few of our citizens are aware of
the existence of a natural bridge in
Arizona which, in grandeur and beauty
of structure, fully equals and perhaps
surpasses the great natural bridge in
Virginia. Yet such a bridge exists, and
may be reached by a journey of less than
one hundred miles from Phénix. The
trip is an easy one, for the wagon-road
runs within two miles of the bridge,
and the tourist who turns his steps in
that direction will consider himself well
paid for his trouble.
During a recent trip through Tonto
Basin and its numorous tributary val
leys I found myself within seven miles
of this great natural curiosity, and of
course availed myself of the oppor
tunity to visit. We were at the Gowan
Mine, and, saddling our horses one lazy
afternoon, we soon left seven miles of
mountain trail behind us, and found
ourselvos on the summit of a cypress
crowned mountain, whose steep eastern
slope descended abruptly 500 feet to a
cozy little valley hemmed in on tho op
posite side by an abrupt precipice of
still greaterfceight. Descending with
difficulty we find ourselves on a largo
fiat, with an area of probably sixty
acres With cultivated fields, in which
corn was sprouting and potatoes wero
already well grown.
We stood on the crown of the bridge
and did not know it, for this beautiful
garden-spot is fringed on all sides with
shrubbery and graceful trees, and one
has to go 100 yards south and descend
into a precipitous canyon before he is
aware of the huge tunnel which Nature
lias cut. through the solid roek beneath
his feet. This bridge was discovered
three years ago by Mr. John Gowan,
who still lives on it.
We found in Mr. Gowan an untiring
guide through the' wonders of the
bridge beneath, and, being a sincere
lover of Nature and a very close ob
server, he added greatly to tho pleasure
of our trip by pointing out various
curiosities and freaks of Nature which
might pass unnoticed by the careless
eye. We ascertained the next day, by
the aid of a long fish-line, that the
crown of the bridge at its southern
spring is 168 feet, and the span is
eighty feet. Its total width up and
down the creek is 150 yards. About
eight feet from the southern edge, ex
actly in tho center of the arch, is a
natural hole cut into the interior, and,
by looking down this, a bird's-eye view
is obtained of the bed of Pine Creek
below at a perpendicular depth of sixty
eight feet. But a full idea of the
grandeur of this arch is not obtained
until one stands beneath it and
looks aloft. The stream which winds
among the huge bowlders that strew
the bottom lies here and there in dark
pools of unknown depth, and the préci
pitions sides are pierced by eaves and
grottoes whose numerous windings and
alleyways lead one far into the bowels
of the mountains. Many of these'have
been explored, and miiny more have
never been trodden by tho foot of the
white man; though from arrow-heads,
pottery, and scraps of matting, mixed
with bones and charred wood? we can
see that our Indian brother has long
been acquainted with these retreats.
These grottoes are all hung with beauti
ful stallactites, which take all imagin
able forms; and any article, whether
of wood or other soft substance, if
placed beneath the streams which con
stantly trickle from the roofs of these
caverns, will in a short time become
petrified. We gathered several petri
fied pine-cones and brandies of trees,
which were as hard as roek and as
pel feet iu form and outline as if they
had lately fallen from the trees.—
Arizona Gazette.
About Snakes.
A man who lias devoted most of his
life to the capture and study or rattle
snakes and other ophidians is now a
cigar dealer on Second street, where he
entertains his friends and patrons with
some of his experiences of snake hunt
ing, and at the same time exhibits, free,
many trophies of his skill. Mr. Gills
belongs to a family that has long been
famous for snake-catching, and that
peculiar liking for the reptile has de
scended to his youngest child, a boy of
less than three years of age, who has
not yet arrived àt the dignity of knick
erbockers. In a back room there is a
large cage containing six turtle-head
snakes from Cuba, the largest of which
is nearly eight feet long. In the corner
dragging him bodily to the door of tho
ease. The serpent wriggled and threw
of the cage, reaching to its top, is a
leafless tree, whereon the serpents
stretch themselves when they are tired
of sleeping in the sand that covers the
floor. Little Georgie Cills goes among
them as freely and as fearlessly as
though they were tame doves, and has
» pet name for each snake. When his
father told him the other day to hand
out "Barnum," he boldly seized the
largest of the snakes back of the head
and pulled him over his shoulder,
i-------- •— J,, 7 to thr '-----* "
r ent wriggl
around tue trunk of the
tree, hissing a little, meanwhile, as
though angry, but the boy was too
strong for him and soon handed him to
his father. Then he seized in turn the
other five snakes, varying from three to
five feet in length, and forced them to
climb the tree, up which they made
their sinuous way very unwillingly and
with the air of being forced to perform
much against their wishes. They were
mixed and intermingled finally in the
top branches so that they seemed to be
rolled into a ball, but when Georgie
called them they disentangled them
selves and glided to the ground again,
where they once more coiled themselves
up for another nap.
"There is not a snake in that lot,"
said Mr. Cills, "that can not swallow a
sparrow, and the big one, 'Barnum,'
can got away with a big dock rat very
easily. You hare no idea of the expan
sion "the mouth of a snake is capable of
undergoing. They are small, as you
see, and their necks nre very slim, but
by thoir constrictions and convolutions
they can foroo down a morsel that is
twice their own bulk. Like all other
snakes, they must kill their own food.
They will not touch au animal that is
not given them alive, and would starve
to death sooner than cat butchers' meat.
That is a great mistake the natural his
tories make when they say that tho ser
pent salivates his prey before eating it.
Not even the constrictor, (who can eat a
sheep) does that- He coils himself
around his victim after having 'struck*
him and crushes him into such shape
that he can gradually swallow him. I
will let you soe 'Barnum' swallow a
sparrow."
The little bird was introduced into
the cage aud instantly seized by tho
snake. His struggles wer» very brief,
for in an instant a coil was 'thrown
around him and he wns crushed tc
death. Thou "Barnum" maneuvered
around tho cage for a minute or so, still
keeping tho coil tightly pressed around
the bird, forcing the wings closely to
its side, and was ready for his feast.
was
oil)
Seizing the sparrow by tho head (it wi
dead now and released from the eoi
the snake began a series of convulsive
motions, and in about half a miubte the
bird, that visibly distended the snake's
lieok, wits out of sight. Talking of rat- 1
tlesuakes after tho exhibition, Mr. Cills [
said that showmen were often bitfen by |
them, owing to ignorance of their na
ture. "When a rattlesnake first comes
into a show," he said, "his fangs aro 1
pulled out, and most showmen thiuk
that after that there can be no (langet
in handling him. That, is a mistake. !
The fangs will grow again unless they ,
nre cut out at the roots, and 1 have
known of cases where a rattlesnake bit
and poisoned his handler less than
throe weeks after his fangs had been
pulled. The rattlesnake's fangs bend
inward, and are sharper than a lino
needle at the end. ■ When the showmen
want to destroy t hem they raise the rage
of the snake by flaunting a silk hand
kerchief in front of him. In his tinreas
oning rage he seizes the handkerchief,
and a clever jerk pulls out his fangs.
Jack Draper, who was with Gardner's
Circus ten or twelve years ago, got
badly bitten by a snake whose faugs had
been recently pulled out. He drank
nino full glasses of whisky at once and
went to sleep, and as soon as ho woke
up he drank six more. He says the
whisky did not intoxicate him, and that
he had a dull numbness of the arm ami
a general feeling of paralysis and drow
siness that frightened him. Thanks to
the whisky, he recovered in two or
three slays'.
"The rattles on a snake are not a sure
indication of his age, as the naturalists
tell us. They say lie gets a rattle every
year. Now, I have had snakes that
grew three rattles in a year, and some
that did not have one in less than a year
and a half. Florida rattlesnakes often
get two rattles a year. I think they
make more rattles when they are well
fed and are in a warm place, ltattlo
snakes in captivity are not as voracious
as other snakes. Fifteen mice will food
a good-sized snake for a month, but if
you tempt him he will eat double that
number, in his natural state lie lives
on his fat in tho winter, and in oaptiv
ity a snake lias been known to live more
than a year without food. Fangless
snakes can not kill their game, and I
have put them in a cage with a snake
with fangs, and have seen the latter
strike their game for them. If I had
killed the mouse or rat nothing would
have prevailed upon the snake to
eat it.
"Did you ever know that rattlesnakes
commit suicide? Well, they do. When
we catch them we use a crotchod stick,
and aim to fit tho crotch just back of
the head. Sometimes we get it too far
back, and that gives the snako a chance
to bite himself. When ho sees he Inis
no chance of escape ho bites himself,
and in half an hour he is dead. If ho
gets bitten iu a fight with another snake
he glides off at full spoed to a marsh,
where lie can get rattlesnake-weed, a
sure antidote. The toad knows of this
remedy, also, and often uses it after be
ing bitten. We are apt to despise theso
lowly reptiles, but they have good pluck,
and often foil the rattlesnake.
"Are rattlesnakes good to eat? Well,
their flesh tastes like sucking pig and is
perfectly transparent. I never make a
practice of eating it, but I have tasted
it fried, and have no hesitation in say
ing that it was delicious."— Philadel
phia Times.
Cool.
The Amesbury (Mass.) News relates
that a trader of that town, accompa
nied by his wife, visited a friendin Mor
ritnac, a provision-dealer, who invited
him to examine his iee-eloset. 'Tho
Amesbury gentleman left his wife in the
carriage and proceeded with his friend
to an inspection of the iee-eloset, which
they entered, the former pulling tho
door to after him. A spring lock being
attached to the outside of the door, they
were prisoners iu the coolest place tho
town could provide. In vain they
shouted—their cries could not be heard.
The wife, tired of waiting, took a short
drive about town, and her husband not
appearing on her return, she entered
the store, but no one was to be seen. In
passing a particular place she thought
she heard voices, arid upon opening
the door of the closet was surprised to
§ee the gentlemen, who had become
nearly exhausted by their close confia
ment and endeavors to escape.
PITH AND POINT.
—This is one of the best mottoes over
followed: Never trouble troublo until
trouble troubles you.
— "Boys and women," says an ex
perienced observer, "always want to
be where they aint."
—A Kansas witling suggests that at
Iowa doesn't owe a dollar she ought to
change her name.— Chicago Tribune.
—"No," said Mrs. McGill, "we
didn't celebrate All Fool's Day at our
house. The 'Squire never pays any at
tention to logal hollow days; and as for
me, I lool just as foolish one Day as
another. ' '— Marathon Independent.
—There aro few things so irritating in
this life as to wait half an hour for your
adversary at checkers, and then htvvo
him look up, as just aroused from a
nap, and stupidly inquire, "Whose
move is it?"— Boston Transcript.
—When travelling on a railroad it is
said that lying with the head toward tho
engine will often cure a headache. A
more effective remedy is to lie with the
head on tho railroad track in front of
an engine. The latter recipe is war
ranted or the money refundod.— Norris •
town Herald.
—"My son," said an Arkansaw col
onel of the reformod school, "in life
always make it a point not to fight. "
"Suppose a man calls mo a liar, what
must I do?" "Find out whether ho
has told the truth or not. If he has,
acknowledge the accusation, and if he
lias not, movo to another neighbor
hood."— Arkansaw Traveler.
—A friend in the suburbs has a gern
of a servant girl. Her latest achieve
ment was to use pain-killer as a tliuor
ing for Ice-cream. She buildod better
than she know, and the bane and tho
antidote for stomach-ache wore dished
out at the same time. And yet. the Ice
cream was not such as one would wish
to partake of more than once.— Boston
Herald.
—Scone iu a kindergarten. The
teacher had been tolling stories suitabio
for very young minds. Pupil (agod
seven years)—"I can tell a story, too."
Teacher—"What is it aboutP" Pupil—
"A story of tho lion and tho lfon."
Teacher'— "Tell it." Pupil — "Tho
wicked liee when no man pursueth;
but tho righteous arc as bold as a lion."
—Oolderi Days.
—"Mr. Bllffkins, I do wish you
would givo up that abominable practice
of punning," said tho good lady to her
man at breakfast tho other morning.
"You don't like punning, my dear?"
said old B., with affected surprise.
"You know very well that I don't. I'd
rather have a hedgehog in tho house
than » punster." 'T see," said tho in
corrigible brute. "Hedgehog, oil ?
H'm—hog. Ah, yes—it's for pork-you
pino," and he slipped under tho end of
tho tablo just in time to dodge tho
missile hurled at his head by tho now
thoroughly exasperated woman.— N, Y.
fast.
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.
-In Oregon 8,000 men and $1,500,
000 capital are employed in the salmon
fishing industry The fishermen mako
as high as $'2,000 for four months'
work. *
—There are threo sardine factories,
and a fourth nearly completed, in Lu
boc, on the Maine coast. Between two
hundred and three hundred men aro
employed.
—A shipment of three hundred bush
els of red acorns has been made to Ger
many for planting on untiliabiu lands
and hillsides. This tree is found to do
well in Europe, and its wood is valua
ble. The acorns wore gathered in Mis
souri at an average cost of one dollar a
bushel.— N. Y. Examiner.
—Tho construction of the mason work
on the new Canada Southern Bridgo, at
Niagara Falls, has begun on tho Cana
dian side of tho river. Fifteen courses
of stone iiave been laid on the American
side, which makes the pier about thirty
feet high, within ten foot of its total
height.— N. Y. News.
—Within the past four years 9,500
acres of land in and around Oharle
mont, on the .lames River, in Virginia,
have been sold In farms ranging from
tweuty to three hundred acres to a
thrifty class of Northern and Western
people. They aro prospering beyond
their expectations, and delighted with
the promise for the future.
—A stone of purplish brown color has
been found in inexhaustible quantities
near Summitville, in Coffee County,
Tenn. It is susceptible of a fine finish.
Samples of another kind have also been
shown which are claimed to bo of the
kind used for lithographing. Speci
mens of both have been sent to the State
Agricultural Commissioner.
—Bread lias at times been put to cu
rious uses, but it remained for a Peru
vian to make a practical application of
the old saw that bread, being a neces
sity, is the mother of invention. He has
just made a clock out of bread. He was
too poor to get metal, so he used the
soft part of the bread that made up his
daily meals, contenting himself with
the crusts. He employed a certain salt
to solidify the material, and so manu
factured a hadsonic clock that keeps
excellent time. Next.— Chicago Inter
Ocean.
—Lordsburg, New Mexico, is a fron
tier paradise. It has five hundred in
habitants and thirty-seven saloons,
besides a choice collection of dance
houses and gambling dens. Since July
8, 1882, fourteen persons have died in
the town, and the causes of death may
be classified as follows: Lynched, one;
murdered, three; suicides, six; small
pox, three; doubtful, one. — Chicago
Herald.
COMMERCIAL LAW.
Brief Dt|Mta of Late Decisions.
Compiled Specially for tbs 8t- Louis Comiasr*
olsl G «setts. 1
TELEGRAM AND DAMAGES.
A telegraph company had certain
printed rules and regulations, which, if
they accompanied the original message
sent, or were known by plaintiffs to ex
ist in respoet to such message, became
a contract between the parties. They
provided that, "no claim for damages
shall be valid unless presented in writ
ing within twenty days from sending
the message. ' ' The message in question
was a night dispatch sent May 7, and
promptly received by the office in New
York, and immediately taken to the St.
Nicholas Hotel, where one of the plain
tiffs was stopping. But it was not then
handed to him because of an error in
the name, which read "Herman" In
stead of "Heimann." The dispatch was
handed to the proper person May 14.
No claim for damages for such delay
was presented to the company In writ
ing or otherwise until May 81. Held,
that the delay in receiving the message,
occasioned by the mistake of tho com
pany, should not modify tho condition
and extend the time, because there was
time enough left for stteh notice between
May 14 and May 27. Twenty days Is
not an unreasonably brief time within
which to require notice. When the con
tract does not specify the time within
which nn act must be performed, what
is a reasonable time will be a question
of fact for tho jury. But when the time
is fixed by the contract, the question of
its reasonableness is one of law for the
court to determine. The rule for twenty
days' notice Is a valid oonditlon.—Hel
inann ot at. vs. Western Union Tel. Co.,
Supreme Court of Wisconsin.
TRESPASS ON PRIVATE GROUNDS.
The owner of private grounds is
under no obligation to keep them In a
safe oonditlon for the benefit of, tres
passers, Idlers,' baro licensees, or others
who corno upon them not by invitation,
oither express or implied, but for their
own convenience or pleasure, or to
gratify their curiosity, however lauda
ble their purpose may be. The owners
of private grounds are liable for inju
ries to children, although trespassing at
tho time, where from the peoullar na
ture, and exposed condition o t the
dangerous delect or agent, the owner
uld
injury to flow therefrom as actually
happened. The distinguishing princi
ple upon which snoh oases rest la that
tho porsons injured were mere
children without judgment or dis
cretion, and likely to be drawn by
childish curiosity or the Instincts of
childhood into ' places of danger.—
Coppner vs the Pennsylvania Com
pany, Appellate Court of Illinois.
WARRANTY Of GOODS.
Certain goods on being offered for
sale wero represented as "good bagging
and gunnies and far superior to any
Chicago or Milwaukee packings.'' The
purchasers refused to pay for these
goods unless thoro was an allowance of
$200, for they were of an inferior'
quality, and when suit was brought
they set up a counterclaim for that
amount and recovered upon it. On (
appeal tho court said: There can bo no
doubt that this representation amounted
to warrauty of the quality of the mer
chandise upon which the defendants
had a right to rely. It is not ques
tioned that the warranty applied to the
first carload sent, but it'ls disputed that
tho second car load was sent under It.
But all the goods were sent on the same
order, and the warranty Is oo-extensivo
with tho contract.—Winklar vs. Potter,
Supremo Court of Wisconsin.
SURVEY AND WATER-LINE OY LAKE.
A purchaser of land from tho United
States, when tho plats and field notes
show that It. Is bounded on one side by
a navigable lake,takes to the low-water
mark of snch lake. Although tho proof
shows that there is a wide belt or mar
gin botweon tho high and low-water line
of such lake, which in times of low
water is available for agricultural pur
poses, such as for pasturage or meadow
land, this fact dots not justify the com
missioners of the general land office In
surveying such belt or margin of land,
and allowing the same to be entered as
unsurveyed and unsold land. And a
patent issued to a purchaser for such
land is void,as against the holder of tbo
original title bounded upon tho water
line.—Hardin vs. Jordan, United States
Circuit Court, Northern District of Illi
nois.
SHERIFF'S SALE.
Some of the personal property that
had been levied upon and advertised for
sale was loaned by the sheriff to a third
Ö . The sheriff told the bidder at tho
T s sale that the property loaned
by him was to be sold with the other
property in his actual possession. Held,
that the" bidder could recover from the.
sheriff.— Dunkle vs. Harrington, Su
preme Court of Pennsylvania.
surety's liability.
The undertaking of a surety is con
strued strictly ana can not bo enlarged
or varied by judicial construction. A
surety Is not held beyond the precise
words of his undertaking, and in case
of doubt as to his liability, the doubt is
generally, if not universally, solved in
nis favor.—Adams et al. vs. the Peo
ple, Appellate Court of Illinois.
AMERICAN AMD ENGLISH PATENTS.
Where the English and American
patents are for substantially the same
invention, the English patent being
prior in date, the latter is limited to a
term of seventeen years from the data
of publlcsfKtt of the former. —Siemens
vs. Sellers, United States District Court,
District of Pennsylvania.