The St. Charles herald. [volume], August 30, 1884, Image 1

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ST. CHARLES HERALD.
Published Every Saturday, in a Rich Sugar, Molasses and
Rice Producing
Country.
VOLUME XII.
IT A TJXTUTT T T? T ATTTCT A 1VT A C A TTTDA A V r
; >1884.
NTTMDER 3
A A jA-AAIN V AIAjA^, A-i vA LJ A kü? ^ ö .A. A LJ AC AA a ^
AUvîuôI J"«
THE MILKMAID .
A NEW BONO TO AN OLD TUNE.
Across the grass I see her pass;
Her hair across her face;
Wlth a hey, Dolly! ho, Dolly!
Dolly shall be mine,
Before the spray is white with May,
Or blooms the eglantine.
The March winds blow. I watch her go:
Her eye is brown, and clear;
Her cheek is brown, and soft as down
<To those who see it near!)—
With a hey, etc.
What has she not that they have got—
The dames that walk in silk!
If she undo her 'kerchief blue,
Her neck is white ns milk.
With a hey, etc.
Let those who will be proud and chilli
For me, from June to June,
Mv Dolly's words are sweet as curds—
lier laugh 13 like a tune—
With a hey, etc.
Break, break to hear, O crocus-speai 1
O tall LentrlilietH tiamel
There'll be a bride at Eater-tide,
mui u uoy, oouyi ou, a
D olly shall be mine—
—Austin Dobson, in Harper's MagmziM*
THE AUCTION OF MAIDENS.
" Althea! Althea! Where art thou!"
It was Beleses who called, in a stern
and angry voice*, and his daughter vain
ly s
she might answer him; for the tears of
maidens fell as easily then as now, and
young hearts were as soft and old heads
as full of plans for worldly gain and as
forgetful of the power of love as in this
year of our Lord, 1888; though the
scene was Babylon, and the time five
hundred years before the day on which
the infant Jesus opened his eyes in the
manger at Bethlehem.
" Althea! Althea!" called Beleses
again: and Althea drew the veil of sil
ver tissue across her face, and entered
the presence of her father.
She stood before him, herwillowy fig
ure edad in rieh stuff, her face faintly
outlined beneath her veil, the dusky
Î ilaits of her long hair falling to her
cnees, and with bent head made him
the reverence a girl always offered to her
father. But she could hot speak; Bobs
still choked her voice.
Beleses looked at her with mingled
emotions. She was lovely as a dream,
graceful as a- willow branch; but she
had resisted his command, opposed her
self to his will. He stretched out his
hand in a paternal oaress, but ere he
touched her anger overcame affection,
and he struck her, though lightly, upon
the shoulder.
"Again a drooping head?" he cried.
"Again a weeping eve ? Again an air
as though I had given command that
thou shouldst be put to death, instead
of ordering all things well for thee?
Why, girl, thou art seventeen, and un
wed! In a year or two thy beauty will
fade. Thou wilt bo a maiden in the
house of thy father, and a reproach to
thy parents. And Arbaces is a man of
might and rich beyond compare. Thou
wilt have slaves, and jewels, and honor.
Go to thy mother, girl, and tell her thou
hast listened to my words, and bid her
Bee that thy robes are of the finest and
richest stuff. 1 grudge nothing when
I give my daughter to Arbaces, for he
will be a son to be proud of—a fitting
spouse for thee, and thou must wei
him."
But Althea at this uttered a little
scream
"Father," she cried, "I will never
marry Arbaces. Bather I will take my
own life. Arbaces is rich and power
ful, and not ill to look upon, hut to me
he is nothing. Father, I love Balinea,
and shame would be my portion should
I wed one man while I loved another.
She
her
her
and
or
the
of
a
r I
at
And my Balinea would die. He has told
me so. Father, have pity on me!"
But the old man only laughed sarcas
tically.
"Thy Balinea would dieP" he an
swered. "The prate of a fortune-hunt
er, who has made a silly girl believe
that he loves her. For the sake of this
Balinea, who has neither money nor
the esteem of men, nothing but a face
like a woman's and the gift of song,
which he shares with the wild birds,
thou hast refused to wed more good men
than 1 can now recall by name. This
time I will be obeyed. I will consult
an oracle as to the day of thy wedding,
and on that day thou slialt become the
wife of Arbaces."
"Not while there is poison in Baby
lon, or a river about its walls," said Al
thea "I will live unwed, rather than
disobey my father, but I will he the
wife of no one but Balinea."
She spoke as only those speak who
have formed unalterable resolutions,
and her father listened with an angry
comprehension of the fact.
"Thou eanst be resolute, Althea," he
said, "but so can I. Mark me, for
what I say shall be*so. If by to-mor
row's dawn thou dost still repeat that
which thou hast but just uttered, I will
send thee this vear to the auction of
maidens, and there thou wilt be sold.
Thou, the loveliest maiden to-day in
Babylon, to whom bids for thee. Thou
wilt bring a fine price—a portion for
some ugly or deformed woman who has
had no wooers; for at this auction of
maidens, wisely instituted that the
women of.Babylon should all have hus
bands, while for the beauties rich men
pay great sums, poor ones receive mon
ey to take to wife uncomely creatures,
and so become rich. Thy Balinea may
go thither if he pleases, and bid for the
hunchbacked Gissa. He would gain a
fortune so; but he will not be able to
bid for thee; his purse is too small."
"Father! Father!" screamed Althe«.
But old Beleses flung her from him as
she clung to him, and left her lying
prostrate on the floor. SoDbing and
weeping, she crouched there until day
fa.led and twilight fell. Then a female
slave, bearing a silver lamp, entered the
room, ushering in Althea's mother,
Nasara, who much alrmed, had been
searching everywhere for her child.
She bent over the weeping girl, lifted
her in her arms, and bore her away to
her own chamber. There, amongst the
silken pillows, she soothed her to rest,
and to dreams of love and Balinea. But
Nasara had no power to induce her hus
band to forgive this beautiful daughter,
or to give her, with a fitting dowry, to
the man she loved.
Time passed on, and brought the day
of the year on which the auction of
maidens was held in Babylon in those
days. There were fifteen women to be
sold to the highest bidder that day, and
a great concourse had gathered in the
open space devoted to that purpose, not
only those who desired to pay for lovely
wives or receive much needed money
with unprepossessing ones were there,
but many who came from curiosity ; and
through the crowd went the whisper
that, m his anger, Beleses, one of the
best-known citizens of Babylon, had
sent his only daughter, the marvelous
beauty, Althea, to be sold to whoso de
sired her for a wife,
•Girls who were pretty and girls who
were not sat together on a long stone
bench, closely veiled and utterly silent.
r I he auctioneer walked about With ail
air of importance. Anxious parents
whispered to the children. An old man,
with a long white beard, chuckled to
himself over a bag of gold. A poor
man, whose necessities were known to
all Babylon, though he was virtuous
and of good character, solemnly stared
at the little crooked figure of Gissa, who
had come to be sold of her own accord,
and who, doubtless, would bring the
greatest sum with her,
The green and white robe, belted with
embossed silver about the taper waist of
Althea; the white hands, the gorgeous
armlets, the long earrings of rich gold,
distinguished Althea from her compan
ions, though she was closely veiled.
Those who were buyers were permit
ted to speak to the maidens. Arbaces
approached Althea first.
"If all my fortune must be paid for
thee I will win thee, beautiful Althea,"
he whispered.
She answered by ft bitter lftugh. Then
trembling and pftle, Balinea came for
ward.
"Althea, best beloved," he whis
pered, "I have sold all I have, but the
sum is a mere trille. I shall lose thee,
for thou art fairer than all the women of
Babylon. Arbaces will have thee. Fare
well. When thou. art his I will kill
myself;" but Althea caught him by the
wrist.
" Listen, Balinea," she said. "When
the time comes Arbaces will have none
of me. Then thou also mayest refuse
to take me. It is possible. Remain,
but swear that thou wilt keep silBnoe
until I place my hand thus upon the
other. Then, if still thou wouldst have
me, cry out: "Give me Althea." If not,
go thy way, and I will live a maiden in
my father's home forever."
"What dost thou mean, Althea?"
oried Balinea; hut she made tlo answer.
And now the Crowd was bidden to
silence, and driven back to a certain
distance—and a crier spoke thus:
" The rulers of Babylon, believing
that women should be wed, forthat they
are feeble, helpless creatures, unfit to
labor for themselves, unlearned and
weak of will, so that they need protec
tors and directors, have instituted this
auction of ma'dens, that no woman In
Babylon need lack a husband. For the
beautiful must a great price be paid, but
with the ill-favored we give the sum
paid for the others, that each man may
have some advantage. To-day, our
highest price is asked for Althea,
of
I
daughter of our good citizen Beleses
andnis wife Nasara. Althea, unveil
thyself."
"Althea, at this bidding, arose and ad
vanced. She lifted her white hand and
tore the veil from her head. A shriek
arose as she did so, and the lookers-on
stood petrified. Instead of the beauti
ful face they expected to see, they saw
a torn and bleeding countenance; and a
head destitute of every hair. Two great
braids, which sh« east on the stones at
her feet, alone remained of her plente
ous tresses.
" People of Babylon!" she cried, "this
have I done that I may not wed a man
I hate! How now, Arbaces? Wilt thou
bid for me?"
A roar arose from the crowd and Ar
baces fell forward in a swoon, and was
borne away by his friends. Balinea
started forward, but was checked by the
soldiers.
Again the crier spoke:
" 8he who was loveliest is now be
come the most hideous! Veil thyself,
Althea."
Then another name was called. The
sale proceeded. Vast sums were paid
for two beauties; moderate prices for
others. Even Gissa, with her little
pointed face and pretty hair and eyes,
was not too ugly in the'eyes of the man
who received a fortune at her hands.
Only Althea remained unsought—too
hideous for any to desire. And now she
lifted her hand, and at the signal Bali
nea strode forward.
"Give me Althea," he said—"Althe*
who has done this for me—Althea, beau
tiful forever to my heart. Give her to
me, and keep your base gold. I'll none
of it."
But Althea, giving him her hand, and
still remaining veiled, spoke quickly :
" I claim my portion," she said.
"Such is the law of the Babylonian sale
of maidens." And she gathered the
gold into her veil as her lover led her
away.
And so sayeth tradition, the gods
smiled upon the lovers; and all Althea's
beauty returned—the lovely hair grew
long again, the wounds healed without
a ?car,~and the constant Balinea had a
lovely wife as well as a fortune. And
though old Beleses might vex hims elf,
Ledqer.
he could alter nothing, for the woman
who was sold at the yearly auction
of maidens could not be taken from her
husband. And they lived and loved
for many happy years in the old city or
Babylon .—Alary Kyle Dallas, in N. 1'.
at
is
Ears and Ear-Rings.
A pretty ear is a great beauty and
finds many enthusiastic admirers. We
could name many a noted man first at
tracted to the girl ho loved and married
by her pretty ear: and we have even
heard some men say: "The first thing
I see when I am in company of ladies is
the ear." We need not tell you that
such men, and all indeed who admire
pretty ears, abhor ear-rinas.
Jewelers need not frown; for if fewer
ear-rings were sold, more finger-rings,
lockets, brooches, etc., would be sold,
and they would not be the losers if ear
rings disappeared from fashion to-mor
row. Beside, our aim is to preserve f
beauty when possible, and ear-rings de- j
stroy it by lengthening the ear and de
stroymg the symmetrical outline. \\ e
say nothing of the barbarity of the ous
tom of wearing ear-rings. You might
as well Wear rings in your nose as in
your ears. Wo merely say that, setting
custom aside, ear-rings lengthen the ear
and spoil its shape aim symmetry.
Therefore, if yon would preserve ydur 8
ch 1- small and pretty, as nature makes
it, never wear an ear-ring.
On the other hand, if your ears are
largo and ugly, do hot wear eftr-rlngs,
for yon would then only attract extra ;
attention to their ugliness. Hide them
as much as you can by light waves or
curls of hair allowed to fall over the
ears as if by accident, but do not invite
attention to them. Our models of
beauty, the ancient Greeks, did not
wear ear-rings, or rarely did so. Egyp
tians and Asiatics were and still are
fond of all kinds of jewelry, and thev
wore huge ear-rings very often which
weighed down the ears to tremendous ,
length
Roman women also were partial to
Bar-rings, as they were to all other jew
elry. As Ovid tells us: "Their dresses
Were heavy brocade, their lingers were
covered with precious stones, and Orien
tal pearls hung on their necks and
ears.'' They also wore bracelets, amu
lets, and, according to Martial, rings
on their toes, which were visible when
they wore sandals. This fashion, in
deed, was imitated by the Countess
Castellani at a fancy ball at the Tailler
ies during the last Empire. The Coun
tess Castellani was considered tho most
beautiful woman at that Court of Beau
ties. She was an Italian, with an
Italian skin and golden hair, something
like the new American beauty. Miss
Chamberlain, who is Spoken of as H
gypsy with golden hair.
To return to the subject of ear-rings,
the Roman womett wore fts many as
three, and sometimes four large pearls
On each ear. This style of ear-ring was
called Crotalia; and the pearls clanked
together like so many bells, which was
very flattering to their vanity. The
funniest thing of all was that they even
put ear-rings oil the fish in their aquari
ums. just to see their effect in tho water.
Francis the First of France imitated this
absurdity, and had ear-rings put to the
famous carp of Fontainebleau.
Who has not heard of Cleopatra's
famous pearl ear-rings, which cost two
millions of francs each, and one of
which she melted in her cup and drank
it to Anthony's health? She would have
done the same thing with the second
ear-ring had she not been prevented.
This ear-ring afterward passed into
Agrippa' s hands, and he had it cut if.
two, to form two ear-rings, with which
to adorn the cars of the statue of Venus
in tho Pantheon of Rome.
Caesar also once pa : d a million oi
francs for a pearl, which ho gave to the
mother of Brutus, and he had so gro»t
pearls that in his laws
against celibacy ne forbade them to be
worn by women whohad not a husband,
or children, or any one who was under
forty-five years of age. Now, however,
pearls are the favorite ornaments for
voting girls, and looked upon as em
blems of innocence and purity. But a
string of pearls round the neek alone
should be worn by young girls, aud not
pearls in the ears.
Italians and other southern people
full of old fashioned superstition- have
their children's ears bored almost as
soon as they are born, under the idea
that this hole in the ear preserves the
eyes in good sight and strength. W'e
may here add that wo know youn
:
women of twenty with failing sight, aP
though they wear ear-rings, and others
of "past" thirty who never have worn
an ear-ring and have their sight as sound
and clear as »child's. Ear-rings,there
fore, do not invariably protect the eyes
from weakness or disease, though they
sometimes have a beneficial effect. We
hope that none of our readers will wear
them if they have pretty ears, for a pret
ty ear is doubly pretty without holes in
it, and an ugly ear can not be too timid
and retiring
But putting the question of beauty on
one side, there really are some women
with very thin, hollow cheeks, to whom
rather long ear-rings are becoming.
They seem to fill up a vacuum, and if
ear-rings are ever suitable it is in such
cases .—American Queen.
—" The buying mania'' is the disease
that a floor-walker in a large New York
store has found to afflict women. He
says that while suffering from it they
buy quantities of goods that they have
no more need for than they have for an
extra pair of hands. One husband that
he knew of cured his wife of the disease
a by telling her a yarn about a woman
who became so crazy that she was sent
[ to an insane asylum.—N"- Y- Bun,
A Story About Senalor Williams.
Old Gero Gordon Williams is the
handsomest man of his years in Ken
tucky, not excepting General William
Preston, fotmerly Minister to Spain and
the Court of susceptible Isabella.
William is six feet two inches, with griz
zled iron mustache and curled wig,
piercing gray eyes, the frame of a giant
and a voice of fine, melodious ring. He
as vain as a peacock. While travel
ing in Southern ltussia, when a young
man, he alighted at a village wnere the
Emperor Nicholas was hourly expected.
Williams was taken for the Emperor. It
took the Russians an hour to get ov»
the mistake, but Williams has never en
tirely recovered. He won his title by
gallantry before the walls of Cerro Gor
do, a Captain in Scott's army, and ho
has maintained his fame for prowess by
many personal oneourters, in all ol
which he handled himself well. He af
fects the quality divine to politicians —
an infallible memory for names and
.. .........
acog an J j s no t above the crudest arts
a demagogue. One evening at. St.an
{ord wh ile fio was dining with some
friends in an upper room at the town
hotel n( , of jiis admirers stumbled
, os8 Combs, who had been
bugler ; n Williams' regiment during
(hu " ar They ha d not met since,
oin b s g 0 t }ii s bugle, and, accompanied
an j mmenso crowd, went down to
'. enade h j s old CO mrade with war mul
j; es Standing under his window ho
lifted up the old regimental call to "boot
and saddlo." He repeated it once aud
.
s ., Tom » said old Williams to his host,
.., vhere is that sta „ 0 starting to this
time of nig bt, and what is the driver
tootin'so much about!"
"Why, Sonator," exclaimed his friend,
regretfully, "that's "Buck"
Combs,
1
* 0 ld* bugler, serenading you
îold , om you " volll d rem emberhim and
; g bugle, and they want a speech."
T he old General stepped out of the
window on tho balcony, and lifting his
voi aUenre feU 0 £ tho ordwd, said:
'That bugle
choking voice;
■all," he said, with
'that bugle call, my
friends, is like a dear echo of memory.
If 1 had heard It in tho untrodden wilus
of a pathless wilderness, I would .have
known that old "Buck" Combs was
winding its sweet notes. Often has it
called the old command to fields of car
nage and t he thrill of victory. (Cheers 1
There is but one bugler iii the world
that could evoke these sweet notes, and
that is "Buck" Combs, of the old —th
Kentucky. (Cheers.) I knew it tho
instant, 1 heard it." (Cheers).— Lexing
ton (Ay.) Cor. Philadelphia Times,
Memorable Prices for Hops.
One of the largest hop dealers in this
city said yesterday: "The hop season of
1882 Hrtd*1883 is one which will long be
remembered, especially on account of
the extraordinary fluctuations from tho
middle of May, 1882, down to the 1st of
September, 1*888. A greater calamity
could not possibly have happened to tho
American hop growers, for while ft few
profited by the fluctuations a very largo
majority of growers lost in the end.
Thousands of fanners have increased
their hop acreage, and thousands who
never before grew hops have gone into
hop raising. The American growers
who thin .1 that the farmers in England
and on the Continent of Europe have
been oblivious to the situation Will
awaken from their delusion some day.
" For instance, the uniform price for
choice hops in New York for several
weeks prior to Mardi 19, 1882, was
twenty-five cents a pound. Then the
market advanced slowly until August
11, when the price quoted was tifty
ceuts a pound, After that the price ad
vanced about livo cents a pound every
week until November 10, when it wiis
l(il.10 a pound. They rema ned at this
figure until November 21, when values
began to decline about five cents a
pound a week until January 6, 1888,
when there was another rally, and the
price went up to $1 a pound. Here it
remained for several weeks, when an
other decline set in and continued to
August 8, at which time twenty-eight
cents a pound was readied.
" Then the price advanced to thirty
three cents a pound, and so remained
for a week or two, when it began to de
cline again, and hops are now quoted
at from eighteen to twenty-five cents a
pound, according to quality.
"The true cause of the very high
prices was not the failure of the Eng
lish crop, as was generally supposed,
but it can lie laid at thé door of the spec
ulators. There was no belter reason for
hops going up to a dollar a pound than
there was for potatoes to go up to fifty
dollars a barrel.
" We may not have grown as large a
crop this year as was expected, owing
to the three month's drought on the Pa
cific slope and to the setting out of new
fields last spring, which will not come
into full bearing until next season, but
if we have a favorable crop for 1884 and
188.') farmers may gland from under."
—N. Y. Sun.
,
is
in
-—A new industry has recently sprung
up in Eastport, Me., which consists in
boxing herring. Seventy persons, most
ly women, are employed in this work,
and 12,000 fish are prepared every
week. They are carefully freed from
all cartilaginous matter, thoroughly
cleansed, divided and packed in hunch
es in boxes lined with tinfoil .—Portland
Argus.
— A Kansas miller drowned himsell
in his mill-pond because a dam he had
just built failed to collect water enough
to turn the wheel. He exhibited good
sense. Some men would have gone
home and jawed their wives and kicked
the dog clear across the root«.— Sorrin
to am Sir aid.
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.
—Manufacturing establishments of
Allentown, Pa., give employment to
2,200 girls.
Jesse George is the pioneer neanut
raisor of Tennessee. He made his first
fields under cultivation.
—Dr. Werner Siemens has demon
strated by experiment that intensely hot
gases do not emit light, so that light
given by heated gas must eome from
solid impurities.— Chicago Times.
, —Some friend of mankind has in
vented a bed-room alarm by which the
clerk in the ofHce can wake a guest at
any hour without sending a stalwart
porter to alarm the entire hall.— Chicago
Herald.
—Date palm trees havo been success
fully grown in California. They are of
slow growth, and do not. come up until
tho fourteenth year. A man in Salano
County has two of the trees in bearing
condition, with handsome crops, of fruit
on them.— Sur» Francisco Chronicle.
—In loan-growing districts the crop
is now mainly harvested by a machine
drawn by a single horse, which cuts the
stems of" the beans just below the Mir
faeo, leaving the crop standing. It
greatly decreases the labor of harvest
ing and saves the bean stems and leaves
from being mixed with dirt, as in the
old method of hand-pulling.— Exchange,
—Judge Swan, who has passed some
months on tho Queen Charlotte Islands
in the interest of the United States Fish
Commission, reports the discovery of a
new food fish, which he calls the black
cod. He says it is one of the finest llah
ho has ever seen, and is caught in great
numbers by dredging in deep water,
and, when salted, is more tender and
palatable than codfish.— N. Y. Tribune.
—The Scientific American mentions
tho decline in the price of copper as
likely to lead to an increased demand
for that material In building. At present
tho material fora oopper roof costs only
about half as much more ns tin, and as
the latter must be replaced and repainted
about once in three yea's and in fifteen
or twenty years needs rnplaeing alto
gether, the copper, which never needs
painting, and which is practically Inde
structible, is muoh the cheaper material
iu the end.
Useful applications of oleotriolty
continue to multiply. One of the latest
is to uso it for running a pump for rais
ing water. A inacTiino Invented in
Vermont has been tested at Middlobury
during the past summer, with very sat
isfactory results. It forced water from
a oreok through 700 feet, of pipe up an
elevation of eighty feot, delivering sixty
gallons per hour. The comparative
cost of tills power over the wind-mill
has not yet been determined, we boliovo;
but it has the advantage of being con
stant, and doubtless will beoome, if it Is
not now, a cheap as well as an offcotivo
source of powor.— N. Y. Examiner.
PITH AND POINT.
■Tho best recipe in tho world for
making buckwheat cakes is the one
which tells the poor man how to got the
buckwheat.— N. Y. Herald.
No matter how long a man may
have been called Bill, he rises to the
dignity of William when ho comes in for
$100,000. There is a good deal of lift to
money.— Chicago lntcr-Occun.
Onn of the first things a new rail
road acquires is a deficit. W'e don't
know what it Is used for, hut it's part
of the equipment the first year .—Hi
hngton Hawkeyc.
—The New Orleans Picayune thinks
Good common sense is better than a
college education." Of course it is,
and a good deal rarer and much harder
to get.— Ho Hon Transcript.
—Our national paper currency Is said
to be poisonous from being colored with
arsenic. That's where the poor editor's
revenge comes in. He doesn't have to
handio the stuff.— Burlington Free
Pa ss.
- "My son," said old Precept, "don't
take to writing poetry. When I was
young, like you, I was smitten with a
beautiful creature, and wrote her a
poem. 1 never saw her again .—Boston
Times..
—A man will burn his fingers light
ing a cigar with a piece of paper ami
make no fuss about it, but when his wife
asks him to set the tea-kettle over, and
he takes hold of tho warm handle, ho is
mad enough to wreck the kitchen.—
Detroit Post.
—The owner of a pair of bright eye*
says that the prettiest compliment she
ever received came from a child of four
years. The little fellow, after looking
intently at her eyes a moment, inqu'rod
naively: "Are your eyes new ones?"
—A lawyer upon a circuit in Ireland,
who was pleading the cause of an infant
plaintiff, took the child up in his arms
and presented it to the jury suffused
with tears. This had a great effect, un
til the opposite lawyer asked the child,
"What makes you cryP" "He pinched
me," answered the little innocent. The
whole court was convulsed with laugh
ter.
—"No, I am not honest," says Korib
bins; "but 1 am dishonest ftom the best
of motives. Suppose a man pays me
forty dollars instead of thirty, Hnct it's a
mistake he might never discover. If I
give him back the ten dollars, he will
say to himself, 'There is an honest per
son. The world is notso bad, after all.'
This will give him confidence in man
kind, and the next man he deals with
may cheat him out of his eyes. No, sir,
I don't want to give any man confi
dence: it might wreck his whole fortune.
I don't want my fellow-beings cheated,
and I must continue to do nothing that
will put them off their guard."— Louis
litte Courier-Journal,
COMMERCIAL LAW.
BrUf XM rests of UM DmUhS
Compiled Specialty for the St Louts Commer
cial Gazetted
NEGLIGENT SIGNING OF NOT*.
Action was brought by tho indorsee
of a note, payable in a bank, against the
maker. The defense was that two men
agreed with defendant to put a lightning
rod on her dwelling-house for a certain
sum. After the rod had been put up one
of the men drew a note for her to sign,
representing that it was for the amount
agreed upon. He read a note for t he
sum then mentioned, which she signed.
The defendant was unable to road writ
ing. She relied wholly on the repre
sentations of the person who drew the
note. There was no one at her house
who oould read writing except the men
who tonderod her the note. Her nearest
neighbors wore at a considerable dis
tance from her. She believed the note
in suit was the one. She did not have
time to go and get them to read tho note
to her. She signed, believing it to be
for the sum agreed upon, ana she nevei
intended to execute suoh a note as the
one In suit appeared to be, it being foi
a sum many times the amount for which
(as she understood) she had given her
note. Held, that these facts made no
good defense, but brought the case with
in the rule that the maker of a promis
sory note, payable to order in a bank
and negotiable as an inland bill of ex
change, Is liable to an indorsee for value
before maturity, if suoh maker was
guilty of negligence in failing to use
reasonable care to inform himself of the
contents of such note.—Yeagley vs.
Webb, Supreme Court of Indiana.
PAYMENT TO BROKER BY Pt.'IU'HASEH.
A broker who was not intrusted with
the possession of the property, con
tracted In his own name to sell the same
to a vendee who had no knowledge that
tho broker was not the real owner but
dealt with him as such. The broket
notified hts principals that he had sold
for them ana directed where to ship the
property to the purchaser. The own
ers, without any knowledge that the
broker had contracted In Ids own name,
and without any conduct on their part
clothing the broker with authority to re
ceive payment for them, or any posses
sion, actual or constructive, of the prop
erty, delivered the same to the vendee.
Held that payment by the purchaser to
the broker, under suoh oironmstanoes,
is not a bar to the right of reeovory by
the owners,—Crosby vs. Hill, Supreme
Court of Ohio.
PARTNERSHIP AND EXEMPTION.
One partner, with tho consent of the
others, may claim a separate exemption
out of partnership which has been
seized on an oxoention against the firm.
Tho consent of the partners that each
should have and select an exemption
out of the partnership proper, after a
levy thereon, amounts to a severanoe
of the joint property, and tho several
right or each attaches to tho portion by
him selected. A demand by caeh part
ner for suoh an exemption will be
deemed a oonsont that the others have
and select the same. In suoh ease there
is a sufficient demand if the partner
informs the officer making the levy that
he cla'ms his exemption and that the
other partners do the same, and ask*
S crmisslon to make his selection.—
''Gorman vs. Fink, Supreme Court of
Wisconsin.
CONTRACT AND DELIVERY.
It Is an essential prerequisite that a
deed, lease or other instrument should
be understood by the parties to be com
dv for delivery, in order
to have a more placing of it In the hands
or possession of tho grantee or his agent
construed into a delivery. The delivery
of a written contract is indispensable to
its binding effect, and such delivery is
not conclusively proved by showing
the placing of the paper by tho alleged
contracting party in the nantis of the
other. Delivery Is a question of Intent
and it depends on whether the parties
at the time meant it to be a delivery to
take effect presently.—Jordan vs. Davis
et al., Supreme Court of Illinois.
ACCIDENT INSURANCE.
Under a policy of insurance against
accident, providing that no claim shall
be made under it when tho death or in
jury may have happened in conse
quence of exposure to auy obvious or
unnecessary danger, and containing a
condition that the assured is required to
use all due diligence for personal safety
and protection, no recovery can be had
for the death of the assured which Is
caused by his being struck by a railroad
train while running along tue tracks In
front of it in the nighttime, for the pur
pose of gutting on a train approaching
in an opposite direction on a parallel
track.—Tuttle vs. Insurance Co., Su
preme Court of Massachusetts.
ASSIGNMENT OF WAGES,
An assignment in good faith of wages
to lie earned under an existing contract
is valid against a garnishment subse
quent in time, provided the garnishee
have such notice of the assignment aw
will enable him to disclose it In his
affidavit and thus avoid being charged.
—Tiernay vs. McGarity, Sup. Ct., R. I.
AGREEMENT TO BID.
An agreement by the bondholders,
stockholders aud unsecured creditors to
bid at a foreclosure sale of a railroad, so
that the property would not be sacri
ficed, is not a fraudulent agreement,
and the sale will not be >et aside on that
account.— Penn. Transportation Co.'s
Appeal, Supreme Court of Penn.
NATIONAL BANK.
A national bank has power to lend
money upon the note or other personal
obligati on of the borrower secured by
the pledge of a warehouse receipt tor
merchandise as collateral security.—
Cleveland vs. First National Bank, Su
preme Court of Ohio.