70 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



The rule requiring persons meeting upon 

 the highway to keep to the right is not im- 

 perative, however, and where a driver cannot 

 safely turn to the right on meeting another 

 vehicle, the law will absolve him from negli- 

 gence in not attempting impossibilities ; but 

 where it is not practicable to pass to the right, 

 either of the travelers should stop a reasonable 

 time until the other passes ; nor will the rule 

 apply in the winter season, when the depth of 

 snow renders it difficult or impossible to ascer- 

 tain where the center of the road is. In such 

 cases the center of the road is the beaten or 

 traveled track, without reference to the worked 

 part of the road. Again, the rule does not 

 apply when one vehicle is passing along one 

 street and another is passing into said street 

 from a cross street. 



A traveler is bound to keep his harness and 

 carriage in good condition, and is liable for 

 any damage that may result from a failure to 

 do so ; he must not drive at an immoderate 

 rate of speed, and must yield the road to a 

 heavier or loaded vehicle. 



Equestrians are not governed by the same 

 stringent rules that apply to drivers of vehicles, 

 and usually all that is required of them is to 

 exercise prudent care under the existing cir- 

 cumstances. They need not turn out in any 

 particular direction on meeting another horse- 

 man or a vehicle, but in crowded thorough- 

 fares must keep to the proper side in passing, 

 and must yield the traveled part of the road to 

 a wagon. 



Pedestrians have a right to use the carriage- 

 way as well as the sidewalk, and drivers must 

 exercise reasonable care to avoid injuring them, 

 but a foot passenger in crossing the street of a 

 city has no prior right of way over a passing 

 vehicle ; both are bound to act with prudence 

 to avoid an accident, and it is as much the 

 duty of the pedestrian to look out for passing 

 vehicles as it is for the driver to see that he 

 does not run over any one ; nor does the rule 

 requiring vehicles to keep to the right apply 

 to carriages and foot passengers, for, as regards 

 a foot passenger, a carriage may go on either 

 side. 



Landlord and Tenant. The relation 

 of landlord and tenant exists by virtue of a con- 

 tract for the use or occupation of lands or ten- 

 ements, either for a definite period, for life, or 

 at will. It is usually created by express con- 

 tract, but its existence will be implied by law 

 whenever there is an ownership of land on the 

 one hand and an occupation of it by permis- 

 sion on the other. In every such case it will 

 be presumed that the occupant intends to com- 

 pensate the owner for such use. While the 

 relation may be inferred from a variety of 



circumstances, the most obvious acknowledg- 

 ment is the payment of rent. If a tenant under 

 an express contract hold over after the termi- 

 nation of his term, the landlord may consider 

 him as a tenant, and, indeed, is so understood, 

 unless he takes some steps to eject him. If 

 the landlord receives rent from him, or by any 

 other act admits the tenancy, a new leasing 

 begins, andean only be terminated by a proper 

 notice to quit. 



The rights and obligations of the parties are 

 usually considered as having commenced from 

 the date of the lease, if there be one, and no 

 other time has been designated as the com- 

 mencement of the tenancy, or, if there be no 

 date from the delivery of the papers, and if 

 there be no writings, from the time the tenant 

 entered into possession. 



The Landlord is bound to protect the posses- 

 sion of his tenant, and to defend him against 

 every one asserting a paramount right. Nor 

 can the landlord do any act himself calculated 

 to disturb the enjoyment of the tenant. He 

 must, unless otherwise agreed, pay all taxes 

 and assessments on the property, and all other 

 charges of his own creation ; and if the tenant, 

 in order to protect himself in the enjoyment of 

 the land, is compelled to make a payment 

 which should have been made by the landlord, 

 he may call upon his landlord to reimburse 

 him, or deduct the amount from the rent. 



The landlord has no right of possession dur- 

 ing the continuance of the lease, nor indeed 

 any substantial rights in the property further 

 than such as may be necessary to protect his 

 reversionary interests. He may go upon the 

 premises peaceably and during reasonable 

 hours, for the purpose of viewing same and 

 ascertaining whether waste or injury has been 

 committed, and may make such repairs as are 

 necessary to prevent waste ; but he is under no 

 obligation to make any repairs, nor does he 

 guarantee that the premises are reasonably fit 

 for the purposes for which they were taken. 

 Nor can the tenant make any repairs at the 

 expense of the landlord in the absence of a 

 special agreement. 



The Tenant is entitled" to all the rights inci- 

 dent to possession, and to the use of all the 

 privileges appendant to the land, and, on the 

 other hand, is personally liable for any mis- 

 use or obstruction he may erect. He must 

 use the premises in such a manner that no 

 substantial injury shall be done them, and 

 that they may revert to the landlord at the end 

 of the term unimpaired by any negligent or 

 willful conduct on his part. He must keep 

 the premises in fair repair at his own expense, 

 but is not bound to rebuild structures which 

 have accidentally become ruinous during his 



