4887 
THE RURAL (lEW-VORKER. 
Cflttr. 
“ Every Man is presumed to know the Law; 
Nine-tenths of all Litigation arises from Ig¬ 
norance of Law." 
surface water and drainage. 
rP ILL, Irvington, Iowa .—On one side my 
J viand is higher than my neighbor’s and the 
water runs off it on to his after heavy showers. 
He is about to build an embankment in the 
form of a hedge which will prevent this nat¬ 
ural flow, and thus flood some of my fields. 
Can be legally do so' 
A NS. —No. The law with regard to surface 
water and drainage in Iowa, Pennsylvania, 
Missouri, North Carolina, Illinois, Ohio, and 
Louisiana is the same, it gives a farmer the 
right to appropriate all the surface water on 
his land, even though his doiug so should les¬ 
sen or stop the flow of u neighboring stream. 
When one of two adjoining Helds is lower 
than the other, the owner of the upper field 
has a legal right to have the surplus of water 
that falls on his land run ofl' upon the lower 
land. On this account the owner of the lower 
laud has no right to build an embankment so 
that the natural flow of w ater from the higher 
land will be stopped. On the other hand, the 
owner of the upper land has no right to make 
any excavations or drains by which the flow 
of water is diverted from its natural course 
on to the lower ground. In Maine, New' 
Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, lihode 
Island, Connecticut, New Yoilc, New Jersey, 
Indiana, Minnesota, Kansas and Wisconsin, 
the law says the owner of the lower land may, 
in order to improve his property, put up auv. 
erection thereon and lawfully fill up the low 
places on his land, although by so doing he 
obstructs or prevents the surface water from 
passing on to it from the higher ground,there¬ 
by injuring the proprietor of the latter. 
G. S., Front Hun, Fa. —The water of a long 
hill road, owing to the cross drains having 
been removed by order of the road master, 
has washed many tons of stone and gravel 
into the private exhaust channel of my water¬ 
mill, completely obstructing it. The removal 
of the drains was unnecessary, in fact injur¬ 
ious to the road. What action should be 
taken to have the obstruction removed and 
can damages be recovered i 
Ans.— The road -master is certainly liable to 
indictment for trespass, but as he acted in an 
official capacity damages could not be recov¬ 
ered against him. The township or county, 
as the case may be, under whose authority he 
acted, only would lie liable for any damages 
accruing from his acts in the capacity of road- 
master. It. is an instance of the absurdity 
and costliness of the present prevailing laws 
regnrdiug rouds. 
H. <S\, Poughkeepsie , N. V”.—A mau who 
leaves no widow, but has surviving children, 
made a will. After dividing part of his real 
estate he gives the entire residue of his estate 
to lie divided equally between Ids surviving 
children. Although leaving several parcels 
of real estate, he does not mention any power 
to collect rents or to sell real estate. Do the 
executors have power to collect rents, keep in 
repair and pay taxes on tbo real estate? 
Ans.—I t was a great mistake in drawing 
the will that no authority was conferred upon 
the executors to take charge of the real estate 
and to dispose of it for the benefit of the de¬ 
visees. As no such reference to the realty is 
made in the will the heir oru f viseeisthe only 
person who has the right to ts possession or 
enjoyment, except as It may be required to 
satisfy the debts of the deceased. In this case 
he may apply to the court for leave to sell; 
but if the personal property ts sufficient with¬ 
out it, he cannot meddle with it. 
M. H. S, t Rochester, N. V .—A makes a 
will bequeathing all his real property to his 
children uud the income of the same to bis 
wife for her lifetime. Now, should thechil 
dren see an opportunity of improving the 
property by putting up new buildings, eau the 
mother restrain them from so doing? 
Ans. —The property is left in trust, and the 
trustees eauuot build upon it, unless author¬ 
ized to do so iu the will. The children, as 
such, caunot interfere in its management. 
I i'ROM the vast Dum ber of a lluring advere 
tisemeute.iuall.soi ts'ofjpapors’tiirougiiout 
the country, an innocent person might readily 
imagine that any oue with a little money could 
soon win a fortune by investing it iu any.ouo 
of the numerous projects so glowingly de¬ 
scribed, The Carson River Dredge Company, 
for instance, offers $1.00 a month for “an in¬ 
vestment of only $3.85.” It is willing to sell 
“a limited amount of Treasury stock” at $3.25 
per share, the par value being $10. Itdeclares 
that it is believed that the dividends will be 
10 per cent, a month on the par valuer of $10— 
to commence about January 1. Just like the 
Tortilita humbug, the stock is reported to be 
registered at the American Loan and Trust 
Co.,and listed on the Consolidated Exchange. 
It is also a gold and silver mining scheme, and 
it is trying hard to outbid the Tortilita for 
the money of simpletons The recent exposure 
of this latter fraud has called special attention 
to several other similar humbugs which are 
now trying to gull the public. Among these 
are the “South Pacific Mine” swindle, which 
has already swallowed up the savings of hun¬ 
dreds; the “Central Arizona” and “Phoenix,” 
both moribund frauds, that have robbed hun¬ 
dreds and ruined many a simple-minded man; 
the “Santa Maria,” "Colon,” “El Cristo”— 
kindred concerns; the “Silver Mining Co,” of 
Nevada; the “Dahlonega Mining Co.;” the 
“Hortense Miniug Co.;” “What Cheer Mining 
Co.,” and several other bogus mines which 
have already served the purpose of their swin¬ 
dling “promoters” in transferring hundreds 
of thousands of dollars—yes, millions—from 
the pockets of their dupes to their own. There 
is little doubt that most of these old frauds 
will be revived after a few years under new 
names, and by the same or auother set of sharp¬ 
ers. The Tortilita was kuowu to be a “burn¬ 
ed” humbug several years ago, worked by the 
“Owl’s Heart Mining Company " The pro¬ 
perty was then bought by the present “boss” 
promoters for $25,000—mills, mines, and all— 
and they at once set it afloat with a capitali¬ 
zation of $1,000,000, which the public was asked 
to pour into the pockets of the sharpers. 
At least a column would be needed fully to 
expose the modus operandi of any of these 
fraudulent schemers even iu the briefest man¬ 
ner; but they act so nearly alike that a single 
exposure, like tnat made of the Tortilita, suf¬ 
fices for all. It is only greenhorns, in country 
or city, behind the plow or behind the desk, 
who are taken in by such humbugs. In the 
eyes of a man who knows anything of life and 
business methods, such concerns are stamped 
as frauds by their own advertisements. They 
promise altogether too much. Their repre¬ 
sentations are altogether too extravagant. 
They depart altogether too far from the ordi¬ 
nary course of honest business. Any large 
mining, or manufacturing, or colonizing con¬ 
cern that offers its stock at $1 to $2 per share, 
should be looked at with suspicion. The pro¬ 
moters make the stock low-priced so that a 
large number of the uuwary may be induced 
to take it Such elaborate advertisements and 
“reading notices” are never adopted by re¬ 
spectable business concerns. Really good 
mines are readily sold by private contract. 
Capital is cautious; but at the same time ever 
ready to take hold of any profitable enterprise 
which can stand investigation. If the public 
would only bear iu mind the substance of the 
above remarks, and apply the rule iu every 
case, there would be vastly less swindling in 
the world. 
The same style of bamboozlement is also 
adopted by numerous other concerns Stock 
of the following humbugs which was in this 
way boomed at high figures a short time back 
can now be had for a song. The “Sheffield 
Petroleum Company;” “Lilly Run Petroleum 
Company,” “Philips Petroleum Compuny," 
“Sherman Oil Company," "Portsmouth Dry 
Dock and Steamboat Basin Company” and 
“Breekenridge Canal Coal Company.” The 
Eye-Opener bos the names of a large 
number of other miniug, manufacturing and 
other industrial bubbles; but they have burst 
so effectually that their stock is worth noth¬ 
ing now, and it is hardly worth while to cum¬ 
ber this column with their disgraced names 
There’s a great deal of swindling by iron 
mine advertisements also, iAst year about 
100 companies were organized, with a total 
capital of $80U,UUO,000, to find and operate 
iron mines in the Gogebic range, Michigan. 
Experts say there are iu this range about ten 
good mines that yield iron in paying quanti¬ 
ties. The other 00 organizat ions were, ruauy 
of them, started solely for the purpose of sell¬ 
ing stock iu the excitement. The promoters 
of a good many others hail honest intentious, 
and vast sums were spent to find the ore, but 
the proportion of those who succeeded was 
very small. All the wild-cat concerns have, 
therefore, been “ busted ” within the last six 
months. Stock that sold for $5 tz > $0 par share 
last spring, is now offered for 2U to 85 cents 
a share with no takers. Some unprincipled 
rascals will doubtless soon try by advertising 
to l nduee credulous dupes to invest their money 
in some of these humbugs.. 
The “sawdust"swindlers are unusually busy 
this season, to judge by the uumber of their 
circulars sent to us. Several of the rascals 
have been arrested here lately; but it is very 
rarely any of them is convicted. One was 
sent to Sing Sing for two years, however, last 
week. All the names we receive are sent to 
the detective department of the Post Office 
right across the street. 
XDommi’g Work. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TAPLIN. 
CONCERNING WOMEN. 
MARY WAGER-FIBHER. 
I SAW a very pretty screen in a New York 
artist’s studio, which was fastened at the 
top to a cross stick and hung straight down 
like a curtain. The material was of chamois 
colored cloth—chamois is a pretty tint by 
the way for the walls of a north or sunless 
room—and had a fringe across the> bottom 
to match in color. Above the fringe was a 
border four inches wide in “crazy” silk patch- 
work ornamented with embroidery stiehes in 
silk. Above the border at one side was fast¬ 
ened a short, flat clump of peacock feathers 
tied with a bow of ribbon. Table scarfs of 
cloth aud similar things are decorated with 
rows of scallop shells, each shell being tied on 
with a very narrow ribbon, and arranged 
in groups, in pyramid shape. When taste¬ 
fully arranged they are very odd and pretty, 
and are sold in the best city shops. Every 
earthlj thing has its use, only we haven’t 
found out the secret of all things yet. I saw 
in a seaside cottage a frieze formed of pine 
cones.—Both cottage and frieze were rustic, 
but the two harmonized very effectively. 
The appearance of a papered room can often 
be greatly modernized and improved at small 
expense by running a wide border or frieze of 
wall paper, the full width of the paper, around 
the room;allowing one-half the width to bor¬ 
der the ceiling, if you like such an arrange¬ 
ment, increases the apparent bight of the 
room. The border, for good effect, should, 
while partaking of the general color of the 
wall hanging, be distinctively different from it 
in design. I saw some very old wall paper in 
what is known as the Lee Mansion in Marble¬ 
head, Mass. It was put on the walls of the 
hall more than a century ago, and is still iu 
very fair condition, and would be better if the 
itching lingers of sight-seers did not tear off 
bits wherever there is a loose corner. It was 
made to order in England, each space on the 
wall having a piece of paper with an appro¬ 
priate historical design made to fit it. And 
what a magnificent hall, as wide as a parlor, 
with great windows each side of the front 
door and the solid mahogany stairway hand- 
carved,every fourth baluster being in a differ¬ 
ent pattern. Washington aud Lafayette were 
entertained there, and powdered belles aud 
queued beaux undoubtedly flirted in the deep 
window seat at the head of the hall, “iu the 
good old colonial times.” 
There’s a great rage in some parts of New 
England for colonial styles in architecture, 
one feature of which is shingled sides for a 
house. The colonists liked large houses, great 
parallelograms with gambrel roofs and a long 
L—big square high rooms with huge open fire, 
places—and none of the modem contrivances 
for breeding zymotic diseases. Mr. Burgess, 
the designer of the fast yachts Mayflower aud 
Volunteer, in building hu> cottage at Marble¬ 
head, attempted the colonial style aud pro¬ 
duced a very unattractive exterior. The 
frout door was rather quaint and pretty 
though, with an old-fashioned, small-paned 
window on each side and a deeply projecting 
cornice over the top. There Is a great deal in 
having an attractive hall. It is the first 
thing to impress a visitor upon entering a 
house, aud the last when he leaves it. 
Some old-fashioued things are ugly enough 
while some are capable of artistic treatment. 
Of the latter, the high four-post bedstead is 
one of the best, and is very pretty in a lady’s 
bed-chamber, draped in w hite and blue, or 
ecru cheese cloth over blue. Brass-beaded 
nails are good for taekiug on draperies, and 
in fastening upholstering goods on old-fash¬ 
ioned sofas aud chairs; ihey are driven in as 
close together os possible. In buying chintz 
for draperies and cushion covers, look at that 
in tapestry patterns. Bags filled with feath¬ 
ers uud the outside cover tied about at the 
neck with a ribbon, are in vogue for sofa 
pillows. _ 
One of the “ vices” of women is the inanity 
of their talk—the average woman, for the 
talk of a bright woman is delicious to hear. 
But if you can’t take a fair estimate of the 
average woman’s chatter, lie a non-partici¬ 
pant, make notes of it to read aloud, and then 
ask yourself if your own talk would have 
been anything better. An Euglish novelist 
after dining with a friend made this note in 
his diury, “A pleasant dinner, as it always is, 
when there are no ladies present to coufiue the 
conversation within their own narrow 
bouuds.” Englishmen possibly may have 
a lower estimate of the conversational powers 
of women than have Americans. A Pennsyl¬ 
vania woman was given a dinner iu Loudon 
during the past year, at^whieli were a.niun- 
ber of distinguished men, one of whom was 
appointed to take charge of and entertain 
the American lady; she did not catch his 
name when he was presented, and she was 
continually wondering who he was—a stout, 
ruddy-faced man, with a business air. but 
perfectly au fait in social matters, and 
abounding in small talk which he naturally 
thought the proper mental diet for a woman 
at dinner. She was both pleased and sur¬ 
prised to learn that be was Robert Brown¬ 
ing, the poet, but naturally felt a little 
humiliated at having heard only small talk 
from so gifted a man. Of course it is the easiest 
and most, natural thing to talk about what in¬ 
terests one in their everyday life—her cooking, 
clothes-making, her children, her domes¬ 
tics, shopping, ami prayer-meeting, maybe. 
But it is always well to get out of everyday 
grooves into a wider sphere of thought and 
feeling. The faculties of tbemind are infinite, 
and they should be developed in every possi¬ 
ble direction. Tastes vary, happily, hut near¬ 
ly every woman has a decided taste for some¬ 
thing—for history, biography, travel, music, 
drawing, botany, insect life, physiology, geol¬ 
ogy, astronomy, and as soon as one has trav¬ 
eled a little way in the pursuit of any one 
study, the field opens and widens to a most 
marvelous extent. One may talk until dooms¬ 
day of overskirts ahd petticoats and tight 
sleeves, and the hired girl and last, year’s bon¬ 
net and next year’s jacket, and the peculiari¬ 
ties of a neighbor, and find herself at the judg- 
men t seat with just about the same mental scope 
as she had at 10 years of age. The best lever I 
know of with which to lift one’s-self out of 
the mire, when one has not that of money, is 
good reading , and it isn’t found in the story 
papers. Lieht reading robs one of more pre¬ 
cioustime than anything else to be named. 
One secret iu good dressing is the proper 
care of clothing. Never hang your gowns 
where they will he pressed or crowded 
against. Bonnets need to be kept absolutely 
free from flies and dust, as well as all woolen 
things. If one must needs sweep and make 
beds in a woolen gown, slip over it a calico 
wrapper. Gloves of kid after being taken off, 
should he carefully smoothed out. and not 
rolled up in a wad. If you are interested in 
men’s wear see to it. that pantaloons are fold¬ 
ed flat, ttie front fold coming in a strait line 
down from the waist band through the mid¬ 
dle of the knee. Straiten out the legs, fold 
over iu two or three folds, and lay on a shelf 
with a flat weight on top—a pair of folded 
sheets will do very well. The bagginess at the 
knee may be greatly obviated if trousers in 
continuous wear are so folded at uight. In 
buying any garment have regard to your 
greatest need of it and to what you have to 
wear it with. It is more economical and 
more satisfactory to confine one’s-self to a 
very few colors. The new feather-bone stay 
is preferable to whalebone for the waists of 
gowns. It is made of quills and the wonder 
is, why shouldn’t a woman have invented it 
instead of a man? When I was in France 
some years ago,a Frenchman supposed that he 
was on the road to make a great fortune in 
weaving the feathers stripped from quills into 
cloth. Wbac became of his invention I do 
not know; hut it would seem than something 
useful should be made of every part of fowls’ 
feathers, they are so unwearoutabl . particu¬ 
larly when flying about in a door yard! 
Women make excellent photographers, hav¬ 
ing generally a better eye for arrangement 
and effect than have men. But there are few 
iu the business. 
FASHION’S FANCIES. 
T HIS is a season of elaboration. Every¬ 
thing—gowns, bonnets, or wraps—is 
trimmed and over-trim mod to produce the 
requisite amount of style. Not that the trim¬ 
ming is in irself objectionable, but it gives 
an opportunity for a tasteless woman to over¬ 
dress herself. 
Jennie June says that American women are 
overdressed.because they copy actresses’ stage 
gowns, and wear them on the street. Of 
course the plaiu tailor gowns are too becom¬ 
ing to be given up, bub everything else is or¬ 
nate iu the extreme, and the most fashionable 
hats look as if trimmed by a cyclone aud put 
on by accident. The trimming is usually 
massed in the back, as shown in the accom¬ 
panying figure (460). The costume illustrated 
Is a cloth walking gown; it is simpler in style 
thau many of the modes seen. The drapery 
is both uew and tiecoming, giving a polonaise 
effect. 
There are some very handsome new fabrics 
to be seen, especially among cloths. Bristol 
cord is a very attractive woolen stuff; it is 
woven just like corduroy, wii bout the velvet 
pile. It is used for both gowns and wraps. 
Georgettes is another now material; its tex¬ 
ture is like Jersey cloth without its elasticity, 
and it has a finish like silk. Beatrice cloth is a 
sort of compromise between ladies cloth and 
camel's-hair. Perhaps the most weur-resist- 
