4888 
435 
THE RURAL* UiW-Y©RKIR. 
Cflttr. 
“Every Man is presumed to know the Law. 
Nine-tenths of all Litigation arises from Ig¬ 
norance of Law." 
INSURANCE ON MORTGAGED PROPERTY. 
L. T., Binghamton, N. Y.—A person gives 
bond and mortgage on a farm and retains the 
policy of insurance on the premises. The house 
burns down,the mortgagee remaining ignorant 
of the fact, and the mortgagor collects and 
keeps the insurance money. Is this an offense 
against either the civil or criminal law ? If 
80 , what is the penalty ? 
Ans. —If the mortgage contained a covenant 
by which the mortgagor bound himself to keep 
the property insured for the benefit of the 
mortgagee, he is bound by this covenant as by 
any other, and may be compelled to use the 
insurance money to put the building in as 
good repair as when the mortgage was made. 
In the absence of such a covenant, the mort¬ 
gagee’s relation to the insurance money is the 
same as that of any other creditor. The 
mortgagor is not criminally liable uuless he 
obtained the money through fraud or misrep¬ 
resentation. 
The following are brief summaries of re¬ 
cent decisions of interest to farmers, rendered 
by the courts in various States, collected from 
different sources, but chiefly from Brad- 
street’s: 
HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION IN KENTUCKY. 
In Kentucky, according to the decision of 
the Court of Appeals of that State in the case 
of Atkinson et al. vs. Gowdy’s Administrator, 
a mortgage executed by the husband alone 
does not operate to deprive either him or his 
wife of the homestead exemption right in the 
land mortgaged, nor deprive the husband of 
the power to sell and pass a complete title to 
the purchaser of such land of the value of not 
exceeding $1,000, and invest the proceeds in 
another homestead. 
MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANIES—INSURANCE 
OF OFFICERS. 
A large number of mutual fire insurance 
companies in this and other States are exten¬ 
sively patronized by farmers. At Albion, 
in this State, the other day, Justice Daniels 
decided an important case touching the valid¬ 
ity of many policies issued to officers of such 
companies. Last August, George L. Pratt, 
of Ridgeway, lost his house by fire, together 
with a large quantity of wine and other prop¬ 
erty. He held a policy of $2,000 on the prop¬ 
erty against the Dwelling House Mutual In¬ 
surance Co., and an action was brought to re¬ 
cover the insurance. When the policy was 
issued, Mr. Pratt was a Director and Secretary 
of the Company as well as a member of the 
Executive Committee. Under the by-laws 
all policies must be written and countersigned 
by the Secretary. It is the duty of the Ex¬ 
ecutive Committee to examine all policies 
after they are issued, and reject, cancel or 
modify the same, as the interests of the com¬ 
pany may require. The person desiring a 
policy had to make an application indorsed 
by a member of the Executive Committee; 
then the policy was to isstie, subject to future 
cancellation by the Executive Committee. 
Pratt made out an application which was in¬ 
dorsed by the Vice-President, another mem¬ 
ber of the Executive Committee, and then 
he issued the policy to himself by filling out 
and signing a blank policy of which he had a 
number on hand signed by the Vice-President. 
He kept the application and premium in his 
possession, claiming that he did so as Secre¬ 
tary, until a new Secretary was appointed 
several months afterwards, when he delivered 
his application and premium with other money 
and the papers to the new Secretary; but he 
continued to retain the policy. Among other 
defenses interposed by the company, was this: 
That Pratt’s application and policy were void¬ 
able by the company for the reason that all of 
the officers were the agents of the other policy¬ 
holders (the corporation), and that the agents 
of a principal cannot deal with themselves 
nor with each other to the injury of the 
rights of their principal; that one .of the 
rights which the corporation had was that 
Mr. Pratt, as a member of the Executive Com¬ 
mittee, was bound to protect the interests of 
the other policy-holders by the exercise of an 
unbiased judgment upon the question whether 
his policy should be received or rejected; that 
his own interest in trying to obtain from 
the company as good terms as possible would 
prevent the performance of his duty in that 
regard. (A well settled principle of law.) 
Upon a motion for a nonsuit by the attor¬ 
ney for the defendant, the Court held the 
foregoing defense was well taken. 
This is a highly important case as estab¬ 
lishing a precedent for the multitude of mutual 
insurance companies throughout the country. 
Doubtless it will be taken to the Court 
of Appeals, and if the opinion holds good 
there, it would appear that very few officers of 
any of such companies, in this State at least, 
hold valid policies in their own companies. 
The Tip Top Jewelry Co., of this city, 
which advertised for sale a Swiss stem-wiud- 
ing solid gold-finished watch, $7, is a tip-top 
swindle. The company consisted of a party, 
name unknown, who rented a letter box in 
a cigar store in the basement of the building 
at the above address, where he received his mail 
for a few days only, and then left for parts 
unknown. 
After the loss of a good deal of time in the 
vain attempt to find somebody willing to 
represent it, we must come to the conclusion 
that the Amsterdam Specialty Company, 
advertising from this city, is a humbug. We 
have lately had several complaints and one 
visit from people who had sent the concern 
$0 for its $10 type-writer, but who never got 
the device, their money or any satisfaction. 
A whole afternoon spent in hunting for the 
concern here, failed to find any one willing to 
own that he had any thing to do with it. 
Several years ago, the Rural exposed a 
swindle called the “Phoenix Fruit Tree Invig- 
orator.” It consisted of a tin tube or blow- 
gun and a pound package of a mysterious 
mixture, accompanied with directions to bore 
a hole into the body of the tree and by means 
of the tube blow a small quantity of the mix¬ 
ture into it; then plug the hole. As we stated, 
the mixture was nothing more than flowers 
of sulphur mixed with sifted wood ashes, and 
the modest price of one dollar was charged 
for the stuff. It was alleged that this treat¬ 
ment would protect trees from all insects and 
disease and cure all those already affected. 
We notice that this old swindle has lately been 
revived, the advertisement appearing in a 
number of our exchanges. Of course, readers of 
the Rural are too wide-awake to be taken in 
by such an old humbug. 
The other day Henry Mac, alias Henry Mc¬ 
Mahon, of this city, a “saw-dust,” “green- 
goods,” or “golden-goods” swindler, was 
convicted of advertising counterfeit money 
•for sale, and sentenced to two years’ impris¬ 
onment and $100 fine. The penalty in this 
State is from one to six years’ imprisonment, 
and from $100 to $20,000 fine. This was the 
first conviction under the new law. The tes¬ 
timony showed that Louis Simon, a cigar 
dealer at 400 Canal Street, had been requested 
by McMahon to receive letters for him under 
various names. A misdirected letter was re¬ 
turned to the sender. Simon opened the offi¬ 
cial envelope addressed to him and found 
a printed circular calculated to persuade dis¬ 
honest countrymen to come to New York and 
buy imitation gold coin so perfect as to be in- 
distinguishable from the genuine. A printed 
slip inclosed in the envelop, purporting to 
be a newspaper clipping, described the arrest 
of a H. J. Leopold in Belgium, charged with 
trying to sell $20,000 worth of “ gold coin” for 
$800, which experts declared genuine. James 
O’Brien, a printer, testified that from its ap¬ 
pearance the “clipping” had never been 
printed in a newspaper. Simon, the cigar- 
maker, testified that he complained to the 
police, and McMahon was arrested. Mc¬ 
Mahon testified that the letters were not 
for him but for a friend. This class of sharp 
ers are greatly demoralized, and have be¬ 
taken themselves, for the most part, to other 
States, chiefly across the river to Jersey City, 
Hoboken and other near-by towns in New 
Jersey. They generally bring their dupes to 
New York to close up the swindle. So 
many circulars from these rascals have of 
late been sent into Canada, that a bill is 
now before the Dominion Barliament provid¬ 
ing severe punishment for anybody handling 
the goods and prohibiting the advertisement 
of them in Canadian papers. 
To Several Inquirers— We have no faith 
in the device for relieving deafness advertised 
by A. A. Walls, Bridgeport, Conn.True 
& Co, Augusta, Maine, do a large business, 
and we have never had or heard of complaints 
against them.The preparation of the 
Scotch Oats Essence Co. 160 Fulton street, this 
city, which is beiug so widely advertised 
throughout the couutry as a “tired brain and 
tired nerve recuperator,” is said upon analysis 
to contain tincture of oats with whisky and 
morphine added. Dr. H. H. Kane, who was 
formerly connected with the Marston Reme¬ 
dy Co., New York, is at the head of the Scotch 
Oats Co. The Marston Remedy Co., has sev¬ 
eral times met with unfavorable mention 
from the Eye-Opener. 
Concerns Censured. Under this caption 
the Eye-Opener will, from time to time, give 
the names of concerns he has seen discredited 
in other papers, but which have not been in¬ 
vestigated from the Rural Office.—The 
“Needle-work Company” and the “Lace Com¬ 
pany,” both of Chicago, are denounced as 
work-at-home humbugs_The victims of that 
old fraud, the “St. Andrew’s Bay Railroad 
and Land Company,” which the Eye-Opener 
has been intermittently denouncing for three 
years or more, are squealing loudly all over 
the country. What a consolation it is that 
no Rural reader cau be among the squealers! 
. ...The Crayon Portrait Company of Chicago 
is far away too generous to be trusted. 
0vmjw!jo*c. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
TUtfmmt's Wxrrk. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TAFLIN. 
CHAT BY THE WAY. 
Dakota. 
Mandan, Morton Co., June 0.—We have 
had a very cold, windy and dry spring. Seed 
planted the last of April is just coming up; but 
rain has come at last. On June 2, we had a 
fine steady rain just right to wet the top of 
the ground, and at night there was a very 
heavy shower. On the 7th it commenced 
drizzling rain and continued uutil about three 
o’clock. The next day it began to rain fast 
and the wind blew very hard and continued 
until the next morning about seven o’clock. 
The ground is now wet enough not to suffer 
for rain for a long time. Wheat is doing 
nicely. G. w. G. 
Illinois. 
Champaign, Champaign Co , June 11.— 
The season here is cold and backward; 
good for grass, small grains, and vegetables ; 
but bad for corn, which, for its best develop¬ 
ment, requires 00 days of au average mean 
temperature of 75 degrees Fahr. We have 
had no excess of rain for the east-side of the 
State, but we expect soon to see it. b. f. j. 
Minnesota. 
Mentor, Polk Co., June 18.—Wheat and all 
small grains have had a splendid chance thus 
far this season. Our prospects for good crops, 
at present, are the very best. Cold weather 
and sufficient moisture all through the spring 
months helped grain to sprout and stool nice¬ 
ly. Meadows and pastures were very late, 
but are making a fine growth now. The pros¬ 
pect for good crops of small fruits is good. 
Vegetables would be good if it were not for 
the unusually large number of cut worms and 
the small turnip fly; between them both we 
have considerable difficulty iu getting any 
stand of vegetables. The blood-thirsty mos_ 
quito is also out in full force. f. a. h. 
New York. 
Watertown, Jefferson Co., June 19.—The 
season here is about an average one for earli¬ 
ness. Crops will be cut short from drought 
somewhat, as we have had but 91-100 of an 
inch of rain during the past six weeks. 
d. s. M. 
Oregon. 
Spikenard, Jackson Co. — Crops in the 
Rogue River Valley promise well. Wheat, 
fair; corn, very fine; potatoes,far over an aver¬ 
age—no potato bugs here. The fruit crops are 
simply immense; all kinds are over-abundant. 
We raise everything except the citrus fruits. 
This valley will soou be one continuous or¬ 
chard; we have no fruit pests. Things are 
booming. Immigration is strong. Land is 
not high yet. s. m. 
Pennsylvania. 
Scottsville, Wyoming Co., June 18th.— 
We are having one of the most severe droughts 
that we have experienced for years. The 
grass crop is nearly ruined, and oats are burn 
ing up. Corn very small aud a poor stand, 
We have had only one light shower since spring 
cleared off, and unless we have rain soon all 
summer crops will be destroyed. Last year 
we had abundant crops of peaches, apples 
pears, aud small fruits, and a fine growing sea¬ 
son for everything. This year peach trees are 
nearly all dead. There are no pears, and 
scarcely any apples, and it looks now as 
though there would be a total failure. There 
has been plenty of rain in some sections of this 
State. I have a plot two rods by six planted 
to potatoes on the Rural trench system, and 
the vines are over one foot high, while those 
planted in hills are not over six inches in 
bight. Is not this conclusive that the Rural 
trench method is the one to adopt ? No fertili¬ 
zers were used except air-slaked lime and sul 
phur to prevent scab. Ground in fair condi¬ 
tion. J. Gr. F. 
Fayette Co., June 18.—Owing to the good 
weather for wheat the last six weeks or two 
months, the crop has greatly improved, aud 
looks 30 per cent better than it did 60 days 
ago, but it is two weeks late as well as all the 
rest of the crops. Corn is jusc fairly started. 
Garden stuff is very backward. About three 
times the usual amount of potatoes were plant¬ 
ed this spring; but on account of bad seed 
the crop does not look as if there would 
be half the average yield. Fruits of all kinds, 
except cherries, will be pleaty unless some¬ 
thing yet destroys them. b. r. 
W e are indebted to the Philadelphia 
Press for the information that the laws 
governing a married woman’s property have 
been amended within the last year in the 
State of Pennsylvania. Under this later legis¬ 
lation, her earnings belong to her absolutely. 
* * * 
Perhaps the most freely discussed woman in 
literature, during the past few months, is Miss 
Amfclie Rives of Virginia, who has surely 
suffered as much from the absurd flatteries 
of her friends as from the harshness of ad¬ 
verse critics. She was married on June 14th 
to Mr. Chanler, of Now York, a man of good 
fortune, aud social standing; it is not known 
whether she intends to continue her literal y 
work or not. 
* * * 
In an address on public charities in connec¬ 
tion with hospital work, Dr. Wiley of New 
York, said that it was very hard to do good 
without doing harm at the same time; in 
helping people we often made it impossible 
for them to help themselves, or destroy 
their willingness to do so. Don’t we often see 
that in the household? It is so much easier to 
set a little girl right when her “gathers” won’t 
go into the apron band all right, than just to 
watch her struggles, and tell her how it 
ought to go. But the girl who is always 
helped over such rough places is apt to be as 
helpless at eighteen as at eight. We are 
all the better for a liltle discipline, even if 
we only learn to conquer Fate in the form of 
a cooking stove. 
* * *• 
We have been studying a new mantel deco¬ 
ration, which gives quite an air to a simple 
room. Across the wall above the mantel is a 
curtain which extends from the ceiling to with¬ 
in a foot of the shelf. It is shirred at top and 
bottom on draw-strings, which are an inch 
from the edge, so that the curtain is finished 
with a little frill, just like an old-fashioned 
window-curtain. This curtain is of olive-green 
Florentine drapery, a soft, cotton stuff with a 
silky finish. Draped loosely over the shelf, 
and meeting the curtain at the back, is a scarf 
made of a single breadth of figured scrim, 
cream ground with a large artistic pattern of 
olive. It hangs in folds, longer at one end 
than the other. On the shirred curtain at the 
back some pictures are arranged irregularly— 
delicate water-colors in flat, gold frames, and 
a few pretty China plates. It is really a very 
pretty arrangement, giving a lofty look to the 
room; yet it is quite inexpensive, as the com¬ 
bined cost of the drapery was but a trifle over 
one dollar. 
ASPIRATIONS IN HOMESPUN. 
FOURTH LETTER. 
I f we girls are not edified by the late Do¬ 
mestic Economy Special issue, we must 
surely be beyond instruction. The life of 
the average farmer’s daughter was discussed 
with such impartial justice that while our 
failings received the right disapproval, our 
virtues were fully appreciated. 
A good many of us are discontented, I’m 
afraid. When I was 16 I thought my lonely 
country life a veritable imprisonment; I long¬ 
ed for society and the ease that wealth 
brings. Now, though still on the sunny side 
of 39, I think an active country life the hap¬ 
piest form of living. If we cau only drudge 
along in one unceasing round of toil, we are 
likely to feel shut in and lonely. But accord¬ 
ing to my experience, the most discontented 
couutry girls are those who have the least to 
do. They probably have little spending mon¬ 
ey, and little change or society; but if their 
brains as well as hands were occupied they 
would not feel this deprivation so keenly. 
A girl who is acquainted with the 26 letters 
of the alphabet can acquire plenty of friends 
through them. 
The old poet sings: 
“Stone walls do not a prison make, nor Iron bars a 
cage: 
Minds innocent and quiet take these for au hermi¬ 
tage.” 
And there is no reason why a secluded couu¬ 
try place should seem the prison some of us 
are disposed to make it. How many of you 
Rural maids have read Miss Frances Power 
Cobbe’s essays entitled “The Duties of Wo¬ 
men?” I fear a good many would be apt to 
call the book “pokymaybe it is not as en¬ 
grossing as one of Mrs. Alphabet South worth’s 
novels. But it contains more actual femi¬ 
nine philosophy than any other book I know, 
aud though written by a woman belonging to 
the so-called “strong-minded” section, it incul¬ 
cates all the softer and more domestic virtues 
that we are apt to lose sight of. I don’t be¬ 
lieve any girl could read that book without 
feeling as if she had some work to do—some aim 
and purpose—even if she was shut up iu a little 
country place. For my part, I should think 
more of a girl who studied up practical agricul- 
