26 o 
APRIL i9 
“ Rough on Rogues .” 
LOOKOUT 
ALMANAC 
t 
LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE. 
APRIL. 
Monday kook out f° r ■ bogus advertise- 
e\ ■ ments of live stock. That fellow 
^ 1 ■' Cavan of whom we spoke some 
weeks ago was fined and jailed—rightly, 
too. Never buy improved live stock from 
irresponsible persons. You might as well 
throw your money away. 
* 
* * * 
Tuesday k°°k out > Rural storekeepers 
aa and postmasters, for frauds who 
play the “flim-flam” game. A 
rascal goes to a store or office and asks one 
of the clerks to give him a $10 bill which 
he says he wishes to mail. He puts the $10 
bill in an envelope and then discovers that 
he has only $9.00. He hands the clerk the 
supposed envelope and goes out to get an¬ 
other dollar. Of course, the envelope con¬ 
tains nothing but a piece of paper. 
Wednesday kook out, for fluent-talking 
r\ a foreigners who pretend to sell 
German or Spanish bonds. 
One of these frauds recently swindled some 
people near Wheeling, Va., out of $9,800. 
Of course, he offered great inducements 
and talked eloquently about the great 
chance he offered. 
* 
* * 
ThlirSdaV kook out with care; middle¬ 
s'a J man’s share ; long as you pay 
it you’ve nothing to spare. Buy 
without brains, then for your pains, view 
the smart middleman’s satisfied air. Buy 
C. O. D., then you will see how you have 
middleman right by the hair. Pay as you 
go, get sinking fund; better be slow than 
always dunned. Middleman’s share; mid¬ 
dleman’s share—long as you pay it, you’ve 
nothing to spare. 
* * * 
Friday Look out for a young rogue who 
« c * travels through the country pre- 
tending that the company has 
sent him to “repair” your sewing machine. 
His profit comes in the sale of a “ superior 
article of machine oil.” Look out for that 
old boiled egg fraud. This scamp sells 
eggs for hatching at a very high price and 
agrees to buy all the chickens hatched 
from the eggs at a very high price also. 
The eggs are boiled ! 
o a f„ r( j a v Look out for the man who of- 
^ fers to give you a town lot in 
fc-O. Colorado, “worth $100” in ex 
change for the names of 10 of your neigh¬ 
bors. This town lot may be worth $100 to 
a man who has others to sell, but it is not 
worth five cents to you and never will be 
until you go to it and try to sell. Moreover 
the fellow will certainly want money for a 
deed, etc., before he parts with the worth¬ 
less lot. Invest your money at home. 
The Law. 
“ Every Man is presumed to know the 
Law. Nine-tenths of all Litigation ar ises 
from Ignorance of Law.” 
J. H. J., Troy, Pa.—A man dies intestate 
leaving a widow and three daughters, the 
youngest 23 years old. He also leaves some 
real estate and personal property. How 
much of both kinds of property can the 
widow claim and control ? When will 
the children get their share ? All the 
property came from the deceased husband’s 
father. 
Ans.—T he widow has a right to a life in¬ 
terest in one-third of the deceased hus¬ 
band’s real estate and an absolute right to 
one third of his personal property. The 
rest of the real estate is to be divided, share 
and share alike, between the three daugh¬ 
ters, who will also be entitled to share 
equally in the widow’s dower after her 
death. The remaining two-thirds of the 
personal property must also be equally 
divided between the three daughters. The 
administrator of an intestate is allowed 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
one year to arrange the estate before divid¬ 
ing it among the heirs, though this is gen¬ 
erally done sooner. 
F. E., Hohsonville, Oregon.—It I make 
a road through a man’s place, keep It open 
and travel on it for 10 to 15 years, can he 
stop me from using it or claim damages? 
Ans.—I n most of the States a right of 
way by prescription can be acquired after 
an adverse use for 20 years. That is, the 
way must be used continually, and under a 
claim of right for that period, and not un¬ 
der permission or consent of the owner of 
the land. In Oregon, however, such a right 
of way can be acquired by 10 years’ adverse 
use. If you made and have kept open the 
road for 10 years under a claim that you 
had a right to do so, you have now a right 
of way by prescription. 
H. W. H., West Walworth,N. Y.—A dies 
having by will left all his property to his 
widow for her life-time. After her death it 
was to be divided equally among the chil¬ 
dren of the marriage. Before the mother’s 
death one of the daughters dies leaving 
children. At the death of the widow, who 
will get that daughter’s share—tne husband 
or the children ? 
Ans. —If a married woman dies intestate 
in New York State leaving a husband and 
children by him, the husband has a life in¬ 
terest in the real estate, the fee going to the 
children in equal parts; that is, the prop¬ 
erty goes to them equally after their father’s 
death. One-third of the personal property 
goes to the widower, and two-thirds to the 
children in equal parts. 
T. T. M., Herkimer County, N. Y— Is 
there any legal or other rule which pre¬ 
scribes how a married woman should sign 
her name ? If such a rule exists, when 
should she sign her husband’s name and 
surname prefixed by “ Mrs. ” and when her 
husband’s surname prefixed by her own 
Christian name ? 
Ans.—A married woman should sign her 
proper personal name to all deeds and legal 
documents, and usually in her familiar 
correspondence. In more formal letters it 
is customary for her to sign her husband’s 
name with the prefix “Mrs.” before it. 
Sarah Jones marries John Smith and is 
generally thereafter known as “ Sarah J. 
Smith.” If she addresses a stranger on 
business she will sign “ Mrs. John Smith,” 
or put [Mrs. John Smith] in brackets be¬ 
low her own name, if she expects a reply, 
and she should be thus addressed. 
A. T. S., Elmira, N. Y.— In this State 
can a man having a son and daughter of 
age, bequeath all his real and personal 
property to his wife absolutely? At the 
same time can his wife make in turn a will 
bequeathing all her real and personal prop¬ 
erty to the son and daughter; or should 
her will be made at a later date? 
Ans. —There is no legal reason why both 
parties should not make the proposed be¬ 
quests, and the wills may be made without 
regard to which shall take precedence. Of 
course, however, either may su sequently 
be altered or destroyed. 
L. M. S., Bath, N. Y.— Mrs. Smith, a 
widow, purchases real estate before her 
second marriage to Mr. Jones, and after 
said marriage puts the property in her 
name—Jones. She dies without having 
made a will. There is one child by the 
first marriage but l one by the second. 
Does the whole property go to the child or 
has its step-father, Mr. Jones, any right 
therein ? 
ANS.—in accordance with the laws of 
this State, Mrs. Jones having borne no 
children to Mr. Jones, the latter has no in¬ 
terest in her real estate, all of which goes 
to her child. As she died intestate, how¬ 
ever, one-third of her personal property goes 
to her husband,and two-thirds to her child. 
A. B., New York.— Is there any law 
which determines what a son should give 
his mother for her support ? If, in addition 
to an allowance as large as the son can af¬ 
ford, the mother contracts bills beyond the 
son’s means, is he legally responsible for 
them ? 
Ans.— There is no such law, as the 
amount would vary in accordance with the 
son’s means, the mother’s needs, and the 
number of children who ought to contri¬ 
bute to their parent’s support. When a 
son makes a reasonable allowance for a 
parent’s support, however, he is not respon¬ 
sible for any debts contracted by the latter. 
O. J., Westfield, Wis.—l own 55 acres of 
land, the eastern part of which is marsh 
and the western timber, except about two 
rods. Am I obliged to build half the di¬ 
vision fence along the whole of the land ? 
Ans. —Yes, if you wish to inclose the 
whole of it; not otherwise. If you wish to 
leave the “ marsh ” and “ timber” land un¬ 
inclosed, that is “ in common,” you are not 
obliged to fence or pay for fencing any part 
of either, so long as you desire to leave it in 
common. 
L. T ., Elizabeth, N. J.— Has a person a 
right to shoot cats trespassing on his prem¬ 
ises in this State, and if they prove a nuis¬ 
ance has he a right to exterminate them 
while they are on his neighbor’s premises ? 
Ans.— In New Jersey a person is at liber¬ 
ty to kill any domestic animal trespassing 
on his land and creating a nuisance, but 
only after he has given the owner fair 
warning and has used all reasonable mea¬ 
sures of putting an end to the nuisance 
without resorting to this expedient. If 
the animal remains upon the premises of 
its owner the nuisance should be abated by 
an action at law. 
R. M. L., Hudson, N. Y. —To be well 
prepared for an emergency and ready in a 
moment of danger, I sleep with a loaded re¬ 
volver under my pillow every night. 
Should a burglar break into my house or 
attempt to do so would I be legally justi¬ 
fied in using the revolver to protect life and 
property. 
Ans.—Y es. 
TAXATION OF FARM MORTGAGES. 
The R. N.-Y. has several times strongly 
denounced the unfair taxation of mort¬ 
gaged farm property so common in nearly 
all the States. In case of a merchant, taxes 
on his property are assessed after the 
amount of his indebtedness has been de¬ 
ducted therefrom; whereas in most of the 
States if a farm is mortgaged even for its 
full worth, the owner is taxed as if he owed 
nothing. In some of the States the mortga¬ 
gee is also taxed as if he had created property 
to the extent of the incumbrance. Thus, 
supposing a farm is mortgaged for $5,000, 
the mortgagor and mortgagee have both to 
pay taxes on that amount, so that $5,000 are 
taxed as $10,000. In some cases the mort¬ 
gagee is taxed in the State where the mort¬ 
gaged property is situated, in others in the 
State where he lives. The Mortgage Tax 
Bill now before the New York legislature 
seeks to afford relief to farmers in this 
matter. It provides that indebtedness 
secured by mortgage on real estate shall be 
assessed to the person who “ owns the in¬ 
debtedness,” that is, to the person to whom 
it is due, and the amount of such indebted¬ 
ness shall be deducted from the assessed 
value of the real property upon which it is 
a lien; that is to say, the holder of the 
mortgage on the real estate is taxed for the 
amount the mortgage represents, while the 
owner of the property is to be taxed only 
for its value, less the amount of the mort¬ 
gage. It is also required that the holder of 
the mortgage shall be assessed in the town, 
village or ward in which the mortgaged 
property is situated, and not where he re¬ 
sides. The owner of the property, however, 
Is required to pay the tax levied on the 
mortgage;and “ the Tax Collector’s receipts 
therefor shall be taken by the owner or 
owners of such indebtedness in payment 
for any interest or principal due thereon 
to the amount of the Collector’s receipt or 
receipts.” 
By this measure taxes on the full value 
of the property can be collected where it is 
situated, and the holder of a mortgage can 
be compelled to pay his share into the local 
treasury, whether he resides there or some¬ 
where else. This is only fair, for the com¬ 
munity in which real estate is situated is 
entitled to the full oenefit of the revenue 
properly derived from the tax upon its as¬ 
sessed valuation. A tax on mortgages, 
however, is always and inevitably a tax on 
the bori'ower and not on the lender ; for in 
all cases the latter, in addition to the in¬ 
terest he would otherwise charge, exacts 
enough to cover the tax he has to pay on 
the mortgage. Money is loaned on real 
estate at a rate of interest representing the 
value of the money in that form of invest¬ 
ment, and if the man who loans it does not 
get the amount of interest he expected, he 
will withdraw his mortgage loan, and do 
something else with his money. There 
can be no doubt that it is an injustice to 
compel the owner of a mortgaged farm to 
pay taxes on the amount of his indebt¬ 
edness, while the merchant need not do 
so ; but it is very doubtful whether the 
farmer who is forced to mortgage his farm 
will ultimately gain anything by having 
the payment of taxes on the mortgage 
transferred from himself to the mortgagee. 
"A SPIDER’S WEB.” 
T HE R. N.-Y. seems disposed to dis¬ 
cuss the new tariff bill in a broad 
and fair manner. Most papers seem to put 
on blue spectacles whenever they touch 
this tariff question. They can see only one 
sideof it and they will not admit that there 
can possibly be any fair argument ad¬ 
vanced by those who sincerely believe in 
the other side. I want to see the matter 
fairly discussed by farmers—not by manu¬ 
facturers and dealers. Let us know what is 
best for our own interests, let us think it 
out ourselves. 
I have headed this note “ A Spider’s 
Web” because that seems to be what isbeing 
spun for us. It may be true that under 
the provisions of the proposed tariff 
bill some of our farm products would be 
enhanced in value to us. Somebody would 
have to pay more for them; what we 
gained, somebody must lose. Still, back 
of it all, can we not see that the monopo¬ 
lists, the capitalists, the holders and hand¬ 
lers of money are still “protected” to an 
extent that makes the supposed favors 
shown us seem ridiculously insignificant ? 
This is a view of the case that I want dis¬ 
cussed. Are farmers to be tickled and kept 
good-natured while the industries that do 
not need protection any longer are to be 
permitted to continue to enjoy their val¬ 
uable privileges ? Take hides, for example. 
Under the present systems of slaughtering, 
who will reap the benefit of the proposed 
duty—farmers or the “Big Four?” 
Our protective tariff was originally de¬ 
vised to foster “infant industries.” Agri¬ 
culture never has been an “infant in¬ 
dustry ” since the Revolution. This 
tariff, in its “ protective” features at least, 
has been largely in the interests of manu¬ 
facturing. The benefits which the farmers 
have derived from it have been largely in¬ 
direct. The time has come when our pub¬ 
lic men can honestly boast of our great 
manufacturing interests and as honestly 
bewail the condition of our farmers. A one¬ 
sided protective tariff has had its full share 
in bringing about this state of affairs. If 
there is to be a continuation ot this tariff 
the conditions should be changed and the 
farmers should reap a direct benefit until 
matters can be evened up. The evidence 
is abundant that those who have 
been directly benefited by the tariff 
have gone so far ahead of their less 
fortunate brethren t.hat our whole eco¬ 
nomic system has been upset. Consider 
this matter. Don’t walk into the spider’s 
web until you know what you are doing. 
If this tariff is so ill-balanced that one class 
must grow poor and discontented, while 
another grows rich and prosperous, it must 
have a more violent adjusting than that 
arranged by the McKinley bill, or the time 
will surely come when one class must be so 
weak and the other so strong that there 
can be no remedy. Come, farmers, are you 
satisfied with this bill? Does it place you 
on a fair footing with your manufacturing 
neighbor, or does it offer false hopes? Let 
us weigh it carefully and honestly, with 
our eyes open wide. R. K. C. 
Pij&ctUancousi 
In writing to advertisers please always 
mention the Rural. 
For a Disordered Liver try Rekcham's Pills 
FAEOTHAB KS7ST0NS COEN PLANTES" 
Warranted the best corn dmpper atnl most 
terfoct forco-feed fertUzordistributor In tbs 
world. Send 
FOB CATALOODfc 
Address 
A. B. 
PASaUHAB. 
Send for large Illustrated 
lUC MCA I FOR POULTRY. Crushed Oys- 
JNt mtflL ter Shells, Flint ami Beef Scraps 
.rl foe niiur nri/'O li<f 
AGENTS 
WANTED 
BREtU’S UNIVERSAL 
WEEDER AN3 CULTIVATOR 
T. B. TERRY, ot Chlo, snys: “It 
cultivated two 
rows at once; 
hoed them per¬ 
fectly, going 
aver (even acres 
in fi ve hours ." 
"UNIVERSAL 
WEEDER CO. 
Itorth Wearv. ■. II. 
Bend for 
Circular 
and 
pricelist 
