THE RURA T_ N E W-YORKER 
763 
Jimmie’s Decoration Day 
(Concluded from page 756) 
Lizzie .and Henry and Emily on their 
way back. I'll miss my guess.’ 
“Sheldon looked at his watch. ‘We 
start in fifteen minutes,’ he sez; ‘and if 
we don't pass the rest of ’em before they 
get a mile beyond Uncle Jim’s place, I’ll 
buy you a new hat.’ 
'I wear a seven-and-a-quarter. That 
hat's mine, right this minute,’ sez Paw. 
“When we got to the foot of Rockboro 
Hill, we was goin’ thirty-five mile an 
hour. Sheldon took it on high, and 
when we got to the top, we was makin* 
twenty. Then he let her out, and Paw 
sez, ‘If I’ve got any choice in the mat¬ 
ter. I'd rather lose that hat than have 
this thing blow up on us.’ 
“When we went by Uncle Jim’s place, 
they was just startin’ out, and we 
passed Henry a few rods beyond. We 
all whooped and hollered, except Paw. 
He sez, ‘Well, such is life! Some have 
hats thrust upon them, while I lose mine 
through a contraption that don’t know 
enough to stop when you holler whoa. 
“ "Bout four o’clock, we all went out 
to the little cimmetary where my other 
Grammer lies buried. There's five vet’r- 
ans buried there, and we found a few 
of the neighbors gethered. We all 
kneeled down and Gramper and another 
man prayed. Then Gramper spoke a few 
words. He said he hoped that them that 
had joined the Grand Army above could 
see their children and grand-childx-en 
honorin’ their memories, and that God 
would make us all strong to battle for 
the right, gentle to the weak and erring, 
and ever ready to put God and country 
before our own selfish interests. Maw 
and Aunt Lizzie knelt down between 
their mother’s grave and the stone Gram¬ 
per put up for their father, ’at lies at 
Gettysburg. We left ’em there, and 
went and decorated the other graves. 
Me’n Arthur and Hattie planted flags 
for the vet’rans. The neighbors went 
off, and we went back to Maw ’n Aunt 
Lizzie. I planted a flag for Maw’s 
father, and my cousins planted one for 
Aunt Lizzie’s mother. Then Maw ’n 
Aunt Lizzie kissed Gramper and Gram¬ 
mer and Aunt Sophy and cried a little. 
Gramper turned to the west, and sez, 
‘Children, this scene reminds me of a 
precious Scripture—The peace of God 
which passeth all understanding. May 
God grant this blessed peace to our be¬ 
loved country.’ 
“We went back to Gramper’s for sup¬ 
per. Whilst we was eatin’ it. Gramper 
sez. ‘Sheldon, it was a beautiful thing 
for you and Edith to devote the first day 
with your car to mother and me. We 
thank you.’ 
“Sheldon acted kind o ’shamed, and 
said Em’ly was the one to be thanked— 
she suggested it. 
“ ‘Then we thank Em’ly, too,’ sez 
Grammer. 
“Then I started to tell Gramper and 
Grammer all about it, but Maw, she 
clapped her hand over my mouth and 
whispered, ‘Speech is silver, but silence 
is golden.’ What you ’spose she meant, 
Mr. Holcomb?” 
The Woman at Law 
Personal Property Tax. 
If a woman has money in bank, must 
she pay taxes on it, she being a poor girl 
inheriting a small property (value about 
$600) on which she pays taxes? p. H. 
Pennsylvania. 
The laws of Pennsylvania respecting 
taxation of personal property provide, 
among other things, that “all accounts 
bearing interest.all other moneyed 
capital in the hands of individual citi¬ 
zens of the State” may be taxed for 
county purposes at the rate of four mills 
on the dollar. This would seem to cover 
a sum on deposit in bank. 
Chattel Mortgage; Funeral Expenses. 
Can a man take a cow that is mort¬ 
gaged from another man if it is the last 
cow he has and the woman’s name is not 
on the mortgage? This is in the State 
of Ohio. And if the widow dies and has 
money enough to pay the funeral ex¬ 
penses do the expenses have to come out 
of her money or do the family have it to 
pay? If she wills that away then where 
should the expenses come from in the 
State of Pennsylvania? a. S. 
Ohio. 
Your, questions are not quite plain. 
” hat interest has the woman in the 
cow? If A owns a cow and gives a 
mortgage on it to B and the conditions 
of the mortgage are not fulfilled B may 
take the cow even though it be the last 
one. If the wife owns personal prop¬ 
erty the husband is not entitled to hold 
or control it. 
Where a woman, or man, for that 
matter, dies with sufficient property with 
which to pay funeral expenses they are 
almost universally paid as a preferred 
debt by the executor or administrator 
from the estate and not by the relatives. 
If she wills all her property away the 
rule still holds that before distribution 
is made the funeral expenses should be 
paid from the estate. 
Wife’s Separate Business. 
Under the laws of Pennsylvania is it 
possible for husband and wife to have 
their business and property entirely sep¬ 
arate so that neither can be held legally 
responsible for debts contracted by tlm 
other? a. o. 
Pennsylvania. 
This may be done although, of course, 
a husband is primarily liable for the sup¬ 
port of his wife. The laws now give a 
married woman the same rights and pow¬ 
ers over all her property as has an un¬ 
married woman, with the exception that 
(1) she cannot convey or mortgage her 
realty unless her husband joins in the 
conveyance or mortgage, nor (2) becomes 
an accommodation indorser, maker, guar¬ 
antor or surety for another. If a hus¬ 
band is not to be held responsible for 
his wife's support he should give due 
notice of this to all persons liable to ex¬ 
tend credit to her. 
Contest of Will; Distribution of Property. 
1. Mrs. Brown dies leaving an annuity 
to her husband, real estate to her son, 
and some money (a lien on the land) to 
her daughter, also some, a little, person¬ 
al property to be divided among them. 
If the daughter contests the will would 
the cost of the contest come out of the 
real estate, or would the daughter have 
to pay any of it from her share? 2. Sup¬ 
pose Mrs. B. died without a will leaving 
real estate, personal property and house¬ 
hold goods, etc., how would the property 
be divided? c. M. n. 
New York. 
1. If the daughter was unsuccessful in 
her contest she would have to pay the 
costs; if successful, the costs would in a 
measure be in the discretion of the sur¬ 
rogate and would be paid out of the es¬ 
tate. 
2. The real property goes to the hus¬ 
band for life by virtue of his right of 
courtesy and then to the children equally. 
Personal property goes one-third to the 
husband and the balance in equal shares 
to the children. 
Married Woman’s Property. 
Under the laws of Massachusetts can 
a wife transfer or mortgage her real es¬ 
tate independent of her husband? That 
is to say, is his signature necessary to 
make documents legal? If in his will a 
man forgives all his brother owes him 
would such action discharge or in any 
way affect a mortgage held by deceased 
upon real estate owned by said brother's 
wife? w. A. B. 
Maine. 
The real and personal property of a 
woman upon her marriage remains her 
separate property, and a married woman 
may receive, receipt for, hold, manage, 
and dispose of property, real or personal, 
as if she were sole, except that she can¬ 
not impair her husband’s statutory right 
to courtesy of a one-third interest in her 
land for life upon her death, without his 
written consent, unless she is living 
apart from her husband for justifiable 
cause established by decree of court. His 
consent and signature is therefore ne¬ 
cessary. This release of the brother’s 
debt would not operate to discharge the 
mortgage on his wife’s real property. 
Release of Dower. 
S., Virginia, wishes to sell out and 
move West. He advertised his farm with 
his personal property, 60 days previous 
to day of sale. The farm was put up first 
on day of sale to the highest bidder, sell¬ 
ing for $025 for 100 acres. Conditions 
were the purchaser was to pay one-half 
cash, balance in 12 months, and to deposit 
with the auctioneer $100 until the deed 
could be fixed, which he did by giving his 
check. S. and his wife both were pres¬ 
ent at the sale of the farm. At the 
same time the personal property was sold 
for cash and declined. Now S. has re¬ 
turned the purchaser his check for the 
amount paid in advance ($100) and says 
he cannot execute the deed because his 
wife will not sign it. Can the purchaser 
force them to give the deed ? t. ii. m. 
Virginia. 
In any event the contract was binding 
and you may sue him for the damages 
you have sustained for his breach of the 
contract for sale of the farm. As to his 
wife’s refusal to sign the deed, every¬ 
thing depends on the circumstances. If 
S. advertised that he would give a full 
covenant and warranty deed, and this 
was stated by the auctioneer, and the wife 
did any overt act at the sale or since, 
tending to show that she acquiesced in 
the sale, she is estopped from asserting 
her dower right, and you may compel 
them to convey the property. But where 
she merely remains silent at the sale and 
does no overt act, she may assert her 
dower right. A threat of a damage suit 
against S. may bring (hem to terms. 
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This A. & J. Kitchen Set 
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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 333 W. 30th St., N. Y. City 
Indian Bead Work 
NOTHING is more fascinating or more in vogue at this time than 
Indian Bead Work articles. We have procured an outfit for 
making these articles, which will be sent, delivery charges prepaid, for 
ONE NEW YEARLY SUBSCRIPTION 
OR 
THREE YEARLY RENEWAL SUBSCRIPTIONS 
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This outfit consists of a Patented Loom for making articles, an instruc¬ 
tion and design book, a spool of cotton, twelve H. Milward Sons’ needles, 
seven bottles of colored beads—dark blue, green, light blue, black, red, 
yellow and white—a complete outfit to start the work. 
Every woman knows and appreciates the value of these home-made 
articles. 
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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 333 W. 30th St., NEW YORK ClTy 
