1306 
October 30, 1915. 
Human Nature 
The Natural Side of Life 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
[No paper ever gets more of the real 
human side of life of its readers. Little 
chunks of it wili help us all along.] 
One of our readers sends us the fol¬ 
lowing from a veterinarian who makes 
his living attending “overfed dogs of 
foolish women”— 
When I get one of these fat, dyspeptic, 
spoiled brutes, I put it in a hutch with a 
crust of bread, an onion, and an old 
shoe. 
Well, when the pampered creature be¬ 
gins to gnaw the granite hunk of bread as 
if it was a lamb chop, I send word to 
his mistress that lie is on the mend. 
When lie begins to eat the onion, word 
goes home that he is decidedly better. 
But it isn’t till the rascal gets to 
gnawing the rubber shoe amorously that 
I inform his mistress that he is ready to 
lie removed—$10, please, miss, with 
board, and the usual extras. 
Among the applicants for work on a 
farm is a man who writes as follows: 
In case you should know of a job I 
might as well make a statement: German, 
single, 56, wear one artificial leg on 
which I get around better than most mor¬ 
tals with meat feet and bad corns (did 
vou ever hear of good ones?) 
II. c. T. 
Here is a cheerful spirit who deserves 
success. The man with a serious afflic¬ 
tion who can keep good-natured and hope¬ 
ful is a good companion at least. 
An old-time milkman gives us the fol¬ 
lowing experience. Many of us who have 
driven a milk wagon in the old days re¬ 
member how we used to dip the milk 
out of a can into a quart measure, and 
then pour the milk into any receptacle 
the customer saw fit to bring out. Those 
were the days before certified milk or 
glass bottles, when people consumed mil¬ 
lions of bacteria and were none the worse 
for it. Most of us remember how on 
cold mornings in Fall and Winter we got 
around with our bell before people were 
fully astir. Many a time we have seen 
the front door open an inch or two and 
a hand reach out with a small pitcher 
with the request, “Please pour the milk 
into this.” The man who tells this story 
is a trifle near-sighted, and one morning 
he left his glasses at home, lie halted 
his wagon in front of one of the best 
houses in town and rang his bell violent¬ 
ly. Apparently they were all asleep, but 
after continued ringing the front door 
opened a crack, and what seemed to him 
a tin pail was held out for him to fill. It 
was a cold morning, and he was anxious 
to be on his way, so he measured out a 
quart of milk, approached the door and 
started to pour the liquid into the ves¬ 
sel. There was a loud shout from with¬ 
in and he found that instead of a tin 
pail held out by the timid lady of the 
house it was an ear trumpet which a 
deaf man on the inside was pointing out 
that he might know what all this noise 
was about. The milkman promptly made 
the second delivery and the deaf man de¬ 
clared that for the first time in years he 
could hear that milk drop down into the 
vessel. 
Many a fat man who spends money 
for “bitters” and patent medicines could 
be cured by the same treatment if his 
family could only apply it to him ! 
We have many questions like the fol¬ 
lowing. With all her virtues the hen 
hatches great trouble between neighbors 
when left to roam. 
If chickens belonging to me are killed 
by a neighbor’s dog on another neighbor’s 
property, what action if any have I in 
State of New Jersey. 
The only safe place for your chickens 
is at home in a tight yard. When they 
leave your premises they become tres¬ 
passers. the same as larger animals. You 
may sue the owner of the dog for dam¬ 
ages, and perhaps compel him to destroy 
or restrain the dog, but in return the 
neighbor can sue you for any damage 
the hens have done his property. Having 
suffered from these wandering hens we 
find it hard to summon up much sym¬ 
pathy for those who will not keep chick¬ 
ens at home. 
What is a Polecat ? 
To settle a discussion and a fuss 
among neighbors, can you tell us why the 
pole in polecat? One contestant claims 
they were originated in and were im¬ 
ported from Poland, hence the name, and 
goes on to deprecate the idea that noth¬ 
ing better had come over the water. The 
other party (who by the way is a Pole) 
denies the allegation vehemently, and 
claims that common horse sense would 
tell anyone but a skunk to keep a good 
pole’s length away from them. Who is 
right? Last Friday week, two little tots 
came up from the woods, dragging at the 
end of a string a very unwilling and 
much ruffled kitten-pole or pole-kitten. 
It seemed to exhibit a like state of bel¬ 
ligerency that the small boy often does 
for the dentist’s chair. Fearing a dire 
calamity, if not a change of atmosphere, 
I hastily rose to the occasion, and man¬ 
aged to gain control, with the help of 
divers small coins, and then sent his pole- 
ship back to his native heath, by an older 
boy with due caution. There I hope he 
will remain and meditate upon the evil 
of mixed company and social aspirations. 
He was a beautifully striped little crea¬ 
ture. and no doubt the children admired 
and flattered him very much, before they 
concluded to string him. And as pride 
goes before a fall, doubtless he will never 
forget the time he went behind a string. 
These little animals are now protected 
by State law, but are very destructive to 
bees, and will claw at the hive entrance 
and kill and destroy the bees as they 
come forth. JOHN E. roebling. 
Ohio. 
R. N.-Y.—Not being able to settle this 
great question ourselves we sent it to the 
Biological Survey at Washington—re¬ 
ceiving the following reply : 
The word polecat, when applied to the 
skunk, is a misnomer. It properly be¬ 
longs to the wild ferret of Europe, tech¬ 
nically known as Mustela putorious. It 
was probably derived from the French 
poule chat, equivalent in English to poul¬ 
try cat, in recognition of its destructive 
proclivities in poultry yards. The pole¬ 
cat. like the skunk, has scent glands se¬ 
creting a liquid having a very unpleasant 
odor, which accounts for the application 
of its name to the skunk by some of the 
early settlers in America. The fact that 
the polecat is not an American animal 
may well be given publicity. 
E. w. nelson. 
Acting Chief, Biological Survey. 
It is never safe to turn these hen story 
tellers loose. It is strange how the hen, 
a modest, useful independent creature at 
her inherited vocation, can inspire men 
and women to tell the most remarkable 
stories—and actually believe them. Here 
is one of the latest: 
“While fancy, like the finger of a clock 
Runs the great circuit and is still at 
home.” 
In your issue of Aug. 21 the remark¬ 
able freak eggs remind me of one re¬ 
ported by Mr. C. E. Gallion of Lunen¬ 
burg Co., a gentleman I have known for 
years, and can vouch for any statement 
he makes. 
He said some years ago one of his 
wife’s hens came in her chamber and se¬ 
lected the middle of her bed for her place 
to lay. She did this repeatedly, always 
sitting facing the mantel, on which a 
clock with a large dial sat. One day 
this hen laid an egg with a flat side, 
on which was a perfect clock dial with 
the hands. Mr. Gallion called it the 
clock egg. He carried it to his county 
court and showed it to a number of his 
friends and acquaintances. No doubt the 
presence of the clock had some effect in 
forming the dial on the egg. 
E. B. COLEMAN. 
The Woman at Law. 
Contract of Infant. 
I am thinking of buying some property 
in Vermont or New Hampshire, paying 
part cash. I am over eighteen but not 
yet twenty-one years of age, and I won¬ 
der if it is all right for me to sign the 
papers without the signature of one of 
my parents? Could you also tell me how 
a deed for property is made out? 
Vermont. r. ii. 
It is all right for you to sign the con¬ 
tract for property if the other party is 
willing to accept it. as the contracts of 
infants may be repudiated by them after 
t’'ev become of age. If one of your par¬ 
ents signed the contract with you, it 
would in reality be their contract. A 
suggestion is that you leave your money 
in bank or other safe place until you be¬ 
come of age and then buy your property. 
Contracts of infants are quite trouble¬ 
some at times. Blank forms of contracts 
for property and of deeds may be ob¬ 
tained at most stationers in large towns. 
Make a Written Contract. 
A, a widow whose husband dies with¬ 
out will. B. C, I), children, all sign 
off their rights so she can sell property 
and buy large farm for D. Farm is too 
large for D to handle. She gets B and 
her husba. 1 to come and help out with 
the understanding that when it was paid 
for each to have half of place, mortgage 
on the place. D takes everything he can 
lay his hands on and gets out A. then 
makes proposition to B that if they will 
take hold of it, give her a home as long 
as she lives, they will have it. B and 
her husband put all their savings into 
improvements and make it worth more. 
Now A wants to sell and B will have 
nothing for two years’ hard labor and 
what they have paid in. The only paper 
drawn was one putting B’s husband in 
as manager in place of D when he left. 
This was signed by A. Part of B’s sav¬ 
ings went to pay debts contracted by I> 
in his name. Can B collect anything for 
wages for their two years’ labor? A has 
money in bank, also money earned by B, 
as everything is paid by check in A's 
name, and A will not give B anything. 
New York. j. l. 
This is but one more instance, of the 
many, involving important interests 
which are not put in writing. A con¬ 
tract of this character, which involves 
half or all of a farm, should be in writ¬ 
ing, There was, of course, a verbal con¬ 
tract between B and A and there appears 
to be no reason why this cannot be en¬ 
forced against A if B and her husband 
are still willing to do their part and of¬ 
fer to take care of A for her life. This 
is such an important matter that you 
should consult good local counsel. If 
you do not want to enforce your present 
verbal contract against A, there is no 
reason why B cannot collect against A 
for the value of the services performed 
on the place: but A should be notified 
that she will be held to her contract. 
Woman’s Right in Property. 
My husband and I are joint owners of 
our home, consisting of 10 acres of land, 
planted to fruit, a beautiful bungalow 
house, good barn, etc. A mortgage of 
$750 is held against it. The land was 
purchased from my father 10 years ago 
for tin 1 sum of $050. $500 of which was 
given to me as a gift of love and affec¬ 
tion (so stated in the deed). The im¬ 
provements. house and barn, etc., we have 
put on since. My husband collects the 
income but refuses to apply it toward 
reducing the mortgage, and I am fearful 
we will lose our home. What can I do? 
Can I not legally hold one-half the in¬ 
come derived from this land of which I 
am lawfully joint owner, and how shall I 
proceed to secure the same? 'Can a wife 
hold any interest in chattel property, 
such as horses, cows, vehicles, automo¬ 
bile. etc., and how much? m. 
Ohio. 
A conveyance of real property to a 
husband and his wife makes them owners 
by the entirety at common law and this 
is true in most of the States today—in¬ 
cluding Ohio. The old theory was that 
the husband and wife are one person. It 
is like joint tenancy, in that each one is 
regarded as owning all ‘the property, and 
therefore there is survivorship; that is, 
the survivor takes the whole estate at the 
other’s death without further proceedings. 
Neither owner can dispose of. or encum¬ 
ber, any portion of the property, with¬ 
out the concurring act of the other, but 
the income from the property they own 
as tenants in common and either alone 
can dispose of his or her right to collect 
the income. 
Now you have been entitled to the 
income from this property for the past 
10 years, and there is no reason why you 
should not demand an accounting from 
him of this income at least for the past 
six years. Not having demanded it, and 
he, presumably, having supported you, 
this right to past income may have been 
waived. To the future, he will prob¬ 
ably not recognize your right to your 
share of the income and pocket it all. 
You can then proceed to notify all the 
people to whom he sells produce of your 
interest in the proceeds, and that they 
pa.v him alone at their peril, or you may 
assign your right to the income for a val¬ 
uable consideration to some friend you 
can trust, who can enforce your rights 
against your husband. Probably the first 
course is preferable. In any event, first 
give your husband to understand that you 
are going to enforce your rights, that 
you have a good big one-half interest in 
all the income, and if he doesn’t come 
in you should proceed directly to a good 
local attorney and start something. You 
must show a disposition to fight for your 
rights or you will not get them. 
An Ohio wife may enter into any en¬ 
gagement or transaction with- her hus¬ 
band or with any other person, and she 
may take hold and dispose of real and 
personal property including chattels, live 
stock, etc., to any amount, the same as 
if she were unmarried. 
The Evening of Life. 
A Very Important Problem in Housekeeping. 
