RURAL NEW-YORKER 
195 
Legal Questions 
Payment of Tax 
If by some mistake taxes are skipped 
by some former owner of real estate in 
how manv years are they collectible V 
New York. .i. w. 
The tax is a lien on the real property 
and really never becomes outlawed, so it 
is collectible at any time, and constitutes 
a cloud on the title in case you ever want¬ 
ed to sell. It would be best for you to 
pay them at once. 
Sale of Property Under Judgment 
I have had a mortgage of .$400 for 
20 years on my farm and the storekeeper 
has stopped giving credit. I owe him 
a bill and he has put a judgment against 
my farm for it and I want to know if he 
can sell me out ahead of the mortgage. I 
am told he cannot. It is in New Jersey. 
New Jersey. E. J. 
There is not much doubt that the 
storekeeper may issue execution on his 
judgment against your property and if 
you have not personal pi'operty, such as 
live stock, chattels, etc., to satisfy it, he 
may then sell the farm, but any money 
that is collected under the sale of the 
land would have to be applied first to 
the payment of the mortgage as that is 
the prior or first lien on the land. Any 
.surplus would apply on its judgment. 
Trespassers on Railroad 
Does the trespasser ou the right of way 
of a railroad use same at his own risk, or 
is the railroad liable in the event of fail¬ 
ure to use the regular signals of warning 
such as headlight, bell or whistle? The 
case in mind is a right of way between 
two stations a mile apart, such right of 
way being used more or less by the public 
as a short cut. A. E. ir. 
Massachusetts. 
Anyone nsing the railroad tracks as a 
highway is a trespasser, and is there at 
his own risk, and as a general proposition 
the only duty the railroad owes such tres¬ 
passer is not to injure him wantonly or 
wilfully. The engineer of an approach¬ 
ing train has the right to assume that 
the trespasser will see the approaching 
train, and will move to a place of safety, 
and the engineer need not ring his bell or 
blow his whistle other than he would ordi¬ 
narily do at that time and place. Of 
course, with children the degi’ce of care 
which the engineer should use is higher 
than it is with an adult. In the ca.se yon 
cite the parties using the tracks as a right 
of way do so at their own risk and must 
look out for themselves. The railroad 
company can stop their travel there alto¬ 
gether. 
Easement by Prescription 
Sixty or 70 or more years ago the farm 
I now own was a part of a large farm 
divided between two brothers. The one 
from whom my deed comes had a right of 
way across the other to a detached lot. 
No papers were given, hut ever since the 
land has been crossed by this road with¬ 
out question, till now some new owners 
of the land propose to obstruct the road 
and either to deny all crossing, or else to 
make me go around by a new road much 
longer and had in Spring. Their plea is 
that many years ago this road was for a 
distance in another place, but this other 
route was not where they propose to shut 
me out. I have used the road coiitinu- 
ou.sly as it now is since .lUne, 1890, and I 
can prove that this same route was used 
immediately before 1890 a great many 
years longer, ,80 or 40, and probably lon¬ 
ger without question. C. E. E. 
Vermont. 
An easement has been described as any 
right or privilege which one person h.as 
over the land of another. You undoubt¬ 
edly have an easement of a right to cross 
your neighbor’s land at the place used 
for so many years. While there has been 
no direct grant of this right to you or to 
your i)redecessors it has been obtained by 
lu’escription, a term used to describe the 
mode of acquiring the ownership of in¬ 
corporeal hereditaments (privilege of 
walking, driving, or otherwise going over 
another’s land, etc.), by long-continued 
use or enjoyment. In your State this pre¬ 
scriptive right may be acquired in 15 
years. The use during these 15 years 
must have been (1) open, visible and no¬ 
torious; (2) continuous and uniform; 
(.8) peaceable and uninterrupted; (4) 
with an adver.se claim of right; and (5) 
with the acquiescence of the owner of the 
land; (6) who was seized in fee; and 
(7) who at the time of the beginning of 
such enjoyment, was free from disability 
to resist its imposition upon his property. 
You may therefore continue to use the 
road over your neighbors objection, and 
if he interferes you may enjoin him from 
bothering you or sue him for the damage 
done you. 
Most Beautiful Car in/lmerlca 
P AIGE cars are made in two sizes. There is a seven-passenger, 51-horse- 
power model which sells for ,$1495. There is also a five-passenger, 
39-horsepower model which sells for $1175. 
The “Stratford” model is, of course, considerably larger than the “Linwood.” 
It is well worth the difference in price. But we want to point out at this 
time that both cars are Paiges —blood brothers of the same strain. 
So far as a choice between these two motor cars is concerned, it is simply a 
matter of your individual requirements. If you can advantageously use 
a large, sumptuous, seven-passenger automobile, by all means invest your 
money in a Paige “Stratford-51.” 
On the other hand, if a five-passenger model is ample for your purposes, then, 
decide on the “Linwood-39.” 
It is merely a choice between a one karat or a two karat diamond. Both cars 
are clean cut, flawless gems. In their respective price fields, these two 
cars represent the utmost that you can secure in automobile value. 
We are putting the matter before you in this frank way, because we want to 
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Linwood “Six-39”5-passenger - $1175f.o.b. Detroit 
PAIGE-DETROIT MOTOR GAR COMPANY 
22PMc Kinstry Avenue, Detroit 
