4
MORNING' ENTERPRISE THURSDAY, JULY 25, 1912
K-'t I "1 1"'H I 1 ! "I 1-
A Judge
iyvvuiivu
The Result of a Friendly Suit
In Court
f By P. A. MITCHEL
George Jernegan. a student of medi
cine at a southern university, having
reached that stage of his studies (anat
omy) wherein he needed to dissect hu
man bodies in order to see for himself
the muscles, arteries, bones and other
parts that constitute the machine, man,
found to his discomfiture that the uni
versity authorities were unable to pro
vide him with a-subject. Not willing
that his career as a sawbones should
be nipped in the bud on this account,
he resorted to a method which was
once much in vogue among medical
students, but which is now considered
to be obsolete he robbed a grave.
A young man named Blackiston had
distinguished himself as a law student.
It was considered that the day would
come when he would make a second
Daniel Webster. But, whether he
studied too hard or his precociousness
meant a disordered brain, he went the
way of most prodigies he broke down.
One day he . was found with his head
on a pile of lawbooks unconscious.
Docters were called in who prescribed
all sorts of treatment, from hot water
at the feet to a bath in ice water, with
out restoring the patient. He remained
in a comatose condition for many days,
the action of the heart apparently
growing weaker each day till at last
the physicians in attendance could not
detect even a flutter. So he was pro
nounced dead, was buried, and the legal
world regretted that the profession had
lost a coming shining light.
Now, Jernegan was looking for a
subject about the time that Blackiston
was buried. The night after the fu
neral the former went to the ceme
tery, dug up the corpse and, putting it
in a gunny bag, carried it to the dis
secting room. Fearing that if left as
it was it would be recognized, he con-
Cb Tbvsc-
THE CORPSE WAS MUNOHINO A PBETZEL.
eluded to cut it up before morning;
but, being tired with the work he had
done, he went to a saloon near by with
a small pitcher and returned with it
full of beer, besides pretzels. These
he placed on a table beside the corpse
and, noticing that his tobacco pouch
was empty, went out again for tobac
co. When he returned this second
time and entered the dissecting room
he was paralyzed with astonishment
The corpse was munching a pretzel
and was just reaching out for the
pitcher of beer.
So long was the draft (a man who
has been several hours under cold
ground certainly needs all the stimu
lant he can get) that Jernegan. fear
ing there would be none left for him
self, called a halt. The corpse paid no
attention to the interruption, continu
ing to drink till the last drop was ex
hausted, then got back on the dissect
ing table and closed his eyes. Jerne
gan to determine the fact of life or
death pricked the corpse's cheek with
the point of a knife, knowing that if
the subject was dead no blood would
flow. A red drop stood on the cheek.
The subject opened his eyes and, see
ing a man standing over him, asked
where he was.
I Jernegan told him that he was sup
posed to be dead, had been buried,
resurrected and had he not revived
would soon have been ctt up in a dis
secting room. s
The vigor of Blackiston's mind
seemed to have been at least in a
measure restored and went right on
. In the vein that had been interrupted
by his stroke or whatever it was.
"You're a body snatcher," he said.
"Lucky for you that . I am. If I
hadn't resurrected you you'd have died
a horrible death."
"That may be, but I wonder if I
have not cause for an action against
you?"
' "Action for what?"
"I'm not sure whether it would come
under the law against body snatching,
trespass or disturbing my repose."
"Disturbing your repose! Well. I
like that!"
"Thew Is another point of law in
volved. A certificate of my death has
doubtless been made out by the doc
" tors, and in the eye of the law I'm a
dead man."
"You came very near being a deai
man In thVeye of the medical profes
sion." "The case interests me. 1 am sensi
ble of the obligation I am under to you
for saving my life, but you wouldn't
mind my bringing a friendly suit
against you to tryvthis singular case,
would you?"
"Not a bit, if you'll pay all the costs."
"I'll do that."
Mr. Blackiston got down from the
dissecting table and tried to walk, but
failed. He sat down and asked Jerne
gan if he would kindly call a carriage.
When it arrived Jernegan attended
him to his borne.
Blackiston sued Jernegan for tres
passing upon his grave. The case ex
cited so much attentionamong .the
members olfThe TegaT profession" that
the bar association volunteered to fur
nish counsel for Jernegan's defense
and retained their most brilliant mem
ber for the purpose. Blackiston con
ducted his owj case.
"Your honor." he said in his opening
remarks. "1 shall proceed to show by
eompetent witnesses that the defend
ant did with malice aforethought in
vade and trespass upon my grave, in
terfere with my repose, feloniously
steal my body, place it in a bag and
carry it to a dissecting room. He then
and there was making preparations to
take apart my members for the pur
pose of study when I returned to con
sciousness. This suit is brought with
a desire to learn the legal status of a
corpse. It is a principle of common
law that there are no property rights
in a dead body. No one owns it nut it
self. That it has legal rights has been
established in the case of the estate of
Swiback versus Oppenheim, wherein
it was decided that the body of Swi
back was a part of his estate, in which
he had the same interest as in his real
estate."
"Your honor," replied counsel for de
fense, "this being a friendly suit to
establish a principle we admit without
the fact being established by witness
es that the defendant did remove the
body of the plaintiff from its grave,
but we claim that the plaintiff, being
legally dead, has no standing in this
court."
"I propose," said Blackiston. "to try
the case on that very issue. I there
fore admit that in the eyes of the law
I am dead. Nevertheless in a sense a
corpse is a living person. It being the
duty of the state under the law to pro
tect the repose of the dead, it follows
that the dead have rights. Therefore
when a corpse is feloniously invaded
in its own domicile, the grave, it must
have a legal standing with the state
to protect itself. If it has a legal
standing against the state it must
have such standing in court against an
Individual."
"There is no question," replied coun
sel for the defendant "that the plain
tiff is legally dead, nor is there any
question that he is really living. Nev
ertheless I am considering him as a
corpse resurrected, returned to life and
with the right to establish his former
legal identity. Since we are endeavor
ing to establish a principle of law let
us admit that Blackiston has estab
lished such legal identity. In that case
I think he would stand before the
court as a resurrected living corpse,
which, as was held in the case of
Brickabat versus Cobbleston"
At this. point the court interrupted
the learned counsel to say that, the
brain wear and tear of the case -ere
so exhausting that he would adjourn
the court for one hour for refresh
ment, recommending phosphoric foods
calculated to restore the enormous cel
lular waste. When the court convened
again his honor remarked:
"In order to proceed with this trial
it must be admitted that the "plaintiff
has a standing in this court, and so
the court holds."
"Very well." said Blackiston. "My
standing before this court as a corpse
having been admitted, I demand dam
ages against the plaintiff for invading
the six feet of ground in which I as
a dead man had an inalienable right."
"Your honor," quickly ' interposed
counsel for the defense, "the plaintiff
cannot claim damages, though his
standing in court and the trespass is
admitted, for since there is no proper
ty right In a corpse the law does not
give a right to recover in a court for
a violation of sepulture. If we admit
that the plaintiff suing as a corpse
has cause for action against a man for
stealing himself a corpse the present
action falls to the ground and can
only be brought again as an action cf
one dead body against another, for
which there is no law of the land that
can compel an answer."
Blackiston now arose and delivered
an argument that has since been con
sidered a wonder by every member of
the bar who heard it. But unfortu
nately the reporters, who were not
skilled in legal lore and could not di
gest the arguments, had been sinking
to slumber, and when the phenomenon
arose to speak the last journalist had
gone to sleep.
When the summing up had been con
cluded the judge announced that he
would take a week to consider the
case and would hand down a decision
at the end of that period.
When the day came for him to read
his decision the courtroom was crowd
ed to overflowing. The judge looked
ten years older than before the trial.
He began to speak in a feeble voice,
but gained strength as he proceeded.
The lawyers and spectators listened
patiently though eagerly till the gist
of the opinion came in the last few
words, "There is nothing in the con
stitution to enable a dead man to
bring an action in a living court"
A mighty shout of "Recall him! Re
call the stupid blunderer!" arose. And
straightway those adverse to the opin
ion proceeded to unseat the judge.
The movement was successful, but
the poor man died on the very day ha
was unbenched.
' Deadly Marshes of Siberia.
The largest extent of marsh land In
the world is to be foundin tie low
lands which form part of tbe steppe of
Baraba, between the rivers 'In tish and
Obi, in Asiatic Russia. The region is
flat and covered with forests, salt lakes
and quivering marshes, extending over
an area which is not less than 100,000
square miles. During the summer
dense clouds of mosquitoes float over
the treacherous ground. Immense areas
of these dreaded urmans have never
been visited by man. The mashes,
treacherously concealed under a sway
ing layer of grassy vegetation, can only
be crossed by means of a kind of snow
shoe In winter except at the peril of
one's life.
Angelo's Verdict.
Once a painter notorious for plagia
risms executed a historical picture in
which every figure of importance was
copied from some other artist, so that
very little remained to himself. It
was shown to Michael Angeio by a
friend, who begged his opinion of it
"Excellently done." said Angeio, "only
at the day of judgment, when all bodies
will resume their own limbs again. 1
do not know what will become of that
historical painting, for there will be
nothing left of it"
FOUR REAL STAR
' ; FIRST BASEMEN
Daufjert, Merkle, Konefchy and
Hoblitzel Wonders.
ARE QUARTET OF SLUGGERS.
Every One of Them Can Whale the
Ball For Keeps and Run the Bases
Well, Besides Being All a First Sack
er Should Be.
Star baseball players of any kind are
exceedingly rare, but big league mana
gers assert that crack first basemen
are the scarcescommodities in the
land. Any one doubting this statement
may have it confirmed by asking either
Barney Dreyfuss or Fred Clarke of
Pittsburgh. After trading Kitty Brans
field to the Phillies in 1905 the Pirates
were engaged in a continuous search
for a first sacker until the spring of
this year, when Clarke hit on the bril
liant idea of converting "Dots" Miller
into a first baseman. The Kearny
(N. J.) boy has played the best first
base the Pittsburgh bugs have seen in
eight years, but "Dots" has not yet
shown class enough to displace any
one of the "big four" of the National
league Fred Merkle, Jake Daubert
Dick Hoblitzel and Eddie Konetchy.
Some first basemen this quartet. Ev
ery one is a star of the first magnitude,
and all are young men with their best
days still ahead of them. All are lusty
clubbers, as all first basemen should
be, and. hammer the old ball all over
the lot However, unlike some of the
slugging first basemen of old, all these
four men are among the leading speed
merchants in the National league.
It is hard to decide which one is the
star of the quartet Manhattan fans
swear by Fred Merkle, and Brooklyn
fans can see only Jake Daubert while
Cincinnati and St Louis fans believe
"Hobby" and "Kone'y" have no su
periors. Perhaps no ball player, unless it is
Rube Marquard, had a harder time to
make good than Fred Merkle, and
Fred deserves all the good things that
have come to him in the last two
years. Everybody knows the unfor
tunate "bone" Fred committed In 1908
Photo by American Press Association.
JAKE DAUBERT, BROOKLYN'S GBEAT PIBST
SACKEB,
and how it cost the Giants a cham
pionship. The fans did not forgive
Fred for that lapse for a long time,
and many managers laughed when
Merkle was under discussion. "Mc
Graw actually believes he can make a
first baseman out of that fellow," said
a prominent manager in 1909. But Mc
Graw made a first baseman of Merkle.
aU right ;
Jake Daubert is another star who
had to fight his way to the front
Turned back by Cleveland as not of big
league caliber, Jake got a chance with
the Superbas in 1910. No one consid
ered that Daubert had a -chance to beat
out "Home Run" Tim Jordan, but Dau
bert played such great ball that he
simply could not be kept out of the
game. He is now in his third year
with Brooklyn and is getting better all
the time.
Dick Hoblitzel, the clever first base
man of the Redlegs. is the most bril
liant performer on Hank O'Day's ros
ter. Cincinnati fans have to thank the
old outlaw Union league for Richard.
The Union league sprouted for a few
months in 1908. After leaving college
Dick made his professional debut with
the Unions. He landed with the Reds
the following season and has starred
for Garry Herrmann's team ever since.
Eddie Konetchy is the oldest one of
these four players in big league experi
ence, though he has been In the Na
tional league only since 1907. Ko
netchy, like Daubert, has been handi
capped by playing with a second divi
sion team.
Donlin Making Good.
Mike Donlin is making good In right
field for the Pirates. He Is batting
considerably over .300 and playing a
grand game In the field. .
Football In Denmark.
In Denmark the state takes 20 per
cent of the gross receipts at football
matches.
Thirty 2:05 Trotters.
There are only thirty trotters who
have covered a mile in 2:05.
v:i::::?:;:::::&
' J
AMERICA'S YOUNG GOLF
' STARS.
There seems to be a striking
difference between the ages of
America's and England's great
est golfers. The British play
ers are .mostly well toward their,
prime, while the Americans are
almost all still in their twenties.
Walter J. Travis is the lone ex
ception. H. Chandler Egan was
not of age when he was the
-American title holder. Robert
Gardner was still a Yale student
when lie became the greatest
golfer in the country. Charles
Evans, Albert Seckel, Oswald
Klrkby. Jerome Travers, Fred
Herreshoff and .lohnG. Ander
son are other Americans of na
tional importance who are young
in ye:;rs. but uot in campaign
experience.
NINTH INNING RALLY
PORTLAND, July 24. Portland won
in a ninth inning rally today. The
score was 6 to 5. Sacramento made
4 in the first and it looked like the
game was "sewed up.'
The results Wednesday follow:
National League
. Brooklyn 1, Chicago 5.
Philadelphia 4, St. Louis 5 .
New York 8, Cincinnati 7.
American League
Cleveland 11, Boston 6.
Chicago 3, New York 4.
Pacific Coast League Standings
W. Li. P.C.
Vernon 65 41 .613
Los Angeles ..59 46 .562
Oakland 59 47 .557
Portland . ; .43 52.453
San Francisco . .'. 43 62 .409
Sacramento 40 62 .392
At Portland Portland 6, Sacramen
to 5.
At Los Angeles Los Angeles 5, San
Francisco 4.
At San Francisco Vernon 7, Oak
land 0.
An Ordinary Mortal.
"Engaged? Why, he seemed quite
broken hearted when the other girl re
fused him."
"Well, he's like the average man. It
wasn't long before he was looking for
a consolation prize "
BITULITHIC AWARD AT HILLS
BORO Citizens'and Taxpers generally Seem
to Appreciate What Good Streets
Do for a City
Hillsboro continues in the progres
sive column.
At the recent meeting of the city
council in that city, another contract
was awarded for street pavement Bit
ulithic will be used.
Ever since the first BituUthic pave
ment was laid in Hillsboro, the citi
zens and taxpayers have gradually
been lining up in favor of paved
streets everywhere, id now it is ai
riest a universail sentiment. A gcod
share of the credit is due to the char
acter of the pavement used Bitulithic
and to the council which originally
named this kind of pavement f jT '.he
streets of Hillsboro.
This contract was awarded to Ilitu
li.'.hic i" ihe face of thi fact, nkv all
Pitulithie awards necessar'';' are. that
many cter "just as gooi ' pavements
were offered at from 50 to 10.) percent
less.
The people of Hillsboro very wisely
prefer "yet the other fe''ow ray for
the. i".) i rimenting."
Stories from
TWILIGHT
Mrs. Frank Black entertained a
number of friends at her home Sunday
evening at dinner. The occasion be
ing her husband's forty-ninth birthday
anniversary. Mrs. Black proved her
self to be a genial hostess. The friends
of- Mr. Black wish him many happy
birthdays.
Fred J. Meindl and family of Sell
wood and Mr. James Taylor, of Port
land were Sunday guests of Mr. and
Mrs. George Lazelle.
Mrs. Earl and children of Albany,
daughter of L. J. Hylton are here to
spend the summer.
George Lazelle has let the contract
for clearing five acres of land.
Miss McNaughton, of Seattle , is
making a week's visit with her friend,
Miss Marie Harvey.
Mr. Russel of California is. visiting
his daughter, Mrs. Olds.
Mr. and Mrs. William Estes went to
Kelso, Washington, Sunday to attend
the funeral of the son of John Estes
of that place.
Mr. Chandler has his new house
nearly ready for the shingles.
D. W. Gillett is building a fireplace
in Mr. Chandler's new house.
J. L. Mattocks is suffering from a
broken arm.
Mr. and Mrs. Ed Cleveland who are
journeying by auto from Bellingham,
Washington, to California, are camp
ing this week in Dix Bros.' grove.
Mrs. Fred Bullard stayed all night
in town with her sister, Grandma
Schuebel who is quite poorly of rheu
matism. Mrs. E. A. Seeley, of Meldrum, spent
Wednesday of this week visiting
friends in this vicinity.
Misses Hazel Francis and Emma
Vanhoy are camping at Seaside.
Mr. Garner of Eleventh and Taylor
street is building a new wood shed.
Mr. and Mrs. Willie Juinn of Cent
ral Point were visiting friends here
last week.
L. J. Francis of Tualatin was visit
ing relatives here last week and at
tended the Chautauqua at Gladstone.
Will May re-shingled his house on
Grant Street last week.
Mrs. S. L. Smith and children have
gone to Montaville to visit her moth
er,' Mrs. Noble, before going to Tilla
mook to join her husband.
Mr. and Mrs. Lewellen are at home
again after spending ten days at the
Chautauqua. Mr. Lewellen being the
gatekeeper.
J. B. Fairclough has gone to the
mines again for the summer.
Mr. and Mrs. R. M. C. Brown have
their new house finished and nearly
furnished ready for occupancy.
Mrs. Walter Simpson received word
this morning of the serious illness of
her father, Si Straight. ,-,
Grandma Grant is seriously ill of
paralysis at the home of her daughter
Mrs. v ill Clark on Duane Street
MOUNTAIN VIEW
We are having a shower again after
the hot weather of last week. The
thermometer regiseter 96 degrees.
Miss Lennie Ott is able to be up
again after her seise of pneumonia.
I W. T. Smith, our rural mail carrier
j is off on his vacation this week ,and
D. F. Adcock is carryings the mail in
his place.
' Mrs. J. Barto and relatives from the
East spent Saturday and Sunday at
Seaside.
Miss Emma Vanhoy of Goldendale
visited here with her parents last
week.
CANBY
Joseph Stefani and bride' returned
from Italy Monday night.
A. W. Butterfield has returned from
the Coast. He reports such cold wea
ther there that he was glad to get
back to Canby.
E. C. Echols, of the Canby Canal
Co., made a flying trip to Portland
i Monday on business.
M. J. Lee went to Portland Tues-
day on business.
! Dr. A. T. Murdy has just complet
ed a trip to Mount Hood with the Ma
zamas Club.
Loose Leaf
Systems and Devices for
every 'kind of business
and profession. A 'phone
call will bring us, or, bet
ter still, come in and
view our modern plant.
OREGON CITY ENTERPRISE
Out of Town
I
' " ................ 0
Mrs. M. T. Mack and Mrs. George
Ogle were visiting at the home of V.
L. Mack, of Aurora Saturday.
R. R. Bratton, of Portland, visited
H. A. Lee and also W. W. Jesse, of
Barlow.
Mr. and Mrs. Allen Adams, of Port
land, are spending a two weeks' vaca
tion with Mrs. Adams' parents, Mr.
and Mrs. C. Wang, of Canby.
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Clark, who have
been visiting Mr. Clark's father, D.
G. Clark, returned to their home in
Texas last week.
Mrs. Roy Knight visited relatives in
Canby for a few days this week.
Mrs. Robert Vorphal, who was tak
en suddenly sick by eating a dish of
ice cream, Monday, while she was ov
erheated, is recovering.
Mrs. George Ogle and Mrs. M. T.
Mack and little son, Keith, made a
trip to Wo'odburn Monday, the guests
of Mrs. Charles Moshberger.
Mr. and Mrs. Albert Lee left Sun
day for Augusta, Georgia, which place
will be their future home.
The German Verein picnic held at
Macksburg, July 21, was largely at
tended by people from all of the sur
rounding country, as well as from the
towns. A large crowd gathered in
the grounds and a jolly time was en
joyed by all.
White and Sheer ran autos to and
from Canby to the ground all day and
night. A dance was held in the even
ing. The Band Boys will give a dance at
the new Band Hall, Saturday, July 27.
Mr. and Mrs. S nan 1 dim? nf Vnrt
land, were visiting over Sunday at the
j. a. tsraaiora nome.
Mrs. L. T. Battan was shopping in
Portland and Oregon City Tuesday.
Mr. Wirfs and sons left Tuesday
morning with their hay baler. They
expect a very successful run this sea
son. .
Mrs. Roy Dunegon died at the home
of her parents, July 14, 1912. Blood
poisoning was the cause of her death.
Mrs. Donegan was the youngest daugh
ter rf Mr. and Mrs. John Zeek, Sr.
Mrs. Donegan is survived by the fol
lowing relatives: her husband, Roy
Donegan, an infant son, ten days old;
Mr. and Mrs. John Zeek, Sr.; three
sisters, Mrs. Laura Llewelyn, of Paul
ina, Oregon; Mrs. May Roberson, of
Portland; Mrs. Minnie Phelps, of Can
by; and five brothers, C. E. Zeek, of
OUTINGS
VIA
To The Beaches,
Springs and Mount-tains
I CO SUN S ET 9
I (OGOENttSHASTAl I
I I ROUTES I I
If you are looking for an Ideal place to spend a portion of the
summer, where you can find rest, health and recreation, the outing
resorts reached by the Southern Pacific are par excellence.
Newport Yaquina Bay, Tilla mook County Beaches, Crater Lake,
Colestin Springs, Shasta Springs, Cascadia, Breitenbush Hot Springs
and many other springs of more or less note.
Low Round Trip Tickets
With long limits on sale daily to the above resorts. Our booklet, "Vaca
tion Days in Oregon" describing these and other outing places can
be obtained from any Agent, who will cheerfully furnish information
as to fares .train service, etc., or a postal card to the undersigned will
receive prompt attention. "
JOHN M. SCOTT .
General Passenger Agent, Portland, Oregon.
Fort Ross, California; J. Zeek, Jr., of
Paulina, Oregon; George Zeek, of Hub
bard, Oregon; Elmer and Arthur
Zeek, of Canby. Interment took place
at the Zion Cemetery, July 15, and the
funeral sermon was conducted by Rev.
A. Scott Bledsoe, of Kansas City,
Missouri. - A large number of friends
from Canby attended the funeral and
the floral offerings were beautiful, the
grave being completely covered.
Mr. and Mrs. Yergen autoed to
Gladstone Saturday. -
Mr. and Mrs. Dick and Mr. Dick's
turning Monday.
Mr. Hewitt and family were New
port visitors over Sunday."
Work is progressing rapidly on the
new electric railway from Canby to
Liberal. - . .
LOGAN
Farmers think this is the limit in
the weather line, and if it does not
improve soon many will lose their hay
crop.
Gerber Brothers have started their
hay baler, had to go to Portland em
ployment office to get men to help do
the work.
We are puzzled to know where the
fire was at Clear Creek. Have been
informed the whole fire brigade with
forty-eight gallons of fire quencher,
were out last Friday, but all efforts
to locate the blaze are without avail.
At last the bridge piers are complet
ed and we hope the approaches and
floor will soon be ready for use. But
if it takes as long as the other work,
it will be quite a while yet
Sunday, the little daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Brehm, of Redland, was laid
to rest in the cemetery here, having
died of spinal meningitis.
Springwater defeated Logan 4 to 2
Sunday.
News is somewhat scarce as farm
ers are too busy now making hay or
trying to.
Clear Creek Creamery is looking for
a butter maker. Mr. Smith wants to
take a much needed vacation.
The Live Wires are to inspect the
bridge site, at Barton Thursday.
Quick Decision.
Farmer (to one of his laborers, who
bad come home after his first training
in the militiat Which would you rath
er be, a soldier or a farm hand, Paddy?
Pat A soldier, of course. Farruer
And why so. Paddy? Pat Well, you
see, you'd be a long time working for a
farmer before he'd tell you to stand at
ease. London Tit-Bits.
IN OREGON
THE
"Round Trip Fares
Excellent Train
Service and Low