The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1874-07-16
THE BOARD FENCE.

"Shoo, shoe, get home, you plaguy
critters p' cried Mr.. Babcock, waving
his arms as he chased dozen sheep
and lambs through a gap in the fence.
1t was wooden fence, and when be
had succeeded in driving the animals
the other side of il, he lifted it from it's
reclining position, and propped it up
with stakes This was an operation he
had found himself obliged to repeat
many times in the course of the season,
and not only of that season, but of sew
eral previous seasons.
Yet Mr.. Babcock was neither slack
nor thriftless ; in fact, he rather prided
himself on the orderly appearance of
his farm, and not without reason. How
then shall we account for his negli-
gence in this particular instance?
The truth was that this fence formed
the boundary line between his estate
! and that of Mr.. Small and three gen.
Rrations of men who owned these es-
taNss had been unable to decide to
whom it belonged to rebuild and keep
it in repair. If the owners had CHANGED
to be 19en of peaceable dispositions,
they had compromised the matter and
avoided Quarrel; but if, on the con-
.trary, theya belonged to that much
larger class who would sooner sacrifice
their own comfort and convenience
than their so-called rights, this fence
had been a source Of unending bicker-
ings and strife.
And of this class were the present
owners. Again and again they had
consulted their respective lawyers on
the subject, and dragged from their
hiding places musty old deeds and re-
cords, but always with the same result.
81 say it belongs to you to keep it in
repair that's as plain as pike staff, 1"
Mr.. Babcock would say.
And | say it belongs to you,-any
fool might see thai" Mr.. Small would
reply, and then high words would fol-
. low, and they would part in anger,
more determined and obstinate than
before. The lawyers fees and the loss
by damages from each others cattle
had already amounted to sum sufli-
cient to have built fence round their
entire estates, but what was that COM
pared to the satisfaction of having their
own way?
There was not wanting in the neigh
@borhood peacemakers who would gladly
have settled the affair by arbitration !;
but to this neither of the belligerents
would listen for moment.
At last, one day, Miss Letitia Gill, a
woman much respected in the village,
and of some weight as landowner and
taxpayer, sent for Mr.. Babcock to come
and see her on business summons
which he made haste to obey, as how
could Re do otherwise where lady
was concerned.
Miss Letitia sat at her window sew
ing up seam, but she dropped her
work and took off her speotacles when
Mr.. Babcock made his appearance.
$50 you got my message thank You
for coming, I'm sure. Sit down, do. 1
suppose my man Isaac told you 1
wanted to consult you on a matter of
business matter of equity, L may
say. 1t can't be expected that we
women folks should be the best judges
about such things, you know there s
Isaac, to be sure, but then he lives on
the place, and maybe he wouldn't be
exactly impartial in his Judgment about
our affairs" s
"Jes' So" said Mr.. Babcock.
"Well, the state of the case is this
When Isaac came up from the long
meadow to dinner, they're moving the
meadow to-day, and an uncommonly
good weld there is,-when he came up
to dinner, he found that certain stray
cows had broken into the vegetable
garden" -,
"You San fancy the riot they made.