Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1875-08-20
For the Free Press and Times.
A Monster.

l am not going to describe a three-headed
lamb, a sea serpent. mermaid, or any OF the
Z" freaks OF nature" | wish to call the at
tention Of the men and women of Vermont
to the monstrCus absurdity of the law re-
lating to the settlement of estates. | have
too much respect for the law to call II an
ass besides it would be a reflection upon
our lawyers, our judges, and our legisla-
tors. and | Fright as well call them all
asses, as call the law, which is their child.
an ass. 1t is to be presumed that the
- aforesaid would prefer to be called mon
sters.
There are two persons made one, by the
holy writes Of matrimOny. They have, by
close economy and patient industry, ac-
quired nine thousand dollars Their home
is pleasant one. and they were blessed
with children, who have grown up, and
gone away to build fortunes for themselves.
The parents are growing feeble, and less
capable of laboring for their own mainte-
nance The wife dies, ard the monster, law,
steps in and says to the husband, I'll take
these things into my hands. Bring for
ward your spoons. your crockery, your bed
ding. your notes, your " money on hand, -
your lavorite horse. il fact, everything but
your old dog. will put my estimate
upon their value, and / will give you,
after paying the Expenses Of your wl!e's
funeral, and the cost OF settling your estate,
one third of the personal property, which
you may spend, in getting another vile or
as you please. and the use Of one third OF
YOUR nice little farm. Two thirds | will
send to James, Robert and Emma. 1t i no
such thing? The law don't do that 1t
Just lets everything alone, IN siGia quo, and
allows the husband to pay the expenses Of
his wife's funeral or cheat the undertaken.
or do lust as he pleases, subject to the ordi-
nary laws OF debt and credit? |; makes no
appraisal. does not NEEDLE with the spoons,
and permits the husband 10 20 right along.
and control the property which his deceased
wife did the most 10 accumulate, Just as
he pleases l. It 50 Bless ne, what
mistake made Is not Z whoever a. eapa-
bic of taking care Of himself a. widow
Why, then would all have supposed TO be
done when - the wife dies. be done IN ease
the husband dies?' What sense or justice
in the laws stepping in 10 Interfere when L
man dies, and stripping the worn and desc
late wife of the means OF comfortable sup
port? Why cOnfne the woman, who IN
nine cases out of ten has labJred ticic. a
A. 20 Mh.r
thousand dollars, compelling her TO scrub
along in her declining years, with Infinite
economy and modification, and give the
sir thousand, to the children, or if there
are no children, TO some other relative? Ii
Is absolutely hOrrid. | have no patience
with the women, for submitting u such
devilish injustice. Why don't they rebel.
and hang every man who insists upon al
herring To the old monster? Let the hu>-
band and wife stand upon the same plat
form. II the estate must be settled, and
the vile robbed, when the husband dies, Lex
il be settled upon the same principle. npd
let the husband be robbed when the wife
dies Turn him out Of his POSSESSIONS. give
him hi f.lrd and tell him t. 60
to the. - as the law does TO the widow
Only think Of what happened the other
day. Nj and Mrs. Smith were living quite
comfortably. Their prudence and industry
had been blessed, and a. they passed into
their decline, they felt happy and grateful.
Their children were well started, and they
thought, how thankful We ought 70 be. that
We have enough to carry Us through our
life Journey. The income Of our littls pro
perry meets all our wants.
Mrs Smith died. and when She was fairly
unjer ground. 10 & iriH stalks upon the
scene With trembling hands, the mys;c-
rious and awful document j. read. Ii IS
al right? TIE darling old husband Is the
heir Of all she has LETT? No. sir not By
any means Smith was ambitious OF beng
enrolled among the benevolent women.
One third Of her estate she lei;
to her husband. who. with her help.
had accumulated 1t, and the rest she had
bequeathed to the 4 l.. c. T. NJ. Non
sense She could DO no such thing II
she had property in her own right, separa-
ted entirely from his, she might make some
disposition Of il; bGI not having any OF that
sort. her vii l. only % much waste paper
| o. q. W, you don't know anything about
law Nv stars how could ! make such &
blunder Thank you for setting me right.
| guess. come to think of It. 90 the boot raS
on the other leg Mr. Smith was the for
tunate individual who - shuiiied of his
mortal coil. in other words. died and It
was Ms Smith no found herself plunier
ed, and left Laundering in helpless depend
ence Oh. an that may be 50. Why
should it be - . Please tell me why the IN
fernal law makes such difference between
nan and woman-between husbands and
wives? How long would man endure such
a law?
Women.-please do-if you have any
sense. any seli-respect. raise breeze before
the election Of 1876, and have this horrid
injustice done away o. C. ".
TnE FLAG N WHICH ANDREW JOHNSON
WAS BrElrp.-The Knoxville Prres and
Herald gives the following account Of the
flag in which the late Andrew johnson was
buried
Major Sterl Hambright. though. opposed
in political sentiment TO Mr. johnson. re
cocnizei in him warm, personal friend and
feeling 4 regard and high appreciation for
the oft-expressed sentiment Of the dead
statesman, 10 be buried in the flag OF hi>
country" on learning Of his death, teie-
craphed to the bereaved family that ne had
a flag 60x,0 feet. which the family could
have to bury the ex-President in. If accept
able. This was the finest fag in East Ten
nessee. and was the individual property Of
Major Hambright, and the offer speaks well
for the esteem in which Mir. johnson was
held 10y his political opponents. The lag
was captured from Gen. Rosecranz by zen.
Bragg. at Chickamauga, and taken to Rich
mond Subsequently it was retaken in the
battle before salisbury, \. C.. by General
Stoneman's command. with which MAJOR
Hambright was connected a. Provost Mar
shall, and fell to the possession Of Major
Hambright 1t had been since used on pub
lie occasions at Knoxville, such as Dec0ra-
ton Days, etc. Major Hambright received
a telegram from the family OF Mr.. John
son accepting the kind offer. and the
Aac was was forwarded, with the request
from Major Hambright that if was too large
to answer the purpose. to present it to Mrs.
Slower, the daughter of the ex-Presiient.
Carruth, the Vineland o. j. editor,
who WAS Shot few weeks ago, doesn't die,
but he Is practically worthless for work as
long as he lives lie does not suffer much
pain from the ball which is still in his head,
but from certain feeling near his right eye.
he thinks that the ball Is lodged very near
it, and may be got out sometime Dy the re-
moval of that eye. His eyesight i 50 I'M
paired that he reads nothing. and he walks
out Of doors only by being supported by some
one Meanwhile. lands. his assailant, Is
ont If urisnn on SjO too hail 10 aprear in