The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1876-11-30

WHICH He cdIitu tle bIedG IllU EcnO
was twenty-five carat gem, and cos
two hundred and sixteen th0usant
dollars-they threw the land in, for i
was four hundred miles from Il settle
ment
"Well, in the meantime my patti
was path of roses. | was the accept
ed SuitOr of the only and lovely daugh
ter of an English Earl, and was beloved
to distraction. In that dear presence
l swan in seas of bliss. The family
were content, for it was known that |
was sole heir to an uncle held to be
worth five millions of dollars. How
ever, none of us knew that my uncle
had become a collector at least in any
thing more than small way, for 2s-
thetic amusement.
"NOw gathered the clouds above
my unconscious head. That divine
echo, since known throughout the
world as the Great kOh-i-noor, or
| Mountain of RePetitions, was discoy-
cred. 1t was Il siXty-five-carat gem.
! You could utter word and it would
| talk back at You for fifteen minutes,
when the day was otherwise quiet
But behold, another discovery was
made at the same time: another echo
/ collector was in the field. The two
rushed to make the purchase. The
| property consisted of couple of small
| hills with a swallow SWale between,
| out yonder among the back settlements
of New York State. Both men arrived
on the ground at the same time, and
neither knew the other was there. The
| echo was not all owned by one man; Il
! person by the name Of Williamson Boil
/ iyar Jarvis owned the east hill, and a
! person by the name Of HARRISON J.
| BledSo owned the west hill; the swale
| between was the dividing line. SO
while my uncle was buying Jarvis
| hill for 81. .2S5, 900, the other party was
/ buying Bledso's hill for a shade over
! 50, 900, 900.
"Now, do you perceive the natural
result? Why, the noblcSt collection
| of echoes on earth was forever and
t4G one onehalt Of the kin 6inc SchQ Of the
with this divided ownership, yet
neither would sell to the other. There
were jawings. chickering's, heart-burn-
! ings. And at last, that other cOllec-
tor, with Il malignity which only a
| collector can ever feel toward man
and brother, proceeded to cut down
his hill.
." You see, as long as he could not
have the echo, he was resolved that
nobody should have il. He would re-
move his hill, and then there would he
nothing to reflect my uncle's echo. My
uncle demonstrated with him, but the
man said, i own one end of this echo
| choose to kill my end; YOU must take
care of your own end YOURSELF
"Well, my uncle got an injunction
put on him. The other man appealed
and fought it in higher court. They
carried it on up, clear to the supreme
Court of the United States. 1t made
no end of trouble there. Two of the
Judges believed that an echo was per
sonal property, because it was impal'
pable to sight and touch. and yet was
purchaSable salable and consequently
taxable: two others believed that an
echo was real estate. because it was
manifestly attached to the land, and
was not removable from place to place
other of the Judges cOntended that al
echo was not property at all.
"It was finally decided thai
the echo was property; thai
the hills were property; that
. the two men were separate ant
t independent owners of the tw>
) hills, but tenants in common in th'
echo; therefore defendant was at fui
: liberty to cut down his hill, since /
: belonged solely to him, but must Civ
| bonds IN three million dollars as in
2 demnity for damages which might re
r suit to my uncle's half of the echo
| This decision also debarred my uncl
5 from using defendants hill to retlec
e his part of the echo without defend
= ants consent; he must use only HI
l own hill; if his part of the echo woul
4 not 90, under these circumstances,
0 was sad, of course, but the court coul
e find no remedy. The court also dc
y barred defendant from using my III
e cle's hill to reflect his end of the echt
( without consent. You see the gran
|. result! Neither man would give cor
u sent, and so that astonishing and mos
e noble echo had to cease from its greS
S powers; and since that day that mas
y nificent property Is tied up and unsa
+, able.
r. "a week before my wedding da.
If while 1 was still swimming in bll'
t.. and the nobility were gathe
e ING from far and near to hone
1t our espousals, came news OF n
le uncle's death, and also a copy OF h
10 will, making me his sole heir. He W;
e. gone; alas, my dear benefactor was l
re more. The thought surcharges II
a heart even at this remote day.
handed the will to the Earl; cou
not read it for the binding tears. III
Sc Earl read it; then he sternly sal
I'd Sir, do you call this wealth ?-b
er doubtless you do in your lnfat
n country. Sir, you are left sole heir
a vast collection of echoes-if thu
as can be called a collection that is SCI
ch tered far and wide over the hu
it length and breadth of the Amerlc
he continent; sir, this is not all; you a
ed head and ears in debt; there is not
,ir echo in the lot but has mortgage
rs. it; sir, / am not a hard man, but
tn must look to my child's interest; :;
,c- YOU had but one echo which you col
ar bonest1y call your own, il you had I