The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1880-06-03

July paid. On each subsequent morn
ing, for thirty consecutive days-Sun-
days-excepted- the same proceed
lngs were had. On the thirty
hrst day, however, Mr.. Finch
maze formal complaint that
MISS Waters was not fulfilling her con.
tract, inasmuch as she insisted upon
permitting him to kiss her cheek only.
he maintained that this did not consti-
tute legal kiss, and he demanded that
he should be allowed to put his arm
around Miss Waters waist and kiss her
IN the highest style of the art. To this
request firm refusal was returned.
Inc lady expressed her willingness to
carry out her agreement, 50 far as her
cheek was concerned, and even offered
to give Mr.. Finch his choice of cheeks.
but she insisted that the contract would
not bear the construction put upon it
by MIR. Finch, and that she would never
submit to such construction. There
upon Mr.: Finch, in great indignation,
left the house, and brought an action
for breach of contract against the Ia
dy.
This action raises several new and in.
terestlng questions, among the most
important of which is, what constitutes.
in the eye of the law, kiss? The testi.
mony of several experts is to be intro
duced by the plaintiff; but, although
these experts will probably start ont
with the assertion that a kiss il that
which is impressed by one pair of lips
upon another pair, they will subse-
quently be compelled to admit, on
cross-examination, that one pair Of lips
alone may imprint kiss upon any &C.
cessibie object. This seems, at first
sight, fatal to the plaintiffs claim that
the defendant did not furnish him with
lawful current kisses, but it must be no.
tlced that he sets up the further plea
that tn ere is difference between active
and passive kisses; that Miss Waters
promised to give him certain quanti-
ty of kisses-not to permit him to take
them-and that giving kisses is an act
which requires the use of the lips. This
IS certainly strong point, and though
the court may decide that there is no
one variety of kiss which can be held
to be the only kiss known to the
common law, it may give an authori-
tatlve definition of an active kiss which
will be Of immense service to man.
kind.
That kiss is something which can
be given willingly or taken by force,
and that it is commonly reputed to
possess more or less intrinsic value, are
points which the plaintiffs counsel will
eloquently maintain. Hence it seems
that kiss may be valuable and suffi-
cient consideration upon..which to base q
contract. On the other hand, it is as
serted that courts have never recog-
nized kiss as property capable of be-
ing stolen, and that when kiss has
been seized by violence the only rem
edy Of the injured person is an action
for assault. 1t is evident that we have
here a question which admits of vast
amount of argument, and that it's iud.
icial decision will mark an era in our
common law jurisprudence.
There is still another defense upon
which the defendants counsel is under
stood to place great reliance. It is
claimed that even if there was valid
contract between the parties, and if the
defendent did break it, the plaintiffs
proper remedy is not an action for
breach of contract, but bill of equity
for specific performance. Probably the
plaintiff would have been wise had he
resorted to the latter course. In case
of his success, he would then have re-
ceived specified quantities of definite
kisses of one kind or another, and
would thus have gained substantial
victory. AS it is, his triumph in his &C
ton for breach of contract would doubt
lesss bring him only a nominal sum by
way of damages, and would render It
necessary for him to institute fresh pro-
ceedings in order to gain possession of
the jewelry. Still, it by no means fol-
lows that because he may have q REM
edy in equity he has no remedy at law,
and is is reasonably certain that if there
was 4 contract between himself and the
defendent an action for breach of it will
lie.
There are many ignorant persons
who fancy that the law is dry, prosaic
business. This action, however, proves
the contrary. The questions at issue in
Finch against Waters come home to
every mouth in the country. There is
at present most lam entable vagueness
of belief as to what constitutes a kiss,
and as to its precise legal status. We
shall DOW have these questions decided,
and the social interests of the commun-
ity cannot fail to be vastly benefited
thereby.
ectr0.Magnetism and Sea.Sickness.
A peculiar kind of electromagnetic
belt has been frequently referred to OF
late by the London journals as cure
for sea-sickness. The belt ia made of a
silken tissue stitched and disposed so as
to form parallel ribs, and these latter
are filled with ''Titanic iron POWDER"
which ia naturally magnetic. The belt