The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-12-19

Surface Oh the edrCn, OF III tAc SCos a.
SO lar as concerns every one but the
owner, the property of the one who
finds them. Ii they are afterward
taken from him by another, the finder
can reclaim them as if he were the
owner.
A chimney-sweepers boy. living in
England more than one hundred years
ago. had the fortune to find jewel OF
unusual value. He took 1t to q gold
smith. who. after looking at and weigh
ing it. tried to buy it from the boy for
a trihing sum. The lad refusing the
offer, the goldsmith returned to him
the setting, but would not give back
the gem.
Upon the trial of an action brought
by the boy against the goldsmith, the
value of the jewel was concealed by the
goldsmith, and he was directed by the
court to pay the boy the price OF the
finest jewel which could be fitted to the
setting. This incident resulted IN set
thing forever the right OF finder to
the possession of his findings
In order to give the finder such a
CACilil. hcNCNCI- Tic al tAOAO 49,
been truly lost If it has been simply
mislaid, or put in a particular place by
the owner and afterward left there
through his carelessness, ii is not legal
~ lost.
A lady who leaves her purse on the
counter of shop where she has been
trading cannot be said to have lost 1t;
and if the purse is afterward picked up
by another, the proprietor of the shop
is said to have better right to hold 1t
than the one who found it.
But if the purse had been accidental
~ dropped on the floor of the premises.
and afterward found there by Gus
toner, that would have been real
case of losing. and the customer-if the
owner cannot be found-would have as
much right to keep the purse as ii he
had found it in the street.
In order to be a finder one must be
aware that he has the thing in his pos
session, and he must show an intention
of keeping it.
The purchaser of an old secretary or
bureau sometimes finds put away in a
secret drawer money or jewels long
forgotten. To whom do they belong?
The seller did not know that they We're
there, and showed no intention of
claiming them when the furniture was
in his possession. They cannot, there
fore, belong to him, but are rightly
claimed by the person who first discov-
ers them, whether he be the purchaser,
a servant. or any one else who is not
tres passer.
To keep what one has found is not an
absolute but special right, which the
true owner may dispute by demanding
his property and proving his claim to
it, to the reasonable satisfaction of the
person who holds it.
When the owner has offered def
mite reward, the finder may keep the
lost article until the reward is paid to
him. But he cannot demand reward
where none is offered, nor can he hold
the lost property as security for any
expense incurred in keeping it, though
he would be entitled to be paid by the
owner for such outlay.
One who is so fortunate as to find
what belongs to another must always
act honestly and with what the law
calls good faith toward the owner.
If, at the time of the finding, he knows.
or hhs the means of knowing, or be-
lieves he can find out, who the owner
is, and makes no effort to discover him,
but intentionally keeps or disposes of
the lost property, the law regards him
as no better than thief.
On the other hand, if the owner does
not appear, the finder acquires, at COM
mon law, an absolute title to the thing
found, though by statute some of the
states have in various ways limited
and regulated the gaining of such q
title