The St. Johns herald., 1902-02-15
A coRese OWNS f1selE
Repcse of the Dead Is Guaranteed hy
 Common Law.

Even when a man is dead the law pur
 sues him. While his heirs are trying tC
 break his will in one court his body may
 be the subject of litigation in another
 Death sewers a man from all his earthly possessions except his body-that still be
 longs to him and to no one else. It is (
 maxim of the common law that there can
 be no property in a corpse-that is. that
 no one living can own it; the corpse owns
 Itself Unfortunately, there are obstacles to a corpse arguing its own case, so the law does it for the body of the dead per
 son. The law takes no cognizance of ghosts, materialized spirits, etc. When a man is dead, the law says that he shall stay dead. His apparition has no stand ing in court, though his body has.
 One of the duties of the common law is to protect ''the repose of the dead" It is held by the law that the corpse, being the owner of itself before it becomes dead, possesses certain rights over the re- mains when it becomes a corpse. 4 per son has the right orally or by will to di- rect what shall be done with his body after death. If these wishes are complied with, no ''next of kin can interfere and claim the body. The only difficulty is that if a person is eccentric his heirs or friends may not follow out his wishes, and then there does not seem to be any remedy. The corpse can't kick, and mo- body else seems to have a right to.
 One inalienable right belongs to the corpse, and the law will enforce that right. It is the right to six feet of ground to be buried in and the right of being buried. The common law, under certain conditions, places the duty of burying a corpse upon the person under whose roof the death took place. Such person not only must provide the grave, but must carry the body to it " 'decently covered" If there is a will or property, however, the law first places the duty of burying the body upon the executor or admins trator, and in the absence of a will upon the next of kin. But if no next of kin or no administrator or executor is at hand the owner of the house in which the per son dies is charged with the duty.
 Tho law gives no civil remedy for the stealing of a body. for there is no proper ty right i'll a corpse to give any one a right to recover in a court for violation of sepulture. The only party to such a suit would be the corpse itself, which is usual ly not litigiously inclined. Stealing a dead body. therefore, has always been in- dictable as a statutory misdemeanor and rot violation of property. But a civil action may be brought for breaking and the place where the body is buried, the same constituting a trespass, For which damages can be recovered. So also an action may be brought to recover the shroud and coffin, but not the corpse.
 In cases regarding the removal of a body the law often has to interfere to protect the rights of the corpse. Such cases are decided by courts of equity. As no one can own any body except his own, so no one has right to move a body from one grave to another unless the court grants permission, which is granted, when it is granted. presumably in behalf of the body itself.-New York Press.
 So They Do, Some Of Them.
 The teacher bad been giving a class 'f youngsters some ideas of adages and now to make them, and to test her raining she put a few questions:
 Birds of feather do what?
 Lay eggs" piped a small boy before anybody else Lad chance to speak.