The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1905-11-02
Many Popular Errors About
Laws
Ignorance Of the Legal Phase. Of Every
Day Occurrence In Life

Day Occurrence In Life
1t is an American pea5Rcton ~ be-
lleye the oufre aud ffeakish stories that
are based solely On he4esay testimony
aud TO reject ufteu the commoIplace
matters Of fact Lat Of the cheerful
lies that are commonly believed would
I'll volume. Only few Of them are
gwen below.
How often have you been Inflicted
with the story OF the mau who war over
paid when caahing check at the bank,
and the Cashier telling I'm nat 40 mts-
takes would be corrected al er the Gus
toner left the Window According 10
( the story the cashier laid down the man
date before he knew the mistake was 10
/ his favor Il makes an excellent yarn,
/ but dlllgent search dsci0sts that il
never had any foundation in fact. Banks
have no such rule II customer is IN
derpaid or oVerpAid the mistake will APP
/ pear when the balance is struck at the
end Of the days business, and the error
will be cheeIfuiy rectified But the
majority of the public believes the hcu-
tiOus story of "ho" the fellow got the
best of the bank, simply because il is
good story and they ike 10 believe it.
Probably the most common error on
the part Of the public il the belief that
When dead body Is found no one has d
right to touch or move the remains "un
til the coroner comes There never
was any such law, is not now and prob
6bly never will be The citizen who 10
of an iuquiring turn Of mind has a per
feet right to examine dead bodies be
runs across in the course of his travels.
to move the remains and even search the
pockets of the deceased, provided. If
course, that his motives are honest
That is all that is necessary.
There is also prevalent belief that a
note signed or contract entered into on
Sunday is void and that either party can
plead the fact of the sacred day 10 get
out of bad bargain. This is not true
If a man enters into a contract or signs
t. note on sunday, he is legally bound
and can have no defences that be would
not have If the transaction had occurred
in the middle of the week.
II had my back against my own house
when | struck this man. says the de
PENDANT IN police court. He believes
that his proximity to his castle gives
him more rights than he would have If
he were in the street. Tbs belief has
been the cause of much cantankerous
litigation, and it has ever resulted in the
ruling that man has a right 10 defend
himself in a reasonable manner if he is
attacked, whatever may be his geographic
cal position, and the incidental couugu-
ity of his home "euts no ice in the case
Doctors agree that the public is wrong
in the popular conception that burglars
sometimes chloroform the iun ates of
house before committing a robbery.
Tho Il ~ - = "a Iaf 10
was squirted into the sleeping room
through keyholes A Kansas City sur
geon who has occasion TO administer
chloroform or either 500 times says that
chloroform administered in this manner
would put quietus on the burglar as
well as The inmates of a home Physi-
clans have tred many times TO admins
, ter chloroform to sleeping persons, and
have met with very poor results The
first effect of an anaesthetc is not Ia
lull 10 insensibiity but 10 arouse al the
mental and physical Ylgor of the pers
to whom it is given
The public has great confidence in the
magic No ;, and without any reasonable
basis for the belief. Il is commonly be
lieved that if a drowning person sinks
for the third time he ia gone for good
and all The facts eontTa6lct this
Many persons die on the first sinking,
and if one has any strength aud the vi
tally to rise to the surface of the water
twice it furnishes an excellent presump-
ton that he will be able 10 do SO again.
In an eddy or rapidly moving waters
people have sunk from sight a half dcz
EN- times and lived to tell the experience
to their grandchildren
Then there is the third congestive
chill, commonly believed to be fatal
Most people who die from this cause
succumb to the first or second attack
J If man succeeds in weathering two of
: them the odds are in favor of his coming
!, out victor in the third. Almost every
community possesses a citizen who
boasts the fact that he has a silver plate
; in his skull. Surgeons say that very
! few attempts were ever made at such an
, operation and all of them were failures.
There does not exist man who has a
: silver plate in his skull, although many
, men honestly believe that they are carry
ing this species of parapherna ia in their
} craniums. The bone of the skull cannot
live ana be healthy in the presence of a
foreign body II is said by surgeons to
be a physical impossibllity, but this
} serves in no way to overcome the com
mon and erroneous belief.
The medical fraternity has another
false belief to combat in cases of
shingles - This disease consists Of a
skin eruption always following affected
nerves, and commonly appearing on the
body. 1t is a very common belief that If
the shingles completely surround the
body and struck a meeting point the
patient will die instantly. The belief is
untrue Kansas its Journal