Rocky Ford enterprise., 1906-11-02
In A LEGAL SENSE.
SQUIRE RENDERS AN OPINION
At LENGTH.
Hypothetical Question Looked at from
Many Points Of View and Finally
Made Clear to the Mind.

MAOo SI0aT TO tHe UtUos
Squire Aspinwail. who had been a
Justice Of the peace 10 long that the
Oldest inhabitant could not remember
the date OF his appointment, was
man who always deliberated well be-
fore answering n question. He be-
lieved In weighing his words and look.
ing ut the matter from every stand
point before expressing positive
opinion for or against. II once took
him. 20 minutes to answer a man who
had asked him how far II was from
Pumpkin Center to New Brussels. The
suideboards gave the distance as four
miles. but the squire was not willing
TO ray onhand that they were right.
although he admitted that four miles
might be said to be approximately
correct. One day somebody put this
question to the squire:
IF you owned an apple tree which
stood so near the line between your
lot and your neIshbor's that some OF
the limbs hung over the fence. would
your neighbor have the right to pick
the fruit which grew on the limbs that
projected above his property"
WELL" replied the squire. that's
question that has to be considered In.
. good many ways. not sayin' that the
legal standin' OF the tree ain't clearly
fxed by statoot made and provided.
but as fer right and wrong there's
some things to be said for and some
against. Supposin' II wasn't the apple
tree, but horse belongin' To mo that
walked UP to the line fence and stuck
his head over. Would my ncishbor
hev q right to claim the horses head
belonged to him? II 50. an he got
tired fecdin' the head for nothiu' he
might put poison or somcthin' In the
grass and by KILN the head Kill my
part OF the horse. too. whereas
couldn't do nothin' TO him because he
could claim that ffc only wanted to
kill his part OF the horse and didn't
have nothin' ngIn my end. therefore.
there would nntchcliy be some doubts
In the mind OF the jury. or. To wit. II
your hen comes over into my barn and
lays her cSEs. do the cggs Aforesaid
belong to me or have you the right
hcrcInbcforc mentioned to come into
my barn aforesaid and gather the said
eggs to have and TO hold for your
heirs md assigns forcvcr7 Or We
might put II stiii another way. viz.. II
you owned COW and she broke into
my meadow and her calf was born
there In the meadow aforesaid. would
the calf belong to me or to you? and.
furthermore. II the law decided that
tho calf belonged TO me and You came
and drove your COW home. lct'ir' my
calf starvc. could sue you for dam
agcsy Which brings us back 10 the
fruit tree. S'posin' the law said the
fruit CROWN on the limbs that hung
over the fence into your yard be-
iongcd to you. and ! done something
to the tree that would kill II. or
sawed OF the limbs that reached
across the fence. could you get dam.
agcs from me for dcstroyin' your
proputty?
Or we might even put &, another
way yit. the same bcin' that you plant
cd n watermelon seed In your garden
and the vino Erowcd through the fence
into my yard and melon growcd on
that end OF 1t. and you secn that II
was goin' to be mine when II got ripe
| and refused to hoe around the roots.
| and the vino therefore commenced 10
! die. could git out mandamus to make
4 you keep .hc weeds pulled and hoe
around the vine so my melon would
have the nourishment II needed To
grow big and git ripc7 Or We might
20 even further and say that l owned
n sheep and that my sheep aforesaid
tried to break into your field and got
stuck half way through the fence.
Would you have the right TO clip that
part of the sheep aforesaid and sell
the wool for your own profit? There
fore. we can only say that there are
circumstances which being unforeseen
leads to hypothecations that amt
strictly in accordance with the jnris'
prudence laid down for the cases that
might. as 1t were. be held In abey-
ance."