The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-10-20
"Of what 7" said I.

four times his next was six-re.
peater in Maryland his next was a
thirteen-repeater in Maine; his next
was a nineteen-repeater in Kansas ;
his next was a twelve-repeater in
Tennessee, which he got cheap, so to
speak, because it was out of repair, a
portion of the crag which reflected it
having tumbled down. He believed
he could repair it at a cost of few
thousand dollars, and, by increasing
the elevation with masonry, treble
the repeating capacity but the archi-
tect who undertook the job had never
built an echo before, and so he utterly
spoiled this one. Before he meddled
with it it used to talk back like a
mother-in-l law, but now 1t was only
fit for the deaf and dumb asylum.
Well, next he bought lot of cheap
little doubIe-barreled echoes, scattered
around over various states and terri
tories; he got them at twenty per
cent. off by taking the lot. Next he
bought perfect Gatling gun of an
echo in Oregon, and it cost fortune,
/ can tell you. You may know, sir,
that in the echo market the scale of
prices is cumulative like the carat
scale in diamonds; in fact, the same
phraseology is used. A single-carat
echo is worth but ten dollars over and
above the value of the land it is on /;
two-carat or double-barreled echo
is worth thirty dollars; fve-carat is
worth nine hundred and fifty; ten
carat Is worth thirteen thousand. My
uncle's Oregon echo, was twenty
two carat gem, and cost two hundred
and sixteen thousand dollars-they
threw the land in, for it was four
hundred miles from a settlement.
"Well, in the meantime my path
was path of roses. I was the ac-
cepted suitor of the only and lovely
daughter of an English earl, and was
beloved to distraction. In that dear
presence swan in seas of bliss. The
family were content, for it was known
that was sole heir to an uncle held
to be worth FIVE millions Of dollars.
However, none of us knew that my
uncle had become a collector, at least
in anything more than a small way,
for aesthetic amusement.
"Now gathered the clouds above
my unconscious head. That divine
echo, since known throughout the
world as the Great Koh-i-noor, Or
Mountain of Repetitions, was discov-
cred. It was sixty-fve carat gem.
You could utter word ana it would
talk back at you for fifteen minutes,
when the day was otherwise quiet.
But behold, another discovery was
made at the same time another echo
collector was in the field. The two
rushed to make the purchase. The
property consisted of a couple of
small hills with a shallow swale be-
tween, out yonder among the back
settlements of New York State. Both
men arrived on the ground at the
same time and neither knew the other
was there. The echo was not all
owned by one man; person by the
name of William Bolivar Jarvis owned
the east hill. and a person by the
name of HARRISON ]. Bledso owned
the west hill the swale between was
the dividing line. So while my uncle
was buying Jarvis hill for three mil
lion two hundred and eighty-fve
thousand dollars, the other party was
buying Bledso's hill for shade over
three million.
''Now, do you perceive the natural
result? Why, the noblest collection
of echoes on earth was forever and
ever incomplete, since it possessed
but the one-half of the king echo of
the universe. Neither man was con-
tent with his divided ownership, yet
neither would sell to the other. There
were jawings, chickering's, heartburn
ings. And at last, that other collec-
tor, with malignity which only
collector can ever feel toward man
and brother, proceeded to cut down
his hill 4!
'tYou see, as long as he could not
hear the echo he was resolved that
nobody should have it. He would
remove his hill, and then there would
be nothing to reflect my uncle's echo.
My uncle demonstrated with him, but
the man said: I own one end of this
echo I choose to kill my end /; you
must take care of your own end your
SELF
"Well, my uncle got an injunction
put on him. The other man appeal
ed and fought it in higher court.
They carried it on up clear to the ST.
preme Court of the United States. It
made no end of trouble there. Two
of the judges believed that an echo
was personal property, because it was
impalpable to sight and touch, and
yet was purchasable, salable, and con-
sequently taxable; two others be-
lieved that an echo was real estate,
because it was manifestly attached to
the land, and was not removable from
place to place other Of the judges
contended that an echo was not prop
erty at all.
''It was finally decided that the
echo was property; that the hills
were property; that the two men
were separate and independent own
ers of the two hills, but tenants in
common in the echo therefore de-
fendant was at full liberty to cut
down his hill, since it belonged sole
ly to him, but must give bonds in
three million dollars as indemnity for
damages which might result to my
uncle's half of the echo. This deci-
sion also debarred my uncle from
using defendants hill to reflect his
part of the echo without defendant S
consent ; he must use only his own
hill; if his part of the echo would not
go, under these circumstances, it was
sad, of course, but the court could
find no remedy. The court also de-
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