Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-21

are many cases where they were repri-
manded for doing So They inquired,
furthermore, into cases OF treasure troVe
and wreck, concerning which II anybody
laid hands on it he was to be attached.
and the wreck valued and the price ue-
liVered to the crown.
Their duties in holding inquests over
dead bodies also were more comprehen-
sive than now, because they had to value
the goods of the person accused of caus-
ing the death-that is to say, IL jury
found that there was murder, manslaugh-
ter or suicide it had under the direction
of the coroner to value the chattelS of
the person accused, and they were hand
ed over to the town in which the dead
body lay. When the accused was con-
victed the goods were forfeited to the
crown. That forfeiture of the felon's
chattels was abolished later. and this
function of the coroner ceased to be oper-
alive
The coroners also valued the deodand
up to the abolition of deodands. Under
this law when any person was killed the
object by which he was killed had to be
valued, and the value of the deodand
was forfeited to the crown. II he was
killed by bull the bull was valued and
the price of the bull was forfeited. The
bull itself was killed. 1t was d serious
matter when it came to a question of
the running down of a man by snip
and of conf1scating the ship. Deodands
were abolished in 1I46. Up to that time
the coroner's jury had to value them.
Recently there has been some talk OF
reviving the law of deOdand with refer
ence to motor cars.
Treasure trOve covers instances where
any gold or silver in coin, plate or bull
lion is found concealed in any house or
in the earth, the owner thereof being
unknown, in which case the treasure be-
longs to the king or his grantee. If the
treasure was not concealed by the owner
but merely abandoned or lost. it is not
treasure trove and belongs to the first
finder as against any one but the owner
The duty of the coroner with regard to
treasure trOve is to go where the treasure
is said to be found and to inquire who
We're the finders or who is suspected OF
having found it. That provision is lit
tie Anticipated now, but there were severe
penalties In olden times against persons
who concealed treasure that belonged tC
the crown. Concealment of treasure trove
is still a misdemeanor and man may
be indicted for it. The person who finds
it is much in the position of anybody
else who is in the possession of property
that does not belong to him.
Nowadays the king personally does not
benefit from the cash value of what the
crown RECEIVERS. The honest finder is the
person who benefits for since 1886 he
usually gets 80 per cent of the antigua
ran value. which is quite distinct from
the bullion value The rewards to the
finders and the disposal of the "trove
aic matters entlrely IN tlie ulscretloH VI
the lords of the treasury. The trove is
valued by the British Museum, which
has a fund for the purchase of these
things. The treasury does not give them
to the British Museum. but makes the
museum pay for them: and having re-
ceived from the museum the antiquarian
value Ii pays 80 per cent to the finder
and keeps 20 per cent to pay expenses
The advantage is that the British Mu-
scum gets the refusal and gives its own
price.