The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-02-21

I6E AG11=1 as he might have sustained by reason ot the failure Of the railroad company 10 fur nish the cars called for.
 l In other words. the actual damage tC l the shipper may far exceed the amount 1 of penalty provided for under the rule He is not required to accept the amount of the penalty. under this decision, but may sue for an amount to cover his actua loss.
 Chief Justice Fish concurs in the judg- ment. but holds as he has held before that the railroad commission has no authority to make such a rule. He considers the shippers remedy for damage for failure tc furnish cars is common law action for damages to the extent to which they were sustained by the shipper.
 How 10 Avert Pellagra
 To avert pellagra in the cases of cattle and live stock appears to be the subject of a circular order just issued by the state department of agriculture.
 Commissioner T. G. Hudson Is sending out notice to merchants and dealers over the state calling their attention to the necessity of carefully inspecting the con- dition of all corn shipped to them during the next few months.
 About this time of the year there is a great deal of complaint with regard to damaged corn, which is due chiefly to improper curing. Corn not subjected to proper storage conditions when gathered will become heated, and in the sweating process which follows the grain is likely to be damaged, rendering it dangerous when fed to stock The pure food law prohibits the sale of corn in this eondi- tion, except when full notice is given the purchaser in writing Of the nature and extent of the damage.
 The department has issued a bulletin. No. AS, giving the grades of corn adopted in Georgia, which will be of great assist ance to the buyer Commissioner Hudson says that grade No. corn is allowed a maximum of IS per cent moisture and No. 3 as much as 19 per cent, and this will not become heated in Georgia climate under ordinary conditions of care. He advises Georgia merchants to insist that corn shipped to them shall come within these requirements, as they will thereby avoid annoyance and trouble which is sure to come to them if the state inspector finds they are offering damaged corn for sale
 Commissioner Hudson says the present price of live stock is too great to take any chances on feeding them with dam aged corn, and he feels that this warning to the merchants of Georgia will be of considerable value and protection to the consumers.
 Impossible Sentence
 An interesting fact brought out in con- nectlon with a case just passed upon by the prison commission is that under pre- vious state administration man convict- ed of criminal assault and sentenced to be hanged had his sentence commuted to life Imprisonment when, as a matter of fact, there is no such sentence as life inn prlsonment for this crime.
 The question arose in connection with the ease of Willard Webb, a Cobb county negro. who was hanged yesterday for criminal assault upon a white woman. His attorneys made every possible effort to secure clemency, and during the con- sideration of the case the matter of communication to life imprisonment upon the ground of possible doubt as to his guilt, was inquired into by the governor and the pardon board.
 But it was found the law makes no pro- vision for any such sentence in these cases as life imprisonment. The penalty upon conviction is death, except where the jury recommends the prisoner to the mercy of the court, when 1t is 20 years Imprisonment. The question naturally arose, therefore, as to whether the governor and pardon board can commute one form of sentence passed by the court into a sentence for which there Is no authority in law.
 The records show that this was done not so very long ago in similar case, and the question arises now as to whether the prisoner cannot apply to the courts for discharge from custody upon the ground that the law does not recognize any such punishment as life Imprisonment for the crime of which he was convicted.
 On the other hand, it is pointed out that life imprisonment is a lower penalty than death; that the governor has the power to reduce higher penalty to one of lower degree, even to absolute pardon, and some think under that general authority he would have the right to reduce the death penalty to one of life imprisonment, even where that penalty is not provided for in particular case.
 The question is very interesting one, and one which may. possible, come before the courts for determination.
 Women and Their Hats
 There is a merry war going on in Att lanta over the question whether or not women shall be forced to remove their hats In the moving picture shows.
 A short time ago two members of the city council who had nothing better to do, took in couple of moving picture shows during the afternoon and dscov- cred to their disgust. that owing to al- titudinous hats in front of them, they could see practically nothing of what was going on upon the canvass.
 wen fix that" they remarked as they left the last show, and they did. They procured the passage of an ordinance pro- hibiting the wearing of hats by women sitting in moving picture theatres, or re- quiring the removal of hats by those at tending these shows. The mayor signed 1t and 1t went into effect this week.
 And what did femininity do but boycott the moving pictures Not for us, they said, and moving picture managers began to complain that their business had fallen off 40 per cent or more. Clubs were formed of women pledged not to attend moving picture shows if they. were re- qured to remove their hats.
 Then the moving picture managers quietly gave it out that women would not be required to remove their hats unless some policeman happened along and took things in his own hands. To counteract this 1t was given out from the recorders court that the managers will be expected to enforce the law, and that unless they do 80 they will be haled into court to an swer for 1t.
 Just how>the row will terminate remains to be seen, for as yet neither theatre manager nor hat-wearer has been pulled