The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1912-11-09

G44Gl& NJ 1oE 2 W0lGS man 20 eat II,
timed You've got TO buy Il when
the ship lands. You've got TO btsa
government Johnny, q missionary or
a native. othsrWtse you i've on money
from home or the French deport you
Of Eden. 1 got the facts at Q tour
I can't live Il don't 90; I can't go;
I can't live II I could go! Nice, com
Portable bunch Of alternatives mat!
had little money, but a court down
In West Virginia skinned me out Of
It. Now I haven't enough 20 pay q
doctor That's why shook my head
on the door while ago"
"You mean" said randolph Mason,
ga legal decision rendered against you
In a suit at law2'
Not a bit Of II" replied the man..
81 mean what say-Sbtnned out OF
It I had no lawsuit. I was standing
In a crowd Of rubes before a court
house when the bIindfold lady step
ped out with a little Bneu game and
lifted my wad.'
This said Mason, els the Jargon
Of a cab driver. What do you meant"
'Tu cut It out" replied the man,
81 win begin over. When my father
died he left me ten thousand dollars
In bank stocks. It paid a dividend Of
about four per cent, and no taxes
Being naturally smarter than my
father, at once determined to take
that money and get rich. sold the
stock, pocketed check book and got
busy. One bright morning, IN a little
town on the Monongahela river. a
commissioner was selling a tract of
land before the court house. In my
hunt for good things I happened by
accident to know about that land. L
is rough mountain tract, not worth
ten dollars an acre; but It Is under
laid with the Pittsburgh vein Of coal,
standing up eight feet thick, clean
and solid like q ledge of sandstone.
A corner OF the land comes down to
the railroad and there is a little mine,
opened and operated by the old farm
er who lived on the place. He had a
pole-tipple, wheeled the coal out by
hand, and got on about a car a day
The tract contains some two hundred
acres
stepped up to the commissioner
and sl1quITed about the sale. He told
me that tse owner was broke and the
court was selling the land. inquired
If the coal was included and he said,
Yes; from the sky TO the center OF
the earth Then asked the bid.
When he answered fifteen dollars.
nearly threw a fit! Fifteen dollars!
The coal was worth two hundred an
acre. Now. had been knocking
about the coal country for good bit,
and was no greenhorn. knew that!
this was the Pittsburgh vein and I.
knew what it was worth. The court
was selling the land, so there could
b no doubt about the title. would
not have trusted any dealer about a
land htle e It had been a private
sale; but here was the court-the old
blind lady herself- the land,
so the game was bound to be straight
I bid twenty. The commissioner call
ed 1t a moment, and a big man, out
a little way in the crowd, with nose
like your elbow, bid twenty-five. let
the thing hang to see II there was an
other bidder; then, just before the
going I bid thirty. Nosy looked me
i've, and five more said He
stamped around for a while and dnal-
" lifted 1t to forty-dve.
IAN right, Nosy,' I said to myself.
I'll Just throw a good. sim blum into
you and end IT. An i've, safd, an
I'VE more every time you raise it
He looked at me for a good minute.
You're a damned 8ool!" he said!
and then he walked out OF the crowd.
Nosy was right about that; but I
didn't know It just then The land
was knocked down to me at fifty dol
lars an acre paid cash and got my
deed, all signed, sealed and delivered
when got home and opened my
package, I had as nice a box OF saw
dust as you ever saw. The old girl in
the blinkers had double-crossed me
like an expert No street falrir could
have cleaned a smoother Job. Ny title
to this land proved TO be only q life
estate. I hunted up a lawyer. He
said that a court did not guarantee
a title when 1t sold land. remember
his language-it cost me money and I
shall always remember It. He said.
The doctrine OF cayeat emptor OBJ
tanned at judicial sales: the purchaser
bought at his peril That is, Your
eyes are your market The court
sells land through les onceF to the
public. sells the title for good one,
takes your money; and, II the title is
defective, you are stuck, you can't get
your. money back. The old lady comes
out to her door and sells you a pig
in a poke If there's no pig IN It, the
Jokes on you. II it's somebody else's
pig. the Jokes still on you. I've been
up against the shell and the little pea,
the five-dollar bill and the soap box.
A.. oIaS r,oo% who Hnaw NV TT0el0