The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-10-03
NOVEL POINTS OF THE LAW.

ciple that a man house Ia his castle
Is made by the Supreme Court Of Ala
bama in Thomas VS.. State. in which
the court said
III the defendant was a guest OF the
owner or occupants OF the house, there
by prearrangement with them or on
their invitation, while In the house In
that capacity the law armed him with
the right to defend himself against an
unlawful assault from outsiders. he be-
Ing free from fault. and to employ all
necessary force to protect his own life
Of his person from grievous harm. For
this purpose and under these circum-
stances he was armed with the same
rights OF self-defence as II he had been
the owner Of the house, as to all per-
sons except its lawful occupant; in
other words. to that extent this house
was his castle for the purpose OF de-
fence. and II without his fault he was
assaulted there by an intruder the law
imposed on him no duty to retreat
therefrom. but he had the right to stand
his ground and defend himself even to
the taking OF the life OF his assailant."
In People W.. keuhn. In the Supreme
Court OF Michigan, IL was held that
"one Is not obliged either to enter his
house or lock the door before shoot
ing n party who is advancing toward
him in a threatening manner when he
is standing neal the door. II In
view Of all the circumstance OF the
case as they appear to him at the time
he honestly believes that he is In immi-
nent danger OF great bodily harm which
defence at once and before retreating."
The pa ment by a corporation OF
dividends out OF capital was involved
in Carlisle vs.. Ottley before the Su-
preme Court Of Georgia in which the
court said In Its syllabus:
where a solvent Industrial corpora.
ton which is engaged In the conduct OF
it's business as a going concern annual!
decla res dvidende through a number Of
years, and these dividends are paid out
Of the capital assets OF the corporation,
and the shareholder receive them in
good faith and without notice that thes
are not paid from the net profits OF the
corporation. and afterward the corpora
ton IL adjudicated a bankrupt. III ac-
ton by the trustees in bankruptcy vii.
not lie against the sha reholders to re-
cover the amount OF the dividends 50
received by them
The reliability OF footprints a. evil
dence was In question before the SUI
preme Court of Minnesota in state vs.,
Jacobson, which was a prosecution for
arson. The court ruled that evidence
that the footprints had been made by
the defendant was incomplete and vague
as to the correspondence between the
actual footprints and the foot or foot
wear OF the accused, and said
The proof OF the incendiary origin Of
the fire being not very persuasive. aud
the existence Of a motive in the mind
Of the accused extremely doubtful. We
turn to some'of the rather weak inks
In the evidence tending to fasten the
alleged crime upon him. As above
stated. a paper tracing Of the footprint
OF the supposed perpetrator Of the crime
was made. The constable testified one
rubber In the collection found in Jacob
sons house matched the tracing. This
jacobson denied. The State fire mar
shall was at the trial. He was not called
10 corroborate the constable. nor to ac-
count for the non-production Of this
rubber taken away by him. Footprints
may be convincing evidence. but to be
such the footprint must be shown to
correspond with the foot or footwear Of
the accused. Some courts have gone
TO great lengths In disparag!ng evidence
OF tracks to fasten guilt upon a per-
son Cummings vs.. STATE, llO Ga, 293.
81 =. Z. no"
In Boosey vs.. Empire Music coIn-
pany. Inc. Judge Mayer of the United
States District Of New York heard "A
suit { r infringement OF the song 81
Hear You e. Hing Me by the song TEN
nessee. I Hear You calling Me In
ruling that there was an Infringement
the court said
The composition. which plaintiffs owu,
Is OF a di2ritied character. has been sung
by a distirgus ned singer and has as it,
hasic theme a living person standing on
the grave OF his dead loved one and hear
Ing her voice. The composition owned
by defendant Is in syncopated time tia
military known as ragtimeb, has beer
sung by "A master of that art. and eN-
presses the desire Of a negro to 90 back
to his old home IN Tennessee. The two
compositions are considerably differen'.
both IN theme and execution, except a.
to this phrase. Il hear YOU calling me,
and as to that there is "a marked stint.
larity.
"The words I hear YOU calling me- aud
the music accompanying those words are
practically Identical IN both compositions
and the real controversy IN the case ~
whether the use of this similar phrase
ology and the mia bars Of music IS
sufficient to warrant the charge OF piracy
and infringement of copyright. ! have
had some one indifferent 10 the coutru-
vcrSy play both songs for me. and the
sentiment of one song Is about the same
as the other. sitting for the moment As
the uniformed and technically uutu-
,ored public. the main thing that i'm.
pressed me was the plaIutive i hear YOU
calling me- in both songs. otne public,
really was not mach concerned as I" the
details of the solemn song sand u have
been sung by John Mccormack. or tho
details of the s~yncopated Interpretation
of Al Jolson. The ! hear you calling
me- has the kind of sentiment in bot
cases that causes the audience to listen,
applaud and buy copies IN the corrido.
on the way out of The theatre.
Chief Justice Clark Of Moth Caro-
lima writes a. follows concerning the
characteristics of geese and turkeys in a
suit of James vs.. the Atlantic Coast
Line Railroad Company for the killing
of nine geese:
TT plaintiff relies upon the turkey
case Lewis vs., X, r., l63 y, &. 80.
Eut the two cases are very diss milag.
In that case the evidence waS that the
tr KEYS could have been seen at u dis
lance OF 500 yards. there was quite a
drove of them and they wey, crossing
the track. The turkey Is "A nervous foN'
and the jury might well havr found
that II the whistle had been blown I'll,
turkeys wOuld have taken wing or have
run. and therefore we held that il wa
error TO enter "A non-suit. iieCse, how,
ever. are phleglnatic and SLOW of move.
ment, and the blowing OF the whistle ol
ringing the bell would not hc calculattd
to make them run or fly. ON the con.