Year: 1879

of the road, for persons meeting upon a street
or highway, is that each one shall keep to
the right" II is not as well settled for foot
passengers on sidewalks as for vehicles In
many country places the sidewalks are not
defined or continuous, and in others many
persons will cling to the old-fashionod idea of
complimentng lady or old person by Civ
ing them the wall In the cities the custom
of keeping on the right hand side Of the side
walk should be observed any one who per
sists in taking the left hand may be deemed
ignorant or rude, unless there are very special
reasons for his conduct. For vehicles, the
right-han side is the right side, alike in
town or country. Some of the States have
statute laws commanding this In others the
rule rests upon custom. Yet it is not an alb
solute rule which every driver is to follow
under all circumstances. There is higher
duty, that of using common sense to avoid
injury. II driver sees that driver B, ap-
preaching, will not turn to the right, he him
self may and should turn to the left, in that
particular instance This might occur through
perverseness, or through Ignorance. By all
accounts, the English custom is the reverse
OF the Americap; vehicles pass to the left.
The English practice is recommended by one
consideration as the drivers sit, by custom,
on the right hand seat in the wagon or chaise,
they have, by keeping to the left, much
better opportunity of watching the wheels
which might collide. An Englishman driv-
ing in this country, before being informed of
the American custom, might persist in driv-
in to the left, in the belief that he ought to
do So The American driver cannot, in such
a case justify himself in doggedly keeping to
the right and running into the other carriage.
The rule is given for avoiding collisions, not
for producing them. 1t only means keep to
the right unless you see special reason for do
ing differently There was n man in Nashua,
n. H., who undertook to haul his wooden
dwelling house through the streets to another
lot. The surveyors of highways interfered,
and he appealed to the court. One of the
law points against him was that the house
was so large it would fill the street. he could
not keep to the right" as the law directed.
The court said that in that part of the coun-
try it was common to move buildings, and
man had the right to do so if he did not oc-
cupy the road unreasonably long and that it
was nonsense to apply the statute about
keeping to the right to house moving. The
same thing has been said about the horse
cars. An Eighth-avenue railroad car met a
cart. The cart attempted to turn out to the
left, and there was smash The railroad
company complained because the cartman
did not turn to the right, but the court said
that the rule does not apply to street cars.
but only where both vehicles can turn out.
cart which meets horse car may turn to
either side where there is the best chance TO
pass. In Michigan the proprietor of a steam
threshing- g-machine was travelling in it (it ran
by steam power) along the road when a horse
and wagon approached. The threshing ma
chine man steered over to the extreme right
side, and stopped his engine to avoid fright
ening his horse. But the horse took fright
and ran away. His owner sued for damages.
I2,,tt L., ,lr tl,a off Io oohipa
had the right to travel with it, and had done
his whole duty. Other very common cases
are whore one of the travellers can turn out
much more easily than the other. If man
on horseback, or a pedestrian, or light Gu
silly managed carriage meets heavily laden,
clumsy team or wagon, the duty of turning
out is almost wholly on the first named. But
there is no cast-iron rule for all cases each
traveller must do the wisest and best thing in
dicated by circumstances to avoid mischief


There is law of Congress which makes it
an offense for any person to stop or hinder
a vehicle carrying the mail; and the useful
ness of having the mail wagons which run to
and fro through the city streets so gorgeous
ly painted and gilded as they are, no doubt is
that it prevents carmen from getting in the
way and then saying they did not know the
concern behind was Il mail wagon. No one
can mistake the big red and yellow affair,
having the shape of a hearse, the size of an
ark, and the colors of circus chariot, which
flashes along the streets of this metropolis
for anything but United States mail cart
The courts have said that these must not be
stopped, but they have no other privilege


they must obey the law of the road, as other
vehicles In Pennsylvania, years ago, a man
in a wagon was jogging along, when stage
carrying mail-bags came up behind and want
ed TO pass. He turned out as far to one side
as the width of the road allowed, and the
stage might have passed by turning on the
other side. But the driver drove straight on
in the middle of the road and the heavy
stage crushed the wagon and severely injured
its occupant The court held the stage driver
responsible for lawless driving


The rule of the road as to foot passengers
who want to cross streets where vehicles are
passing is somewhat perplexing. While pc
destrans are walking on the sidewalk they
have the best right a vehicle which should
come upon the sidewalk and injure walker
would be almost sure to be cast in damages.
A man in Troy allowed kicking horse to
come out from his stable unattended, and the
horse strayed along the sidewalk, and kicked
a boy who was walking there. The court
said the horse-owner must pay damages as
matter of course he had no business to let
such a horse run loose on the walk. Along the
middle of the block, in the street, the horses
and vehicles have the best right foot-pas-
senger who tries to cross takes his risk, and
must look out for himself he could hardly
recover damages for being run over, unless it
was done almost wilfully. At the crossings
neither has any distinct right of way walk
ers and drivers have equal privilege, and each
must take AL reasonable pains to avoid a run
over Foot passengers can generally stop, or
turn aside, or hasten forward more easily
than carts and carriages; this is some reason
why they should take more responsibility and
care against accidents.-N y. Times.