NOTES OF RECENT CASES OF IMPORTANCE FROM THE NATIONAL REPORTER SYSTEM. (Copies of the pamphlet Reporters containing full reports of any of these decisions may be secured from the West Publishing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota, at 25 cents each. In ordering, the title of the desired case should be given as well as the citation of volume and page of the Reporter in which it is printed.)
ACCIDENT INSURANCE. (DEATH FROM TKIM MING A CORN.) UNITED STATES CIRCUIT COURT, E. D. PENNSYLVANIA.
Tn Nax v. Travelers' Ins. Co., 130 Federal Reporter 985, the court is of the opinion that a death resulting from a self-inflicted knife cut made by an insured while trim ming a corn, which was followed by bloodpoisoning, is one from an "accidental, ex ternal and violent" injury, within the mean ing of an accident policy. In support of this holding the court cites Western Commer cial Travelers' Assn. v. Smith, 85 Federal Reporter 405, 29 Circuit Court of Appeals 223, 40 Lawyers' Reports Annotated 653. CIGAR GUESSING CONTEST. (LOTIERY.)
NEW VORK COURT OF APPEALS. People ex rd. Ellison г1. Lavin, 71 North eastern Reporter 753, involved the question whether or not a scheme for the distribution of money and cigars among the purchasers of certain brands of cigars, who will give the closest estimate of the number of cigars on which taxes would be collected by the government during a named month is a lot tery, within the meaning of New York Penal Code §323, which defines a lottery as a scheme for the distribution of property by chance among persons who have paid a val uable consideration for the chance. The Appellate Division was of the opinion that as a knowledge of the condition of the to bacco trade, the importation of cigars, and similar matters would enable those posses sing the information to estimate more ac curately than others ignorant of these con ditions the number of cigars on which taxes would be collected, the distribution would not depend exclusively on chance, but to some extent at least be affected by the exer cise of judgment, and that, therefore, the
scheme did not constitute a lottery. The Appellate Court, however, points out that the New York statute does not provide that the distribution must be by pure chance, or by chance exclusively. Therefore the rule obtaining in some jurisdictions that it is necessary that a dstribution shall be purely by chance, without any other element af fecting the result, in order that it shall con stitute a lottery does not govern this case. The test under the statute is whether the element of chance or the element of skill is predominating. If the element of skill pre dominates in estimating the number of ci gars on which taxes will be paid in a month, the distribution will not be a lottery, but if the element of chance predominates in making this calculation, it will come within the statute. The court says that there are expert statisticians both in government em ploy and in that of private commercial . houses who are known for their ability to predict the probable yield of the crops that will be harvested during the current year. If the contest for a prize was to be had among experts, the award of the prize, de spite the many elements affecting the result which no one could foresee, might possibly be held dependent on judgment and not on chance. But the competition involved, the court considers to be of an entirely differ ent character. The scheme contemplates over 35,000 competitors. From the table given in the advertisement it appears that the quantity of cigars stamped varies from month to month in the same year as greatly as 40,000,000, and between a month of one year and the corresponding month of the next year as greatly as 90,000,000. The court therefore considers it clear that if several experts should agree in estimating . the output within 5.000.000, or one per cent.
