534
And every day " the shameless noon," With just the same twelve strokes, Sends forth the same melodious tune Above the ancient oaks, While shimmering the sunbeams quiver Upon the dimpled, lazy river. And at this corner stands the house Where Peeping Tom did lie Ensconced in garret like a mouse, To see the dame ride by; — Poor fool, to risk both eyes when one For his mean purpose would have done! But taxes now the town enrich As if the rider fair Had been restricted to a " switch" Instead of her own hair; And doubtless she had been less hot If she had worn a " Psyche knot." Tis sad to let such legends die, But this enchanting tale Was never fact at Coventry, Or people would not fail To stuff the lady's horse when dead, And show him at some pence a head.
NOTES OF CASES. School Teacher's Contract — Act of God. — There is no state of facts, however curious, that is not sooner or later duplicated. In Gear v. Gray, Appellate Court of Indiana, in June, 1894 (37 N. E. Rep. 1059), it was held that where one employed to teach in a public school for a certain time is able and willing to teach during that time, the fact that the school was necessarily closed part of the time by order of the Board of Health, because of the pre valence of a contagious disease among the pupils, does not deprive the teacher of the right to com pensation for the entire time, since such closing of the schools is not caused by the act of God. This decision is based on Dewey -v. Alpena School Dis trict, 43 Michigan, 480; 38 Am. Rep. 206; 1 Eng. Ruling Cases, 347, note, where the school was closed, by order of the school authorities, more than three months on account of the prevalence of small-pox. The Court said : — "It seems to us that if this case is well considered (and we think it is), it can make no difference whether the order was made by the school authorities themselves or by the Board of Health. In either case it will be presumed that it has been properly made until the contrary appears. But the closing of a school by the order of a School Board or a Board of Health is not the act of God, however prudent and necessary it may have been to make sueh order. It was one of the contingencies which might have been provided against by the contract, but was not. It
was the misfortune of the appellant, and if the appellee was present, ready and willing to teach the school (which is alleged in the complaint, and not denied in the answer), the fact that no pupils were provided her by the School Board will not deprive her of recovering her wages under the contract."
Town Contract to Supply Water. — In Wat son v. Needham (Mass.), 24 L. R. A. 287, it was held that a contract to supply water for a boiler to make steam to heat a green-house is one which a municipal corporation may legally make, where it has a municipal water supply, and for a breach of which it may be liable in damages. The Court said : — "It may be a matter of some difficulty to determine pre cisely what uses are included within the public purposes for which water lawfully may be taken. In regard to uses strictly domestic, there can be no doubt. We are of opinion that other uses are included, such as are fairly incidental to the ordinary modes of living in cities and large towns, and as involve the operation of motors re quiring but a small quantity of water, which may reason ably be supplied from an aqueduct of such capacity as would be needed to meet the ordinary requirements of the inhabitants for domestic and other similar purposes. We are of opinion that the use in the present case was one for which the town might legally furnish water." "The town was acting in the performance of a public duty, in supplying water for public use, and incidentally was making contracts with individuals, adapted to the cir cumstances of each particular case. It would not be expected to guarantee a supply of water against all contin gencies, but only to guarantee proper effort to insure a constant supply. In the regulations, which were made part of the contract, the right to shut off the water in all cases when it becomes necessary to make extensions or repairs, and whenever the commissioners deem it expedi ent, was expressly reserved. Subject only to that reserved right, the town was bound to use reasonable care and dili gence to have ready for delivery a sufficient supply of water for the plaintiff's use, so long as the contract remained in force. Merrimack River Sav. Bank v. Lowell, 152 Mass. 556, 10 L. R. A. 1^2." This case must be distinguished from that of a municipal corporation undertaking to supply water for general use, but not making contracts to supply individuals, or furnish any particular facility. In that case there is no liability. Vanhorn v. City of Des Moines, 63 Iowa, 447; 50 Am. Rep. 750; Rlack v. City of Columbia, 19 S. C. 412; 45 Am. Rep. 785 : Painter v. City of Worcester, 123 Mass. 311; 25 Am. Rep. 90; Wheeler v. Cincinnati, 19 Ohio St. 19; 2 Am. Rep. 368.
Inheritance — Murder of Ancestor by Heir. — In Shellenberger v. Ransom, the Supreme Court of Nebraska have recently, upon a re-hearing which
