CHAPTER XLIV. SUNDRY LAWS REGULATING THE CONDUCT OF CITIZENS-THE Whenever persons, traveling with a team, meet each other on any road or bridge, each person is required to drive to the right of the middle of the traveled part of the road or bridge. A failure to do this, subjects the person so failing, to a penalty not exceeding twenty dollars, and to the payment of whatever damages a party may sustain by reason of such failure. No hack or stage proprietor is allowed to keep a driver who is in the habit of using intoxicating liquors to excess; and for so doing he is liable to a penalty of five dollars a day for the time he retains him in his service. If such driver is intoxicated while driving a coach, stage, hack or omnibus, it is the duty of the proprietor to discharge him as soon as notified of the fact by any passenger, under oath, and in writing, who witnessed the same; and failure to discharge such driver, subjects the proprietor to a penalty of five dollars per day so long as he shall keep him. If a driver of a carriage for the conveyance of passengers for hire, intentionally causes or permits his horses to run away, whether any person be in the carriage or not, he is liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding thirty days, or both, at the discretion of the Court. If such driver shall leave his horses while attached to a carriage in or on which any passenger may be at the time, without some suitable person i to take charge of them, he shall forfeit a sum not exceeding twenty dollars. Proprietors of public conveyances are liable to persons. injured, for the misconduct of the driver, while in the employment of such proprietor. Destruction of Timber Marks.-Whoever shall unlawfully cut out, alter, or destroy any mark of the owner, made on any logs, timber or lumber, put into any lake, stream, or pond, shall forfeit a sum not exceeding ten dollars, for each log, stick of timber, or piece of lumber, the mark of which he shall have so altered, cut or destroyed, and shall be liable to the party injured in three times the amount of the damage. Whoever takes, without the consent of the owner, logs, timber, boards, or planks, floating in any of the waters of this State, or lying on the banks or shores, or on any island on which they shall have drifted, is liable to the owner in three times the amount of the damages; but if they shall have remained there for two years, without the owner's having paid the owner of the land, or offered to pay him the damages occasioned by reason of their lying on his land, and whatever damages he would sustain by their removal, they become the property of the land-owner. Questions-What does the law require of persons driving teams on the highways, when meeting each other? What is the penalty for stage proprietors retaining in their employ intemperate drivers? What is said with reference to hitching or fastening horses attached to public conveyances? Who are liable for injuries occasioned by misconduct of drivers? What is said of the destruction of certain timber marks? What is said with reference to logs, timber and lumber that may float upon the lands of any person? What is the duty of persons finding lost goods? What is his duty if the goods exceed in value three dollars? Where they exceed ten dollars? CHAPTER XLV. LOST GOODS AND STRAY BEASTS. Any personfinding lost goods is required immediately to give notice to the owner, if known. If not, and the goods are worth three dollars or more, he must, within two days, post notices in two public places within the township where the property was found, and within seven days give written notice to the Town Cleak, and pay him twenty-five cents for making an entry thereof in a book kept for that purpose. If the value of the goods be ten dollars or more, notice must also be published within a month, in a newspaper of the county, if there be one, and if not, then in a newspaper of an adjoining county, for six weeks. Any resident freeholder of any townsoip, may take up any stray horses, mules, or asses, going at large beyond the range where they usually run at large; and may also take up, between the months of November and March, stray cattle, sheep, or swine. Such finder is required to give immediate notice to the owner, if known. He must, within ten days, have notice thereof entered in the Township Clerk's book, giving the color, age and marks of the animals, as near as may be, together with the name and place of residence of the finder, and pay the Clerk fifty cents. The Clerk sends a copy of the notice to the County Clerk. If the owner does not appear within one month, and claim his property, and the animals taken up shall be worth more than ten dollars, the finder is required to advertise as in case of lost goods. The finder of lost goods or stray animals, of the value of ten dollars or more, must, within three months, procure an appraisal of the property to be made, and certified by a Justice of the Peace, which shall be filed with the Clerk. If the owner of lost goods at any time within one year, claims his property, he is entitled to it, or its value, on paying all costs and charges, together with a reasonable compensation to the finder for keeping and taking care of it, and for his traveling expences, to be determined by a Justice of the Peace, if the parties fail to agree. If no owner appears, in one year, the lost money or goods shall belong to the finder, he paying one-half their value to the Township Treasurer. If the owner of such stray beasts appears in six months, and pays all lawful charges, he is entitled to them; but if not, they must be sold at auction by a constable, he first giving notice thereof in writing, by posting the same in three public places in the township, and the moneys realized, after paying costs and charges is to be deposited in the treasury of the township. If the owner appears within one year after the entry of the notice with the Town Clerk, he is entitled to the money deposited with the Treasurer, but if he shall not so appear, the money belongs to the township. If the person finding property or taking up strays shall fail to give the required notices, and shall fraudulently appropriate the property to his own use, he is subject to a penalty of not less than ten nor more than fifty dollars, and to be imprisoned in the county jail until the fine be paid, not exceeding ninety days. If a person shall unlawfully take away any animal taken up as a stray, without having first paid the charges, he is liable to the finder for the full value of the property. Questions - Who may take up stray beasts? When may cattle, sheep and swine be taken up? What is required of the finder of stray animals? When may the owner of lost goods reclaim them? On what terms? If the owner does not appear, to whom does the property belong? How and when may the owner of stray beasts reclaim them? If the owner does not appear in six months, what is done with stray animals? What is done with the money? When and how may the owner procure the money deposited with the Treasurer? If the owner fails to appear within one year, to whom does the money belong? What is the penalty where the finder of goods appropriates them to his own use, fraudulently, without giving the required notice? In case a person takes away an animal taken up as a stray, without having first paid the charges, what is his liability? CHAPTER XLVI. RUNNING AT LARGE OF ANIMALS—UNCLAIMED PROPERTY THEATRICAL EXHIBITIONS AND SHOWS—GUNPOWDER- By a law passed in 1867, the Board of Supervisors of any county may pass a resolution prohibiting the running at large of horses, cattle, sheep and swine. In those counties where such resolution has been passed, it is lawful for any person to seize and take into his possession any animal which may be trespassing upon his premises, or which may be in any public highway, and opposite the land owned or occupied by him, contrary to such resolution. The person making such seizure is required to notify a Justice of the Peace or highway Commissioner of the fact. The officer thus notified posts notices advertising the public sale of such animals in sixty days. |