EAL Estate Record





AND    BUILDERS'    GUIDE.





Vol.-XV.





NEW YOEK, SATURDAY, MAKOH 20, 1875.





No. 366





Published Weekly by

m   ilEAL   ESTATE  RECORD ASSOCIATION.

C. W. SWEET............President and Treasuker

PRESTON L SWEET........Secretaet.

L. ISRAELS......................Business Manager

TERMS.
Oae year, in advance...........SIO 00

Communications should be addresse<l to

C.  "W. S"\Va3EiT,

Nos. .345 AND 347 B .ioadwat

SPECIAL NOTICE.
Shortly after the great fire in Boston, in 18T2, the
Dwelling House Insurance Company was established
there, contining its business entirely to dwelling houses
aud the furuiture therein. This new idea in fire Insur¬
ance has ,iust been introduced in New York, Avhere Mr.
S. S. Stevens has taken charge of the agency of the
above company and Mr. P. Kenny haa been appointed
s^urveyor. This new feature cannot help but become
popular here, as there is less risk attached to dwelling
houses than to business localities. The oflice of the
Dwelling House Insurance Company is at 110 Broadway.





The meeting of the West Side /Vssociation
was largely attended on Thursday evening,
and a unanimous determination Avas evinced
to urge upon the city the necessity of improA'-
iug the Kiverside and Morningside parks and
to promote rapid transit. A resolution Avas
unanimously adopted calling upon the Legis¬
lature to defeat Senate bill 98. Avhicli permits
insurance companies to loan their surplus cap¬
ital out of the State. A committee of twenty
Avas appointed to proceed lo Albany aud ex¬
plain the viCAVs of property-holders as to rapid
tnmsit.





EXEMPTION  LAWS.





Some of the AV^estem States have tidopted
the principle lliat it does not advantage either
creditor or debtor to extend liens or execu¬
tions upon properly so far as to prevent the
debtor from providing a home for his family
:ind from eventually paying his debts. The
laws passed to this end Avere, aud avc doubt¬
less still designed to attract settlement, but we
think that their provisions are just and Avorthy
of more general application. In Kansas the
foUoAving exemptions occur :

1st. Family Bible, school books, and family
library. 2d. Family pictures and musical in¬
struments used by the family. 3d. A pew in
any church or place of public worship and a
lot in any buiying-ground. 4th. All the Avear-
ing apparel of the debtor and his family, beds,
bed-steads, and bedding, cooking stoves, and
all the appcnd^ages and all other cooking uten¬
sils and stoves, scAving machine, all spinning
wheels and looms, and all other impleinents of
industry, and all other kousehold furniture not
herein enumerated not exceeding Ave hundred
dollars in value. Sth. Two cows, ten hogs,
one yoke of oxen and one horse or mule, or in
lieu of oxen and one horse or mule one span
of horses or mulesj twenty sbeep and the wool
of ,the same, either raw: or manufactured. 6th.
The necessary food for support of tbe same for





one year, either gathered or growing or both;
also one Avagon, cart, or clray, two plows, one
drag, aud otJier farming implements, including
harness and tackle for teams, not exceeding
$300 worth. The grain, meat, vegetables,
groceries, and other provisions on hand, and
also tlie fuel necessary for the support of the
debtor and his family for one year. 8th. The
necessary tools and implements of any me¬
chanic, miner, or other person used for the
purpose of canying on his trade or business,
and in addition thereto stock iu trade not ex¬
ceeding ,$400. 9th. The library, implements,
and office furniture of any professional man.

It will be seen from the foregoing enumera¬
tion that the exemption of personal estate is
ample, but in addition thereto the laws of
Kansas provide that

A homestead to the extent of 160 acres of
farming land, or of one acre within the limits
of an incorporated town or citj', occupied as
a residence by the family of the OAV^ners, to¬
gether witli all the improvements on the same,
shall be exempt from forced sale under an}'
process of law, and shall not be alienated
without the joint consent of husband and Avife,
Avhen lliat relation exists.

"We believe that a similar provision of laAv
Avitli some limit is worth enacting here. The
advantage to the debtor class would probably
be more than borne out by the compensation
that would accrue in the steady, hopeful etfort
to pay off debts. The principal incentive to
labor is lost when home and domestic happi¬
ness are .gone, and a system of laAV which en¬
courages and protects those interests cannot
but benefit the State and the community.





COURT DECISIONS.





In the Supreme Court, at General Term, In the
case of Mack vs. Mack, Judge Landon, in an
opinion delivered by"him, says, "It is noAv, un¬
doubtedly, the hiAV of our State, that a husband
may make a valid gift to his Avife, the claims of
creditors not intervening. Equity has ahvays sus¬
tained such gifts AA'hen the claims of creditors
were not affected, and Avheu the gifts were clearly
proved. The reason Avhj' such gifts have beeu
held invalid in law, seems to have been derived
from the common laAV Idea that the husband and
AvIfe are one, and that her personal propeity be¬
comes his by virtue of the marriage relation. So
far as property is concerned, this rule no longer
prevails in this State. The wife now holds her
separate estate, and the unity of the husband and
Avife does not, in law, create a union of her prop¬
erty Avith his. There is no good reason Avhy the
laAV should permit a gift to a stranger and deny it
to a Avife." It Avas accordingly held that a hus¬
band may make a valid gift directly to his wife
without the intervention of a trustee.





Kadevs. Lauber.—This was an action to recover
dower. ' The plaintiff Avas married to Charles
Kade, in the year 1857; The mairriage Avas dis¬
solved by judgment in an action brought by the
plaintiff "against her husband; The divorce was
absolute.

The lands out of Avhich the plaintiff claims to
be endoAved. were acquired by her foriner hus¬
band in 1868, and after the p-arties had been di¬
vorced. In 1869 Kade sold and conveyed the
land to the defendant, Avhb is still the owner.
Plaintiff did not join iu the cdnveyance. Kade
died i.n 1873.

The Court held, that the marriage between
the parties having-been dissolved,-and the rela¬





tion of husband and wife having ceased to exist,
prior to the seizen in Kade of the lands in ques¬
tion, the plaintiff had no estate of dower therein.





The Albany Laiv Journal reports a case in which
it appears that one I. D. Whitney brought an ac¬
tion against the National Bank of Brattleboro.
Mr. Whitney held a receipt for " $4,000, for safe
keeping," signed offleially by the cashier of the
bank. The deposit Avas in United States bonds,
and had been left with the bank, at the instiga¬
tion of the cashier, Avho stated that all the bonds
of the town Avere kept in the bank vault. The
coupons were naid regularly from the bank, and,
at one time, the bonds Avere changed by the
cashier from the denomination of $500, in Avhich
they were deposited, to that of §1,000, the trans¬
fer being made without the knowledge or con¬
sent of the owner. The bonds were afterwards
stolen, and, although the bank had handled them
practically in this official way, the Court declined
to hold the bank responsible for their loss.

A person purchasing negotiable paper from a
note broker is not aft'ected with Avhatever know¬
ledge the broker may have of the paper. Iu the
opinion delivered in the case, the Judge says:
•' Bill brokers are a very important class of per¬
sons in commerce, and their usefulness and bus¬
iness would be entirely destroyed if it Avas to be
held that persons purchasing negotiable paper
from them are affected Avith Avhatever knowledge
they may have of the character of the paper
Avhich they offer in the market."





Upon a valid sale of goods, Avheu nothiua: re¬
mains to be done by the seller except delivery,
whether conditioned upon payment or not, the
rio-ht of property passes to the purchaser, at
whose risk it is retained by the seller. Upon the
refusal of the purchaser to accept and pay the
price, the seller, upon proper notice, may sell the
property, and recover the difference, or he may
sue for the difference between the contract and
actual price, in Avhieh case he elects to retain the
property as his own, or he may recover the con¬
tract price, in which case he'holds the property
as trustee for the purchaser, and is bound to de¬
liver it AvheneA'er demanded, upon receiving pay¬
ment of the price.





In the absence of fraud or latent defects, an ac¬
ceptance of the article sold Avithout warranty
upou an executory contract, after an opportu¬
nity to examine it, is a consent and agreement
that the quality is satisfactory and as conforming
to the contract, and bars all claim for compensa¬
tion for any defects that may exist in the article.
The party cannot, under such circumstances, re¬
tain the property, and afterward sue or counter
claim for damages, under pretence that it was
not of the character or quality called for by the
agreement.





CONVEYANCES.





NEW YORK.





3Iarch\l, 12, 13, 1.5, 16, 17.

Allen st. (No. 163), av. s., 175 s. Stauton st., 25
xS7.6. August Kr.aft to August Hassey.
March 10...............................$18,500

Same property. August Hassey to Sarah A.
Kraft.   (C. a. G.)   (M part.)   March 10.. .9,250

Same property. August Hassey to August
Krixft.   (,U. a. G.)   (K part.)   March 10...9,2-50

AsHLAsr* p]., n. s., 22.11 e. WaA'erly pl., 33.8x
86.9. Hannah C. wife of John S. Antrim,
White Plains, N. Y., to Amelia Schuster.
March 10................................19,000

Bebfokd St. (No. ">8). Alida A. wife of EdAvard
Lawton to Daniel Coe.   March 12......... 8,817

Beekman st. (No. 2-1), 23x100. John G. Light-
body to David W. Bruce.   March 10___. .nom.