Lastly, as one must prevent filthy and corrupting matters from escaping beyond his own premises, the same rule applies to surface-water. If therefore one contaminates it in any way the lower owner over whose land it flows has a clear case against him. See Percolating Water; Watercourse.

Telegraph and Telephone.-Though the business of a telegraph company is public in its nature, it is not a common carrier, and it may therefore set up reasonable regulations for the reception, transmission and delivery of messages. As it is a quasi public corporation, it must extend its services to all that apply therefor and offer to pay the charges. And if refusing it may be compelled to do these things. The company may charge more to one person than to another when the service is unlike, though not enough to amount to an unjust discrimination. The difference in charges must bear some relation to the different services rendered.

A strike may be a sufficient excuse for failure to have sent messages promptly, though not excusing a railroad company for failure to deliver freight as if no strike had happened. A state may impose a penalty on a telegraph company for failure to deliver promptly in the state messages coming from other states. And a state may impose a penalty on a telegraph company for failure to perform its clear common law duty to transmit messages without unreasonable delay, and this statute applies to messages to points outside the state if it relates to delay within the state. A state statute prohibiting telegraph companies from limiting their liability for the transmission of telegrams within the state is constitutional. The state may prohibit a telegraph company from transmitting racetrack news. A telegraph company must transmit a message unless

it contains indecent language. Nor is it liable for libel in transmitting a telegram stating that a person had been bought up.

It is reasonable for a telegraph company to close its office on holidays, except two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon, and therefore it is not liable for delay in transmitting a message because of this closing. The unauthorized writing out and sending of a telegram in another person's name is a forgery.

When a telegram must pass over two connecting lines the receiving company may require the sender to designate what route the message is to take, and to pay an extra charge for the words indicating such route. A telegraph company is not privileged in transmitting messages, but they should not be made public, except to produce them when legally required in court. Under the New York statutes it is a criminal offense for a telegraph employee to divulge the contents of a telegram to any other person than the addressee, except when it relates to unlawful business. In that case the employee may give information to the public officer who is prosecuting the unlawful sender. It is a criminal offense to open or read a sealed telegram, or to tap a telegraph wire in order to read messages in course of

transmission.

In regulating the receipt, transmission and delivery of telegraph messages, the rules for those that are to be transmitted within the state differ from the rules for interstate messages. The rules with respect to the latter are governed by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1910, state messages are governed by the laws of their respective states. By the federal law, therefore, a telegraph company providing one rate for unrepeated messages, and another and higher rate for those repeated, may

stipulate for a reasonable limitation of its responsi bility when the lower rate is paid. And if the contract provides that for any damage resulting from sending the telegram, the sender must give notice within sixty days, he is bound by this stipulation, and is without redress if he delays to act beyond the time.

By this Act a new principle has been introduced into the legal relations of the telegraph, telephone, and cable companies with their patrons. Previously, the companies lived under a state common law liability from which they could escape, if at all, only by agreement. By the new law uniformity and equality of rates is the underlying principle in all interstate and foreign messages. Knowledge of or assent to them by the sender is immaterial. When the rates are lawfully fixed and filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission, they apply equally to all whether they know of them or not, and a regulation, that the telegraph company will not be liable for an amount in excess of the tariff for unrepeated messages printed on the back of the telegraph blank and filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission, is valid and binding on a sender who writes his message on a blank piece of which is accepted by the telegraph company.

paper

By a New York statute all who deal with a public service corporation must be treated alike; to no person can be extended a favor which is not offered to another. A telegraph company which presents itself as a customer to another telegraph company is one of the general public and entitled to the same rights and privileges as any other customer. Nor can a telegraph company justify discrimination among customers by dividing contracts into new and old and applying a different rate to each class. In like manner the federal law

regulating interstate commerce imposes on a telegraph company, which is an interstate line, the duty of fairness and equality in the treatment of its customers. It must serve all alike at reasonable rates and without unjust discrimination.

When the sender is unable to write a message, and requests the operator to do this for him he acts as the agent of the sender and the company is under no duty to pay for his mistakes. Nor can a company be held for a mistake when the message is delivered orally to the operator, unless such practice has become a custom. And when a telegraph company maintains a telephone in its transmitting office, over which it accepts messages, it thereby invites the public to send messages in this manner. In accepting such a message the operator is the agent of the company, which becomes responsible for his errors.

A telegraph company has the right to establish free delivery limits in cities beyond which they will not deliver telegrams unless compensated for the extra service. And a company fulfills its rule relating to the delivery of a night message, requiring this to be done on the next morning, by doing so within a reasonable time after the beginning of the business day.

The use of the telephone in transacting legal matters has sometimes been stretched too far, causing more trouble than would the observance of the proper method. Thus an acknowledgment and private examination of a married woman's deed or other documents, taken by a notary over the telephone, in most of the states where the question has arisen, has been held to be improper. officer," says one of the courts, "could lawfully and truthfully make such a certificate in form or substance except on an official and personal interview

"No

with the wife, separate and apart from her husband, and the attempted examination over the telephone must be held a nullity. The decided weight of authority is also in support of the position."

Testamentary Trust.-Trusts created by testators are of two kinds. The execution of the will itself is a trust; an executor is therefore a trustee. Beside this, a testator often creates a special trust and designates his executor as a trustee to execute it. Such trusteeships are very numerous; the practice is growing of confiding trusts to institutions legally authorized to act for that purpose, because they have the needful experience, and ability to respond for anything they may do.

One of the important duties of a trustee is to make proper investments. In some cases testators give directions, and when they do, these must be followed. If the trust owns real estate the trustee is justified in tearing down an old building and erecting a new one in its place whenever a prudent business man would do the same thing, in order to secure a larger income from the property. If given authority, should he "see fit to sell or dispose of or change the investment of any of the property at any time held by him in trust," he has no power to borrow money to add to the amount of the investment without first obtaining leave from the proper court. It is however within his authority, under a will which does not specifically give power to borrow money for the purpose of the trust, to pay interest on temporary loans needed on the security of bonds whose sale at the time would be disadvantageous.

In the management of bank deposits, while the practice of modern banking has changed the old rule-which imposed the strictest duty on trus