That a negligent act, although committed by one intrusted with superintendence by the common employer and while in the exercise of such superintendence, is not an act for which the employer is responsible, when it is not an act of superintendence under the statute, is clear upon reason and is settled by the authorities. Western Ry. of Alabama vs. Milligan, 33 So. Rep. (Ala.) 438.

Primitive Damages.

The train on which decedent was a fireman broke in two between stations, and on the stoppage of the first section for water the second collided with it, hurling decedent, who was at the time on the tender, adjusting the water spout, to the ground, causing his death. None of the employes on the train were aware of the break, the conductor and one brakeman being in the passenger coach, another brakeman in the cab with the engineer, and the third unaccounted for in the testimony, except that one witness testified that at or immediately after the collision he saw him on the caboose. Held, that the evidence warranted an instruction on punitive damages on the ground of willful negligence. Louisville & N. R. Co. vs. Gilliam's Adm'x, 71 S. W. Rep. (Ky.) 863.

Benefit Certificate.

A railroad employe was a member of a relief association organized and supported by the company and employes. The bylaws provided for the payment of benefits in case of injury or death, and that the acceptance of such benefits should release the company from all liability and that no payments should be made while any suit for damages was pending, or if damages were recovered. The employe was killed through the negligence of the company, leaving a widow, to whom his benefit certificate was payable, and children. The widow was appointed administratrix, and the amount due under such certificate paid to her on her executing a receipt acknowledging the sum paid as received in full satisfaction of such certificate and of all claims or demands against the relief fund and railroad company on account of such death. She signed the receipt individually and as "admrx." Held, that, as such administratrix, she had authority to so settle the claim, and the settlement was binding on the children. Though her sig

nature to the receipt did not state of what estate she was administratrix, it must be inferred from the context that she signed as administratrix of her deceased husband. Though the amount paid under the certificate was only the amount which by its terms was payable to the widow, by receiving it as administratrix also she was bound thereby to account for it in her capacity as administratrix, and it therefore furnished consideration for the release in that capacity. The authority given to administrators by Burns' Rev. St. 1901, Sec. 2456, to compromise debts due to the estate only when ordered by the the probate court, relates only to debts and demands in favor of the estate, and does not relate to the right of action given for wrongfully causing the death of the decedent. Pittsburg, C., C. & St. L. Ry. Co. vs. Gipe, 65 N. E. Rep. (Ind.) 1034.

Fellow Servants.

Where a locomotive engineer while leaning out of the cab window of his engine was killed by coming in contact with another engine, which it was charged was negligently placed in a dangerous position, too near the track on which deceased was passing, by the engineer in charge, such engineers were fellow servants within the meaning of the employers' liability act (Burns' Rev. St. 1901, Sec. 7083, subd. 4), which makes corporations liable for injuries to their employes "where such injury was caused by the negligence of any person, coemploye or fellow servant engaged in the same common service * * * the said person, coemploye or fellow servant at the time acting in the place and performing the duty of the corporation," etc. Pittsburg, C., C. & St. L. Ry. Co. vs. ipe, 65 N. E. Rep. (Ind.) 1034.

Injury to Railroad Engineer-Crystalization of Side Rod.

W. D. Collins sued the Galveston, Houston & San Antonio Railway Company for an injury received while in the employ of the company in the capacity of an engineer, occasioned by the breaking of a side rod of his engine, while the train was running, said broken rod crashing into the cab where he was sitting. The negligence alleged was in permitting the rod to become weak, cracked, defective, brittle and crystalized, and in the failure to properly inspect it. The company set up that it

had exercised proper care through competent inspectors as to inspection of the engine; that defects, if any, in the rod, were not discoverable by the exercise of ordinary care, in other words were latent; that it had exercised proper care in procuring the engine from reputable manufacturers; that it was Collins' duty, under the company's rules, to have inspected the engine, and discovered any defect in the engine discoverable by ordinary care; and that the rod broke from Collins' negligence in handling the engine. Collins recovered a verdict for $15,000, which has just been affirmed by the court of appeals of Texas. In the course of its opinion the court decided that a question asked a locomotive engineer on cross-examination, "Is it not a fact that when the engineer who brought the engine in has made his report, and the engine inspector has inspected the engine, that engineers customarily assume that there are no defects, and the engine is ready for duty?" was not objectionable as calling for a mere conclusion; also where a rule adopted by a railroad company in terms requiring engineers to inspect their locomotive before starting on a run was generally, if not universally, disregarded, it was not negligence on the part of an engineer, as between himself and the company, to start out without making such inspection.

One of the assignments of error by the company on the appeal was the refusal of the trial court to give these instructions: "There is some testimony before you tending to prove that the defect of crystalization of a side rod might be discovered by putting the side rod in a press. As the plaintiff has not alleged in his petition, nor has he proven, that it was the duty of defendant to have subjected said side rod

The Bad

There's plenty of good in this bad old world,

In spite of what cynics say;
There's many a hand held out to help
Another on his way.

The world is selfish, the world is cold,
And its idol is success;

Yet it often steps aside for fear
On the fallen it will press.

to such a test, you will not consider said testimony in making up your verdict, but will altogether disregard same." The company argued that while some of the testimony tended to show that the defect of crystalization of a side rod could be discovered by subjecting the rods to a hydraulic press, it was also shown that, to do this every time an engine was sent out on a trip, the company would have to have 2,000,000 engines to enable it to operate ite lines, which was manifestly impracticable, and for this reason the jury ought to have been charged, as requested, to discard such test altogether. With reference to this the court said: "The charge was properly refused. It appears from evidence that, when the defect of crystalization is not indicated by cracks (and there was evidence that the rod was not cracked), the method of ascertaining its presence was by placing the rod in a press. If the rod breaks under pressure, it is crystalized; if not, it is sound. If this be so, then from the further evidence that this rod appears to have been in use for about eight years, and that after such period of use a side rod is apt to become crystalized, and it does not appear that any such test had ever been used in respect to this rod, it became a question for the jury whether or not it was, under the circumstances, the exercise of reasonable care to have never subjected it to such test. While, perhaps, no one would say that ordinary care would have required this test to be repeated each time the engine was taken out, it might be said that, under the circumstances shown, ordinary care required such test of this rod at reasonable intervals. 71 S. W. Rep. (Tex.) 560.

Old World

There's many a hero gives up his life
In humble duty done,

With no hope of glory to shrine his name
Past the setting of the sun.
Dearly the world loves dollars, and yet,
In spite of its grasp and greed,
There's many a doller freely spent
On the widow and orphan's need.

Labor can easily sum up the record of the Congress just adjourned. It did nothing either for or against labor. There seemed to be a deep-rooted idea that times are so prosperous that no legislation was necessary. Of course it is true that employment is pretty plentiful, but with the cost of living soaring skyward it can not be said that the highly-paid workman gets much of a margin for saving against the rainy day-let alone he who is less skilled. But Congress was indifferent to

everything except the big appropriation

bills and a few pet measures engineered by special people.

The Eight-Hour Bill actually got as far as the Senate calendar, but there it

died with scores of other measures which

went down because that shrewd old politician, Senator Quay, held up his man-ofstraw Statehood Bill until he and his friends not only got what they wantedbut, what seemed to them quite as important-kept the other fellows from getting what they wanted.

There seemed to be no special or bitter antagonism against either the Eight-Hour or the Anti-Injunction Bill during the short session just closed-Congress was simply too busy with other things to even bother to fight them.

Control of trusts is interesting to organized labor, as to all good citizens, but even along this broader line there is very little to say. Both Senate and House were anxious to have a record for passing radical bills, but the net result has been nothing in particular.

Department of Commerce and Labor.The new department might as well drop the "labor" title for anything likely to

be accomplished, and it probably will within a few months. So far as any mortal can see there is nothing in it which will specially relate to labor any more than to agriculture, for instance.

Secretary Cortelyou caused a hearty laugh to go the rounds of official Washington when he put in a bill asking seven million dollars to equip his new department and suggesting about 116 clerks.

The young man had been around the White House long enough as secretary to the President, one would think, to know the futility of mortal ambitions in Washington, but it was thought that the very fact of his getting a Cabinet position under such unusual circumstances must have gone to his head, and he was judged leniently.

However, the new department is very modestly installed for the present in a building on Thirteenth street-far from new-and the floors are bare in Spartan simplicity and the furniture only veneered. The whole department occupies only one big office and an anteroom. This modest beginning would, of course, not prevent it in the least from doing good

work.

What a scurry there has been for the labor secretaryship. It was given out organized labor would be given an assistthat a man prominently identified with labor title to the department. ant secretaryship in order to justify the About

every man who could be called prominent and many of whom one never heard before were mentioned, but the writer knows one or two rather well-known men who declined to have the President consider their names, and it seems he declined of his own accord to consider the others, who had to be labeled as to their standing.

Now Secretary Cortelyou spreads gloom in the ranks of the ambitious by declaring that all his help will be taken from the ranks of the regularly certified civil service applicants. Still there are those who persist in believing that this will not apply to the so-called labor secretary.

the new department will be primarily conLabor might as well understand that

cerned with trusts and the extension of our commercial relations and that the problems which interest the workers will not receive attention from it for the first two or three years at least.

President Roosevelt Thriving. The writer happened to pass the White House the other day just as President Roosevelt and his eldest daughter, Alice, were returning from a horseback ride. The President looks as if he had already reached the 200-pound mark, and is gaining flesh right along, despite riding and all sorts of strenuous exercise. He is mournfully learning the lesson which the Washington climate enforces on all who live here steadily. They either acquire an uncomfortable amount of avoirdupois or else get so thin that they scarcely cast a shadow. In President Roosevelt's case the extra flesh is not any special mark of robust health, but means rather a clog to sustained work.

Mrs. Roosevelt is acquiring the other extreme of thinness. She looks fifteen years older than when she entered the White House, but she insists upon entertaining a great deal, and entertaining of the general sort is certainly popular in Washington.

That Wabash Injunction.-Judge Adams' injunction in the case of the Wabash Railway employes is causing much comment here. Public opinion seems to have reached the point where it sees the fallacy of attempting to force men to stay at work if they do not desire to do so. While the injunction might technically prevent the Brotherhood officers from formally ordering a strike, it is believed here that only the patience and moderation of the men themselves could keep them at work-and not any special fear of the injunction as such. A man high in judicial circles summed the whole matter up the other day when he pointed out that an injunction might restrain a man from committing an illegal action, but had no power to order a man not to commit a legal action.

If our Washington members of the ju

diciary would allow themselves to be interviewed occasionally along the lines of thought which they freely express at semisocial gatherings, it would have a very good effect on clearing up the fog on the public mind on the subject of injunctions.

It is safe to say that the Wabash injunction has so far overshot the mark that it will help organized labor in its campaign against the unrestricted and illegal use of the injunction which has been going on for some years and against which organized labor has protested in rain. It seems to be conceded here that Judge Adams' Wabash injunction would be reversed if the higher courts were to pass upon it.

Organized Labor Aggressive. The reports from local and national unions affiliated with the A. F. of L. show that there is a widespread movement on foot for higher wages and shorter hours this spring.

It hardly comes in the shape of a contest, for the demands have been granted already in scores of cases, but the general public has no idea of how rapidly the nine-hour day is going into effect. Because it comes gradually, as each locality is well enough organized to get it, there are no spectacular features attending the performance, but it is a remarkable and a hopeful movement none the less.

Organization is going on, too, at a marvelous rate, and it seems to be only a question of how well each town or city organizes until labor secures marked advances. The A. F. of L. is probably the one source from which such statistics could be authoritatively given out, and its policy is the conservatice one of sticking strictly to business and letting results speak for th nselves.

EVA MCDONALD VALESH.

There's never a day so sunny
But a little cloud appears;
There's never a life so happy
But has its time of tears;
Yet the sun shines out the brighter,
Whenever the tempest clears.

There's never a sun that rises
But we know 'twill set at night;
The tints that gleam in the morning
At evening are just as bright;
And the hour that is the sweetest
Is between the dark and the light.

-Anon.

of twentieth-century competition." Engineering has been pointing this out for a long time by special articles and otherwise. The facts and figures given amply show the expansion of American trade. Mr. Mosely does not attribute the decadence of British trade wholly to trade unions; in his opinion employers are also to blame. He advocates American methods. Workmen in the United States are paid better, and generally their condition is better than in this country; but they produce a greater amount per capita than the men engaged in the same class of work here. If England is to maintain her supremacy in trade, it is essential that her workmen shall be of the best as regards quality and quantity of work. Will employers and employed work together for

that end?

speed, in unwholesome places, boys, girls, and women being employed. In other instances he speaks of better systems and conditions; of collective bargains mutually between employers and the representatives of the workers; also of employers who refuse to recognize the unions, but pay good wages and maintain good and wholesome factories and workshops. These employers seek to inspire initiative on the part of the employes, the latter being benefited thereby. Quality and quantity are exacted, but the pay corresponds. Mr. Cunniff thinks that there is a growth of greater confidence between employers and employed in the United States. He quotes Mr. H. R. Taylor's opinion as to laying bricks. The latter, representing the British Bricklayers' Union, shows that the American method would not be