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Show . THE READER'S COURTROOM . i Golfers: Look Before Swinging I By Will Bernard, LL.B. ' If Hit By a Swinging Golf Club, May You Collect Damages? A young married couple went for a round of golf, taking a friend along to watch the game. On the j third tee, the husband made a bad - drive. His wife exclaimed: "No, dear, you should keep your eye on the ball like this." So saying, she j seized a club and quickly swung at an Imaginary ball. Unfortunate- Should You Use Kerosene. To Revive a Dying Fire? A young couple rented a log cabin for a week's vacation. The first morning, the wife got up early and soon had a blaze going in the wood stove. When the fire began to grow feeble, she seized a can of kerosene and poured it into the stove. There was a blast, and the young woman suffered painful injuries. Afterward she brought a damage suit against the manufacturer manufac-turer of the kerosene, on the ground that the liquid's "flash point was too low." But the court turned down her claim. The judge said that pouring kerosene on a fire, no matter how feeble, is "contributory "con-tributory negligence." Is it Negligence To Pet a Strange Dog? An artist noticed that his bulldog was developing an ugly disposition, but he just couldn't bring himself to get rid of the animal. One day a woman passerby saw the dog on the sidewalk and reached out to FEEL LShS ly, the friend was standing right next to her and was caught unawares. un-awares. The club hit him on the forehead, and knocked him flat. Later he sued the young woman for damages, on grounds of negligence. negli-gence. She contended: "Anybody who goes on a golf course has to take the risk that accidents of this kind will happen." However, the court ruled that she must pay for I the friend's injury. The judge said I ' that when a golfer makes a sud- ! i den, unexpected swing, she should at least look around to see that the coast is clear. Shortly after announcing his engagement, en-gagement, a young man was told by his doctor that he had a fatal disease and that marriage would only hasten his death. His fiancee wanted to go ahead with the ceremony cere-mony anyhow, but he flatly refused. re-fused. Sure enough, the youth died in about two months. Thereafter j i the girl sued his parents for dam- J : f ages charging "breach of prom- I , ' i ise" by their late son. However, . l ' I judge said that the young man had : , ' the right to back out J ! pet him. He snarled, ducked, and then bit her in the leg. When the woman sued the artist for letting such an ill-tempered dog run loose, he retorted that she was equally responsible for the mishap. "It Is plain carelessness," he argued, "for anybody to pet a strange dog." However, the court disagreed and granted the woman's claim. The judge said it's not wrong to pet a dog even without a formal introduction! |