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Show j . THE READER'S COURTROOM , i Be Aware of Dry Ice Danger j 1 By Will Bernard, LL.B. 1 Is it Negligence to Throw a Piece Of Dry Ice into the Street? I Having sold out his stock, an ice cream vendor tossed a left-over piece of dry ice on the street and headed for home. Some children playing nearby picked up the steaming object and put it in a bottle. Then, in an experimental mood, they added a little water, screwed on the bottle top, and shook well. It wasn't long before Is a Storekeeper Liable For Shaking His Fist In a Customer's Face? A man bought a sweater for his wife. However, it didn't fit properly proper-ly and she decided to return it. By an unfortunate mistake, the woman took the garment back to the wrong store and demanded a refund. The merchant was furious. He not only ordered her out of the store but also shook his fist undfr her nose to emphasize his feelings. Later the woman sued him for assault. as-sault. The merchant protested: "I had a perfect right to get sore. She was trying to palm off somebody some-body else's goods on me." But the court held the man liable. The judge said that, whether he was right or wrong in the argument, he still had no cause to threaten the woman with physical violence. May You Shoo Pests Over To Your Neighbor's Property? A farmer was standing in his cornfield when he spied a swarm of locusts approaching. To protect his property, he managed to shoo the pests away and they settled instead on the neighboring farm. i the expanding gases burst the con- tainer, and a small boy was in jured by Dying glass. When he sued the vendor for damages, the latter argued: "How could I foresee fore-see that children would go to such lengths in playing with a discarded piece of dry ice?" But the court held him liable for the mishap. The judge said the vendor should have known that the ice was both fas-i fas-i cinating and dangerous to chil- j j dren and so should not have left i it within easy reach. ! ... A man on a party line got mad at the operator one day and began cursing her vigorously. When she protested, the man dared the com-nanv com-nanv tn out off his service. Prompt- pally IU CUl UJJ. IUa SCI YltC. XlUIIIk- ly the company did just that. Doubly enraged, the man went to court for an injunction but the Judge ruled that the company was within its rights. Said His Honor: "The telephone company requires the observance of common proprie-ty proprie-ty in use of language, because its operators are refined females. Operators Op-erators have a right to respect" There they feU to work and ravaged rav-aged the neighbor's corn and potato po-tato crops. Afterward the neighbor neigh-bor sued for damages, but the court turned down his claim. The judge said the farmer had a right to defend his property against this "common enemy" and wasn't responsible re-sponsible for what the enemy did somewhere else! |