6 fixt. f»eraB anb & C. a <L JULY 2, -t89lwith my face to the South, as early as Icould next morning. Not as early as Iwould ; for a stage of two-and-t\venty ?-ralong the coast to Miyazaki lay before us,and four o1 clock was the hour appointed,not half-past five : but here the exasperat-ing, incomprehensible Japanese delays setin. I lost ray temper, famed, and gotlaughed at for my pains ; arid thus I partedfrom Nobeoka. in the grey of a wintrydawn, with no regret, save that I had evercome there.

Oh ! but the cold was piercing. I put onan overcoat, wrapped n rug over this:walked, ran; impossible to get warm.Sagacious people tell you to travel lightlyin the interior : but the advice is easierto give than to follow, since (in spring, atany rate) you must provide against allweathers, hot and cold, wet and dry: nofcto speak of the load of provisions you must<3arry, such items of the native cuisine as£ white man can stomach being few indeed.To see a Japanese start off with an um-brella and a hand-bag for all encumbrance,used to fill me with despairing envy. Aboutten o'clock the suti became visible througha rent or two in the veil of cloud ; andstraightway the icy cold gave place to abroiling heat.

The endless pageant of the wooded hillshad begun to pall upon me. and the seawas & welcome sight. Out in the open itheaved as grey as lead ; but along theshore, in sandy coves, it showed a clearbluish-green ; and when it broke with asoft thunder on the rocks, the spray shonewith such a dazzling whiteness that snow,diamond-dust, pulverised sunlight, seemedhardiY adequate comparisons,

From the summit of a steep brae welooked down upon Mimidzu. stretchedalong au arra of the sea. in a curve likethat uf a scimitar. There were j'U"^s atanchor, and a crowded ferry-boat, crossingthe narrow estuary, made a spot of gaycolour in the foreground. Here, say thebest: authorities, is the very port fromwhich the demi-god Jitnmu Tenno, son-of Prince "Fire-fade,'' and great-great-grandson of the Sun-goddess, set forth toencounter the earth-spiders, the tailedgods, and other primeval dwellers in mid-Japan, and to establish his regal seat in theland of Yamato. Mimidzu was one ofsundry places that tempted me sorely tostay a while. Eut time was running all tooKb or I for the programme I had mappedout : the grip of a spectral Mr. Cook w*asupon my collar : I hurried through.

It was some little way beyond Mimidzuthat we entered a pine avenue, miles long.The pines were in double rows, stately oldtrees whose branches, meeting overhead,made a sumptuous shade. Lying back,with hall-closed eyes. I saw in f. dream,far down the glimmering colonnade, thepomp o[ some old Da/imi^'s retinue comingup—a cloud of dust, the serried mass ofmen-at-arms in lacquered mail, with mylord's Tron'mono in the midst, a glinting 07lances and brazen crests, and silken pen-nants, a pricking forth of outriders on ficvrylittle ponies, with the cry: "Down onyour knees !"

The knrinna came to a halt. In frontof me. witli outstretched arm and threat-ening eye. stood a policeman, the t/s/liestlittle policeman. I believe, in all Japan,with i>. fringe of beard like thai of aCapuchin monkey and a voice like thesound of a saw going through knotry wood.The man in the- shafts cowered and" suckedh; his breath in a fervour of fear, andpicking from under the seat a little pairof blue- cotton drawers, drew them on.So there was the trouble ! a breach of thelaw touching decency in cr^ess. To besure, he-did not look a wh\t more decentwith the things on : but </uat is a pointwhich only those who "have seen theJapanese at home can appreciate.

What a long road i.t -was that day.straight on between the sea and the hills,and how many towns r/nd Tillages we car-

eered through : I can still see the lines oflow grey buildings; the rows of blackkunimas, with a istrip of red rug on each,at even' tea-house where we halted ; thetall fire-lookout ladder planted erect in theground, with a little bell swung aloft atthe side : the little dark shops wheresandals or crockery were for sale : and suchnotes of .glaring incongruity as the police-station with an Ionic porch, or the barber'sshop where dandies were being latheredin front of gigantic mirrors resplendent ingilded frames.

By far the most attractive town on theway was Takanabe. hidden in a deep-lyingalluvial vale. The houses were of the typeI had begun to recognise as characteristicof snmwai dwellings, each of them a marvelof rustic elegance, standing back from theroad in a trim little garden of its own.

As we were passing certain mill-wheelsbeyond Takanabe. which produced an oddeffect by their very likeness to those athome, it came on to drizzle ; and the dayended, as unkindly as it had begun, inbitter cold and driving rain.

A whiff of salt air caught us in theempty streets of Miyazaki. My roadsterbounded up to the inn with a whoop and alaugh ; and I was no sooner set down tountie my boot-strings (that wearisome pre-lude to entry) than he must shoulder acouple of heavy portmanteaus a' d beskipping upstairs with them. Yet thisbrave fellow had drawn me, single-handed,fifty miles and more since morning ; andduring several hours past had been drench-ed to the skin, for he was without water-proofs.

Oh, the comfort of a hot bath ! Not thespoonful of tepid fluid which goes amongus by that name ; but a deep tub, full tothe brim of water, crystal, clear and raginghot; and close at hand plenteous, overflow-ing cold water to sluice yourself withal themoment you emerge ; and this in a widewooden room, beautifully clean, whereyou need have no fear of splashing to yourheart's content, the water running awayfrom the trellised and guttered floor. Noris a cup of good Japanese tea to be despised ;and here it was of the best, like everythingelse. The landlady, a motherly soul, whoselike I have not since encountered in Japan,bustled about, full of solicitude, heapedthe hibachi with charcoal till it gave out anastonishing heat, and brought me a banquetof fish and rice. Finally she piled up a deepbed of soft silken futons, in which I wassoon cosily asleep, with the roar of thefalling rain for a lullaby.

niv

U.S. GCNSULAE COURT.Shanghai, 29th June.

Before T. R. JERNIGAX, Esq., Consul-General.

Robert Johns, a seaman belonging to theMon*>c<ic-\i, was charged with being drunkand disorderly and assaulting the police atthe Central Hotel on Monday afternoon.

He was sentenced to 30 days' imprison-ment and ordered to pay all expenses.

1st July.BeforeT. R. JERXTGAN, Esq., Consul-General

Acting Judicially, and Messrs. F. E.Haskell and'A. W. Danforth,

Associates.MUSTARD AND Co. r. R.. H. WEIGHT, THE

AMERICAN CIGARETTE Co., AND THEAMERICAN TRADING Co.

Judgment was to-day delivered in thissuit instituted by R. W. Mustard andC. C. Bennett against R. H. Wright andthe American Trading Company, claimingdamages for breach of contract in regard tothe sale of certain Bonsack CigaretteMachines, and an injunction, against the

defendants. Mr. W. A. C. Platt {Messrs.Johnson, Stokes and Masfcef) appear^

: ed for the plaintiffs, Mr. H. P. Wilkinson,counsel for the defendant Wright, and the

j defendant company being absent on ac-i count of indisposition.

Upon the Court assembling,His Honour said—When this case was

before the Court, pn demurrer, it wasargued that if the contentions of the plain-tiffs were sustained a monopoly would begiven them, and that monopolies werecontrary to the common law. In overrul-ing the demurrer the Court held thatthe plaintiffs based their right to a judg-ment against the defendants upon a con-tract made with the defendant Wrightand against the other defendants for beinga party to the violation of that contract byWright. It was not held that there hadbeen or that there was a contract, becausethat question was not then before theCourt, but the principle which based theoverruling of the demurrer related to thepatent laws of the United States and notto the doctrine of monopolies, for if theplaintiffs could claim the exclusive rightto the use of the Bonsack CigaretteMachine, in Shanghai and in China, theright to such exclusive use was theright sold them by the defendant Wright,and this defendant could only sell theprivileges and rights guaranteed by thelaws under which the Bonsack CigaretteMachine was patented. If there had beenno patent granted for the machine, it fol-lows that there could be no exclusiverights, and whatever exclusive rightsand privileges the defendant Wright didhave to sell to the plaintiffs must,therefore, have been the rights and privi-leges which the patent laws give andprotect, and these were such only asthe plaintiffs could have bought. It islogical that the plaintiffs could only buywhat Wright had the authority to selland that no one can sell an exclusiveright to a machine for a longer periodthan the patent laws give existence tothe right. And the fact that a UnitedStates Court, as this is, sits in China can,in no way, though intimated in the argu-ment to the contrary, depart from a strictenforcement of United States law. Wher-ever a United States Court sits the law of theUnited States governs its proceedings andinfluences its decisions ; and though holdingits session within the territorial limits ofChina, the treaty between the UnitedStates and China provides that no Ameri-can citizen residing in China can havehis right adjudicated except in the con-sular courts of his country sitting in theEmpire of China, such courts being UnitedStates Courts and governed by laws passedby the Congress of the United States.

The case is now before the Court onthe amended pleadings, presenting in fullthe allegations and answers of the parties,and the evidence relied upon to .sustaineach, and having for Associates gentlemenof well-known business capacity, the na-tural embarrassment of passing upon con-flicting evidence has been relieved bytheir discriminating judgment, keeping inview, at the same time, the elementaryprinciples which.must govern in reachinga conclusion.

If either party to this case was asked whatdefence he most relied upon as a protec-tion to the full enjoyment of his. homeagainst any claimant, he would doubtlessanswer the paper writing in which wasconveyed to him the title to that homeand the notice which the retarding ofsuch paper writing gave to all the worldthat the title therein conveyed was his.Although in the early periods of Englishhistory the conveyance of land was usuallywithout writing ; the delivery was neverthe-less accompanied with overb acts equivalentin point of f orinalifcy and certainty, to deeds.The ancient policy was in favour of theentire publicity of the conveyance, as isevidenced by the old doctrine of the fine of

JJJLY 2, 1897. toetalb an& s. <L 39record, the livery under the feoffment, theenrolment of a bargain and sale, and theattornment under a grant; and in the lawsof Scotland the principle is practicallyillustrated by symbolical delivery. The" earth and stone, " or " clap and happer, "or "net and'cable " were, in Scotland, theemblematical symbols of tfie field, or mill,or fishery. But as knowledge increased con-veyance by writing became more prevalentresulting in the enactment of laws pre-scribing the muniments of a valid title,and thus substituting the more enlight-ened method for the primitive one indi-cated. A written conveyance, properlyexecuted and registered, is notice to allthe world of the rights of the owner,and is the valid muniment of title sub-stituted for the charter which the Saxonexhibited as proof of the right to possesshis castle. And not to recognise such aprinciple would unsettle business and ve-

patent, is true, why then should hehave insisted in having a provision in thecontract, which, under the patent, therewas no authority for ? In his answer thedefendant Wright says that the provisionwas "designedly introduced for the specialpurpose of reserving to himself theprivileges of selling the machine to otherparties after the expiration of the rightsunder the patent and before the ten yearsshould expire." There is ingenuity in theidea, but justice cannot reconcile, in thisregard, the consistency of the answer ofthe defendant Wright, for after the expira-tion of the patent. he would have beenno more at liberty, by the reservation,to sell the , machine than, others, andit was not equity to impose upon theplaintiffs, who had, in good faith, boughthis machine, a restriction denying to thema privilege enjoyed by all others after theexpiration of the patent. If there could

duce society to the state of nature compared be an exception to the notice that must beby Gicero to a great theatre wherein the ' ' " ' ' ' " " . . .place occupied by each individual was, forthe time, his'own. '

It is believed that the object of the legalprinciple which gives certainty and safetyto business affairs by registration laws isnot materially different from the objectof the legal principle, which has providedpatent laws in order to promote scienceand the useful arts, for letters patent arenot granted as a restriction upon therights of the community, nor can-they beheld to be in restraint of trade. A patentright is the right granted by the public forthe skill and ingenuity of the mventor,and in an age distinguished by an activeand ardent spirit of improvement in thearts of agriculture and manufacture, andin the machinery of every kind applied totheir use, the spirit of public justice hasprovided in the patent laws a protectingshield for industry and genius, as well asan encouragement by securing to inventorsthe exclusive rights to their patents fora certain period, during which time theymay assign the same in whole or in part ormake testamentary disposition as of otherproperty.

In the case of Bonsack March Co. andothers versus Smith and others, it wasdecided by the United States Circuit Courtfor the Western District of North Carolina,that the Bonsack Cigarette Machine hadbeen legally patented and that the patenteewas entitled to all the protection guaranteedby law, and, consequently, that the patentso granted and recorded was notice tothe world of the right of the patentee.And when the defendant Wright came toShanghai and sold to the plaintiffs theexclusive right for Shanghai and Chinato use the Bonsack Cigarette Machine,he could only sell what rights the lawallowed under the patent and no other,and as the patent had b.een properlyrecorded, it was notice to the plaintiffs ofthe extent and duration of said rights.The Court holds that the defendant Wrightdid make a contract with the plaintiffs asalleged in their petition, but the fact thatthe plaintiffs resided in China cannotexcept them from the legal principle an-nounced as securing business certainty andsafety, nor would this principle permit thedefendant Wright to become an exceptionby selling what, under the law of patents,did not belong to him. The principle isapplicable, and with equal force, to boththe plaintiffs and the defendant Wright.

taken of a patent duly recorded, it appearsthat the restriction" designedly intro-duced" by the defendant Wright wouldmake the plaintiffs an exception, and, un-der the circumstances, the Court feelsjustified in awarding the plaintiffs theirproper co.sb against the defendant Wright.

As it was admitted that the defendantAmerican Cigarette Co., was a BritishCorporation and therefore not amenable tothe jurisdiction of this Court, and it beingproved that the other defendant AmericanTrading Co. were the agents only of theAmerican Cigarette Co. there is nothingin the evidence to bring the agency withinthe provisions of any law imposing aseparate responsibility from the principals.If the agency h id not been proven, theevidence shows- that the purchase of themachines from the defendant Wright wasmade after the patent had expired andwhen anyone was free to buy or sell.

In view of the elementary principlewhich has guided the Court to the con-clusion reached, the damages claimed bythe plaintiffs against the defendant Wright,if any have been proved, as well as theinjunction asked for against the defendantAmerican Trading Co. need not be consider-ed.

Assented to,F. E. HASKKLL,A. W. DAXFORTH, j

T. R. JERNIGAN,Consid-Geneial,Acting Judicially,

,- Associates.

CHINESE COURTENQUIRY.

OF

Shanghai, 30th June.Before H.E. TSAI CHIU'N, President of the.

Bureau of Foreign Affairs at Nanliinrt,and Sir NICHOLAS J. HAXXEX, H.B.M.'*Consul-General.

V. THEA>~I> PAY DBVAKTJIENT.

This was a sitting of a Courl constitutedunder the provisions of Article 17 of theTientsin Treaty of 1858 and Section 2,Sub-section 3, of the Chefoo Convention1876, to enquire into the claim by Messrs.Bennertz and Co. against the KiangnanDefence and Pay Department.

Mr. E..Nelson (Messrs Johnson, Stokesand Master) in the absence through indis-position of Mr. H. P. Wilkinson, appeared

It was in evidence, and admitted as a pro- for the plaintiffs, and Mr. YV". V. Drum-vision of the contract, upon the insistence mond for the defendants,of the defendant Wright that for a periodof ten years, from the date of contract, theplaintiffs were to be restricted in certainparticulars in tho disposition or use ofthe Bonsack Cigarette Machine. Themaximum period of limitation thus imposedexceeded by several years the period with-in which the l < w gave life to the patent,and while the answer of the defendantWright, that he could not sell rights, underthe patent, longer than the life of the

The proceedings took place in an im-provised Court in what~is known as theAmbassadors' Hall adjoining the Templeof the Queen of Heaven. In many res-pects the arrangements were of a novelcharacter. H. E. .Tsai Chiun occupied aseat at a table, on a raised da'is, attendedby his interpreter, Mr. "Fung Yee, whilst onhis right hand Sir Nicholas Hannen had aseat, accompanied by Mr. James Scott,the British. Assessor at th,e Mixed Court,

The proceedings may be said to have takenplace in the open air, for a large portionof the Court was open to the aky, a mostsatisfactory arrangement under the circum-stances of the weather: Towards thelatter part of the proceedings tea andcigarettes were passed round.

Mr. Nelson, upon the Court assembling,applied that the counter-claim of thedefendants should be struck oub, on theground thab any action against Britishsubjects must be brought in the. BritishCourt.

Mr. Drummond admitted thafi accordingto the decision of the Privy Council in theCJiishima-Ravenna case Mr. Nelson's con-tention might be correct, but that decisionhad no binding effect upon a ChineseCourt, as" that now si-ting was. Hethought it was within the power of theCourt to take all fche circumstances intoconsideration on both sides and giva judg-ment.

The Court retired to consider the matterand upon its return Mr. Nelson was in-formed that he might go on with his ease.

Mr. Drummond then .;tsked leave toamend certain „ dates in the defendants"answer relating to the time the ships cameinto the possession of the claimants.

; Mr. Nelson strongly opposed, the ap-plcation on the ground that the defendants

1 had already admitted fche correctness of\ claimants' dates, and it might seriouslyj affect his ease.| The Court decided to allow the amend-

ment.j Mr. ]S elson. then proceeded bo open the; claimants' case by reading the petition,j and (he defendants' answer, as follows :—j 1.—We. Messieurs Bennertz and Company,; hereinafter referred fc» as the claimants, are aj British firm trading at -Shanghai and else-I where in the Empire of China.| 2. —The Kiangnan Defence and Pny Depart-; raent, hereinafter referred to as the depart-

ment, on the 16th day of April, 1896, enteredinto an agreement with the claimants where-by the three steamers Wooninrj (Smith) Nin<j-I'honj (Co-s.s) and Sin Fokien were chartered tothe claimants for the term of three years.

3.- The department on the 16th flay ofMay, 18!)<>, enterevl into an agreement withthe claimants whereby the steamer Kxingninywas chartered to the claimants for the termof three years.

4.—By the said agreement it was providedthat tho claimants should pay to the depart-ment at the following rates :—•On the steamer Sin, Fo'. inn $'2,300 a month,

,, ,, ,, Singchow SI, 700 ,,,, ,, ..,. Wp.oniii'j SI,70«> „

and on the ,, Klctiujnimj 3. 900 • ,,,o.—The claimants obtained possession of

the four stc-iimurs on the following respectivedates:—The steamer Sin Fckie.ii on the 10thJune, 1396, the Wanning on the 27th June,1896. the K/«»;/'"'».'/ on the 3rd July, 1396, andthe yinrjrhon- on the 23rd July 1396.

8.—The claimants have paid to the Depart-ment the total sum of taels seven thousandeight hundred and thirty seven and candareenseighty (Tla. 7,837.80) as and for chartermoney, and at fht: time of the breach of theAgreements by the department hereinafteralleged the- cluimancs were not indebted tothe department.

7.—By the said agreements it was providedthat during the term of the charter thedepartment was liable for and would pay forall repairs to the steamers ovar one thousanddollars.

8.—By the said agreements it was providedthat on the steamers being taken possessionof the department was to make a proper listof all sails, ropes, furniture* and articles, onboard. The department not havjng madesuch proper list the claimants took overpossession of the steamers, on Zee Che-chow aDirector of the department on its behalfagreeing to have all necessary Sttings andrepairs made and fco provide for payment ofthe same.

9.—.The claimants relying on auch^proroiseand upon the terms oi the said agreementsand after notice to the department and itsrepresentatives have paid or become liablefor the following sums expended for and onbehali of the department i—On the ateamor