injuries caused thereby. Held, that evidence showing that an officer to whom notice would be sufficient had passed the place several days before the accident occurred was not sufficient to warrant a finding by the jury of actual notice. Williams, J., dissenting.

This case follows the decision in Smith v. Rochester, 79 Hun. 174. But it is difficult to harmonize these cases with the decisions on what constitutes actual notice. The term "actual notice" is sometimes used in the broad sense of constructive notice. Am. & Eng. Enc. Law, Vol. 21, p. 582. By the weight of authority the requirement of actual notice is satisfied whenever the authorities by reasonable diligence might have had knowledge. McVee v. Watertown, 92 Hun. 310; Lyman v. Green Bay, 91 Wis. 488. Some courts lay down broadly the principle that constructive notice, where the facts are uncontroverted, is for the court. Birdsall v. Russell, 29 N. Y. 249; Claflin v. Lenheim, 66 N. Y. 306. But the application of this principle to municipal corporations is opposed to the weight of authority. Todd v. Troy, 61 N. Y. 510; Decatur v. Bestin, 169 Ill. 340.

MUNICIPAL COrporation—InJUNCTION-PRIVATE PARTY AS Plaintiff.AMUSEMENT Co. v. City, 74 Pac. 606 (Kas.).—The owner of a theatre sought to restrain city officers from allowing the use of public buildings for lectures and entertainments for private profit. Held, that his damages differing only in degree from those sustained by the general public, the action could not be maintained.

Before a person can maintain an action of this kind, he must show some interest peculiar to himself. Mikesell v. Durkee, 34 Kas. 509; Davis v. New York, 9 N. Y. Supp. Ct. 663. But in the application of this well settled principle there is considerable conflict. It has repeatedly been held that where a schoolhouse is used for religious meetings and entertainments an injunction will be granted against such use on the application of a taxpayer where his property, books and pencils were injured by such use. School Dist. v. Wood, 13 Mass. 193; School Dist. v. Arnold, 21 Wis. 657; Spencer v. School Dist., 15 Kas. 259. In a few cases it has been held that such use of a schoolhouse might be enjoined at the instance of a taxpayer whose only damage consisted in the illegal use of the building. Scofield v. School Dist., 27 Conn. 499, and cases therein cited. The facts in the principal case show a loss of profit upon the part of the theatre owner which, on its face, is a damage, different in kind as well as in degree from that suffered by the general public, and the decision thus seems contrary to the settled weight of authority.

MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS-Purchase-INCUMBRANCES.-STATE V. ToPEKA, 74 PAC. 647 (Kas.).-Held, that the city may purchase a system of waterworks subject to an incumbrance.

The precise question in the principal case is presented for the first time. Though a municipal corporation may acquire property; Windham v. Portland, 4 Mass. 384; and has the right to secure the purchase price by giving a mortgage; Eddy v. City, 26 La. Ann. 636; it is well settled that a city cannot dispose of property of a public nature in violation of the trusts upon which it is held. Dillon, Mun. Corps., sec. 575; Meriwether v. Garret, 102 U. S. 472. Waterworks owned by a city are deemed to be held in trust; New Orleans

v. Morris, 105 U. S. 600; but for the welfare of the city, the mayor and council were considered to have the power to mortgage the city waterworks to secure the payment of bonds lawfully issued for the construction of the same. Adams v. Rome, 59 Ga. 765; Society v. City, 31 Penn. 183; Dillon, Mun. Corps., Sec. 579. It is upon these grounds that the decision in the principal case is based.

NEGLIGENCE-BOILER EXPLOSION-INJURY TO ADJOINING PREMISES.-ANDERSON V. HAYS MFG. CO., 56 ATL. 345 (PENN.).—A person employed to inspect a boiler in a factory negligently overlooked a defect. The boiler exploded and plaintiff's house was injured. Held, that the owner of the factory, not being negligent in selecting the inspector, is not liable.

This decision is contrary to the established rule of law that a master cannot exempt himself from liability for the negligence of his servants by care in their selection. Even where a man has employed an independent contractor he is liable for injury from a defect in the work after its completion and acceptance. Gorham v. Gross, 125 Mass. 232; Vogel v. N. Y., 92 N. Y. 10. The authorities cited in the present case are those involving either the fellow-servant doctrine or that of contributory negligence and thus are not in point. The work had been completed and accepted and the owner would in most courts have been held liable whatever the relation that existed between him and the inspector. Cotter v. Lindgren, 106 Cal. 602; Khron v. Brock, 144 Mass. 516.

NOTARY-ACKNOWLEDGMENT

INTEREST DISQUALIFICATION.

-BANKING HOUSE V. STEwart, 98 N. W. 34 (NEB.).—Held, that a cashier of a bank, employed on a fixed salary, is not disqualified to take an acknowledgment to a mortgage given to the bank,-even though he is related by marriage to the owner of the bank.

On this question the law is in conflict, and no rule can be laid down which will afford a safe test in all cases. The majority of decisions hold that a person cannot take an acknowledgment of an instrument in which he has an interest. Wasson v. Connor, 54 Miss. 351; 1 Cyc. 553. However, unless the acknowledgment is clearly fraudulent, a person related to the parties may take it. Lynch v. Livingston, 6 N. Y. 422; 1 Bouvier, 66-67. A stockholder in a bank cannot acknowledge a mortgage where the bank is beneficiary. Smith v. Clark, 100 Iowa 605. But, by the latest decision a stockholder may acknowledge a deed when the corporation is grantor. Read v. Loan Co., 68 Ohio St. 280. Contra, Bank v. Spencer, 26 Conn. 195 (1856). Among those disqualified by interest are: partners for co-partners, Bank v. Radtke, 87 Iowa 363; grantors, Davis v. Beazley, 75 Va. 491. All the leading cases on this subject as to disqualification of grantees, mortgagees, trustees, beneficiaries, and cestuis qui trustent, are reviewed in Horbach v. Tyrrel, 48 Neb. 514; Read v.

PLEADING-LIBEL-COMPLAINT IDENTIFICATION OF PLAINTIFF.-CORR V. SUN PRINTING Co., 69 N. E. 288 (N. Y.).—Where a person is libelled under the name of Kitty Carr, 35 years of age, and Kate Corr, 26 years of age, brings suit, held, that section 535 of the Code, providing that it is unnecessary to state extrinsic facts to show the application of the libelous matter to the

plaintiff, in the complaint, is not broad enough to render such complaint sufficient. Vann and Martin, JJ., dissenting.

The weight of authority in other States seem to be that it is always sufficient to state generally, in the complaint, that the libel or slander was published of the plaintiff, Harris v. Zanone, 93 Cal. 59; Wozelka v. Hettrick, 93 N. C. 10. The principal case resembles Doan v. Kelly, 121 Ind. 413, where, under a similar provision, a complaint by Louey Kelly was allowed, although the publication libelled Louise Kelley. The cases in New York are uniformly more strict, though none is wholly in point. Miller v. Maxwell, 16 Wend. 9, is a leading case holding that extrinsic facts showing the identity of the plaintiff must be pleaded. But see, contra, Cook v. Rief, 8 Civ. Proc. R. 133, where the Code is interpreted so as not to require them.

REVIEWS.

Street Railway Reports Annotated. Edited by Frank G. Gilbert, of the Albany Bar. Matthew Bender, Albany, N. Y. Vol. I., cases. Sheep, pp. 943.

With the development of our civilization and its increasing intricacies, there has been emphasized the necessity of specialization to make possible the attainment of great skill or learning. This specialization, long since a matter of course in the trades, has, during the past century, been making great strides in the professions, and with the vast growth of knowledge and of reliable sources of information and with the outlook for still greater expansion in these lines, it is in this specialization that the chief hope for the future development of legal learning lies. That these requirements are being realized is evidenced, among other things, by the increasing number of text-books on subjects which would, not long ago, have been considered mere insignificant subdivisions of the earlier developed branches of the law. Another sign of the times is the increasing number of such volumes as the Electric Reporters, and the recently begun Case Law and Index series. Of similar significance is the appearance of the first volume of the Street Railway Reports, a substantial compilation, on a thoroughly modern subject. It is the editor's purpose in this series to report, with annotations, all cases from April 1, 1903, bearing upon the general subject of electric or street railways, decided in the Federal courts and the State courts of last resort, as well as other cases of interest and importance on the same topic. The series will prove a great assistance to all those dealing with this rapidly growing branch of the law.

C. C. R.

Parsons on Contracts. Ninth edition. By John M. Gould. Little, Brown & Co., Boston. 1904. 3 vol., pp. 2369. Sheep. No lawyer needs an introduction to Mr. Parsons' treatise. Probably no authority on contracts has been, and is, so frequently cited in decisions. While of less value to the student because it lacks the logical synthesis in structure of its more modern rivals, and while prevented by the wide scope of subjects of which it treats from dealing in detail with each, still its intrinsic worth and breadth of view make it a classic to be ranged on the shelves of the library beside Blackstone and Kent. Yet the increasing progress of the law discloses defects in the text of all its books, to be remedied by pruning here, by engrafting there. This is the task of the editor; and, in this case, well has he accomplished it. His annotations cite the latest decisions in support, and in expansion of the text. His

summaries of the statute law are complete and up-to-date. And by the retention of the notes of his predecessors he has given to the work the value of cumulative research and verification.

W. M. M.

Cyclopedia of Law and Procedure. Edited by William Mack and Howard P. Nash. American Law Book Company, New York. 1903, 1904. Vol. 9, pp. 998; vol. 10, pp. 1370. Sheep. Without proving the worth of an encyclopedia by practice it is almost impossible to pass criticism upon it. A work of this character is tested only by experience, and its value determined by the assistance it offers in searching out the law. However, on a short acquaintance with the books several points of marked importance over the preceeding encyclopedias are noticeable. An encyclopedia is composed of three parts, the analytical indexes, the text proper, and the citations. The practitioner is concerned more especially with the first and last. In these two departments the editors have made the greatest improvements. The index of each subject is divided into more main topics than has heretofore been customary. This is a decided advantage. There is a less amount of small type to look over in finding the law of the case. The subject of corporations well illustrates this. The index here is divided into more than twenty headings, as, for example, "By-Laws, Rules and Regulations," "Directors," "Bonds and Mortgages," being of such a character that it is easy to associate a point of law with the proper topic. This introductory index refers the reader to the very minute analysis which precedes the discussion. In detail the analyses are more exhaustive than we find in the Century Digest, but there is no reason why this should lead to confusion. Using the text as a medium, cases in point are the object of our search. It is essential, then, that the authorities given in support of a proposition should support it, that they should be the best law on the subject, and should be arranged according to states. It is a common criticism on the encyclopedia now in use that the authorities do not always support the propositions laid down in the text. By looking over a few columns of citations one cannot say whether or not this criticism will apply to the Cyclopedia of Law and Procedure.

The whole of each topic, including Pleadings, Evidence, and questions of Law and Fact, are treated under a single head. This is the wiser method. Experience has shown that in considering a question of pleading or evidence, encyclopedias on these very subjects are abondoned in favor of the work which treats a topic from every standpoint. The leading articles of Vol IX. are Contracts, and Copyrights, the former written by J. D. Lawson and the latter by Edmund Wetmore. The discussion of Contracts is especially valuable, because of the clear treatment of the modern law which it contains. Such subjects as Advertisement, under Offer and Acceptance, and Contracts in Restraint of Trade, are carefully and clearly treated. The same may be said in general of Copyrights. With the