The Supreme Court of North Carolina is to be called upon again to b ring all its judicial wisdom, legal erudition and profundity of intellect to bear upon a case where a long-eared, cold-nosed, lean and gaunt North Carolina hound is the object of main interest. The learned tribunal has before been called upon to consider and adjudicate grave points of law centering around an old-fashioned hound, because the “Down Home folks” lead those of other States, as in many other things in fondness for a hound, even excelling the people of Missouri in that respect, according to the opinion of some.
In the case in question that State’s judicial wiseacres will be called upon to settle a controversy that has arisen between a Mecklenburg county citizen, Sam J. Little of Morning Star ownership, and P.M. Cooper of Whittier, Jackson county, this State. Whittier is far over in the seclusion of the valleys made by the Blue Ridge range and the breeding of fine-blooded hounds is quite an important profession. The fame of Mr. Cooper’s hounds has reached Mr. Lilly of this county, who is a mighty hunter and very fussy about the kind of dog he hunts with. He has craved for some time a ‘possum dog that was absolutely reliable, one that would never become so unprofessional as to strike a rabbit trail if taken out for ‘possums at night, one whose nose was like a small icicle and who never gets fat no matter how much he eats. He wanted an aristocrat of a hound that would never lapse into the ways of a common hound.
With this idea in mind, Mr. Lilly wrote to Mr. Cooper and made his wishes known. Mr. Cooper answered that Mr. Lilly had applied at exactly the right place and at the right time. To make a long story short, Mr. Cooper shipped Mr Lilly a ‘possum dog “guaranteed,” according to the complaint, “to be full stock, a cold trailer and a good hunter.” The shipment in the shape of a crate with a hound in it arrived here in November, 1920. Mr. Lilly paid $40 for the dog.
Gave Dog Chance
All a-thrill with the ardor of the hunt, Mr. Lilly one evening shortly after the sun had dropped behind the Western horizon unleashed the new dog, gave a halloo that rang all ‘round the plantation and fared forth into a big area of native woods near the headwaters of McAlpine’s Creek in Morning Star township. Mr. Lilly sallied back and forth through the woods, encouraging the hound by every device known to keep ‘possum hunters, but the hound responded only occasionally and with mild interest at that. Mr. Lilly was profoundly chagrined and put out by the unprofessional conduct of the hound. Often he would go tearing through the underbrush after a rabbit and seemed to have no instinct for scenting ‘possums at all. On another night Mr. Lilly hoped to have better luck and offered the hound further chance to improve his conduct. The result was the same. If the hound had a cold nose, it was from a chill. As for being a cold trailer, Mr. Lilly opined he couldn’t follow a meat wagon hauling a warm load of newly-killed pork.
Disgusted, Mr. Lilly wrote to Mr. Cooper and told him his far-famed breed of hounds seemed to be a false alarm, and set forth in detail that the brute shipped to him was altogether short of the specifications Mr. Lilly had called for when he began looking for a real ’possum dog.
Lilly Enters Suit
Mr. Lilly made the letter so impressive that Mr. Cooper told him to ship the hound back and he would ship him another. The exchange was made, and Mr. Lilly had anticipations of many joyous nights in the woods of Morning Star township after the elusive marsupial. His disgust knew no bounds, however, when, after several trials, the new dog showed up in as poor form as the first. He also was evidently not the strain of ‘possum hound that Mr. Lilly was looking for. He did not respond, and Mr. Lilly entered suit in Mecklenburg Superior Court.
The case was heard before Judge Bis Ray at his week of civil court. The plaintiff asked for damages in the sum of $205, though the actual outlay in the way of purchase price was only $40. Mr. Lilly contends, however, that the continuous shipping of hounds back and forth between Charlotte and Whittier and the accrued expenses for crating, feeding and caring for the dogs, along with other items, amounts to $205. Judge Bis Ray ruled in the case that the plaintiff could not collect $205 in damages in a case where the purchase price was only $40, holding to the principle of law that a plaintiff could not collect for more than the purchase of the article. Three attorneys, two of Charlotte and one of Sylva, county seat of Jackson county, were engaged in the case. It promises to become famous in the annals of N.C. jurisprudence.
From the front page of The Charlotte News, Monday, December 12, 1921
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