ONE HUNDRED KISSES.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 21 September 1880, Page 2

ONE HUNDRED KISSES.

!fhere is a very important lawsuit' in [ progress, which will be watched with ! interest ? by, the legal profession in all parts of the country. It is the first suit of the kind on record; but, in the event of the plaintiff's success, it will be by do means the last. j Some time ago. Miv Finch,, exhibited to a Miss Raters, & yov\ng lady- with • whom he was on friendly a beautiful set Pf |et, The lady was veryanxip.ua

*T vW to own the set, but was not aWio i, nv it. In these circumstances Mr. J( nc ?: proposed a novel kind of bargain, rr said that ho would sell Miss Waters set for 100 kisses, to be paid at the rato .f one kiss daily on each and every da\ next ensuing from the date of the agreement, excepting, nevertheless, each-and every Sunday thereafter. s lt was further- \ more provided that Mr. Finch was \ to call at the lady's house every morn- \ ing, except Sunday morning, to re-" ceive his daily kiss, which Miss Waters undertook and promised to fully deliver to him. This contract was not reduced to writing, but it was fully understood and agreed to by both parties, and the set of jet was tendered to Miss Waters and accepted by hor The next morning, Mr. Finch called on Miss Waters for his first kiss, which as the young lady now maintains, was fully paid. On each subsequent morning, for thirty consecutive days Sundays excepted—the same proceedings were had. On the thirty-first day, however, Mr. Finch made a formal complaint that Miss Waters was not fulfilling her contract, in. asmuch as she insisted upon permitting him to kiss her cheek only. He maintained that this did not constitute a legal kiss, and he demanded that he should bo allowed to put his left arm around Miss. Waters's waist and kiss her in the highest style of the art. To this request afirm refusal was returned. The lady expressed her willingness to carry out her agreement so far as her cheek was concerned, and even offered to give Mr. Finch his choice of cheeks, but she insisted that the contract would not bear the construction put upon it by Mr. Finch, and that she would never submit to such a construction. Thereupon Mr. Finch, in great indignation, left the house, and brought an action for breach of contract against the lady. There are many ignorant persons who fancy that the law is a dry, prosaic business. This action, however, proves tho contrary. The questions at issue in Finch against Waters come home to every mouth in the co.untry. There is at present & most lamentable vagueness of belief as to what constitutes a kiss, and'as to its precise legal status. We shall now havo these questions decided, and the social interests of the community cannot fail to be vastly benefited thereby. [lt is scarcely necessary to remark that, this did not occur in the Colony, but in the country of wonders of every description.]