Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/761

 HIRAM iployed for their hardness in the manufac- ture of artificial teeth, and for various orna- mental purposes ; and for their tough skin, which is made into shields and helmets, and cut into cylindrical strips, which form the whips of the Cape colonists. The voice of the animal is between a grunt and a neigh, and has been compared by travellers to a variety of discordant sounds. Its voracity is very great, and its destruction of the native crops, both by devouring and treading them down, has been known and deplored from the earliest antiqui- ty. Besides man, the principal enemy of the hippopotamus, and in its own element, is the crocodile ; the ancients believed that an inex- tinguishable enmity existed between these an- iinals, but both are so well armed and defend- ed that they probably do not very often attack each other. This animal was well known to the ancients, and it figures under many shapes in their writings ; accurate representations are given on Roman coins and Egyptian sculptures ; it was occasionally seen in their triumphal pomps and gladiatorial shows. Since the time of Bochart the behemoth of the Hebrews has been supposed by many to be the hippopota- mus, and some of the verses in the 40th chap- ter of Job well apply to this animal ; some au- thors, however, Milton among the rest, deny that these animals are the same, without throw- ing any light upon what the behemoth really is. For interesting details on the method of hunting these unwieldy creatures, see Gordon Cumming's "Hunter's Life in Africa," and An- dersson's "Lake Ngami, or Explorations and Discoveries during Four Years' Wanderings in the Wilds of S. W. Africa;" and for notices of their character and habits, Livingstone's " Trav- els and Researches in South Africa." The hippopotamus is found fossil in the tertiary and diluvial formations of Europe and Asia. HIRAM, a township of Portage co., Ohio, 33 m. S. E. of Cleveland; pop. in 1870, 1,234. It is situated on the range of hills dividing the wa- ters that flow N. to Lake Erie from those flow- ing S. to the Ohio river, about 2 m. from the Mahoning branch of the Atlantic and Great Western railroad. It is the seat of Hiram col- lege, under the charge of the Disciples. This institution was founded as the Western Reserve eclectic institute in 1850, and its name was changed in 1867. The building occupies a healthy site, commanding fine views. In 1872- '3 there were 9 professors and instructors; number of students 286, of whom 126 were females, including 35 collegiate and 7 prepar- atory students, 19 in the commercial course, and 51 in the normal class. The rest were pursuing English and selected studies. The libraries contain 2,500 volumes. HIRING. One may hire a person or a thing, and the thing hired may be real estate or per- sonal chattels. For the law of hiring real es- tate, see LEASE. In this article we shall treat only of the hiring of persons, and of the hiring of chattels. In England the relation of mas- HIBING 743 ter and servant is peculiar, and is perfectly recognized both by custom and by law, and it is governed by principles which apply to no other relation. In the United States it is simply one of contract so much work for so much wages; and it is governed by the ordinary rules of the law of contract. If the servant is disobedient or negligent, it may be a good ground for with- holding wages, or for discharge, according to circumstances ; and if he does any injury he is responsible in damages ; and this is all. If a servant contracts to labor for a definite period, and leaves the service without excuse before that period has elapsed, it is held in a majority of the states that he can recover nothing ; but in some, following a New Hampshire decision, it is decided that he may recover what his services actually performed are worth, not exceeding the contract price, but subject to a deduction of all damages sustained by the master for the breach of contract. This rule would seem to work justice to both parties. If, however, the servant leaves because of ill treatment, or is driven away, or is sick, or has any good cause for leaving, he may under all the cases recov- er wages for the time he has served. On the other hand, a servant who is hired for a cer- tain term, and is turned away before the time is up, without good cause, may tender his service for the whole period, and keep himself ready to render it, and can then recover for the whole period. The question how far a master is responsible for the acts of his servant will be considered, with some connected ques- tions, under the title SERVANT. We will now pass to the hiring of a chattel. In one sense a ship is a chattel; but the hiring of a ship will be treated under SHIPPING. The contract of hiring a chattel is for the mutual benefit of the owner and the hirer ; the hirer is therefore bound, not to extreme care, but to ordinary care, which is defined as that care which a man of ordinary capacity would take of his own property under ordinary circumstances; and he is responsible for any injury caused by a want of such care. This obligation varies with the thing hired ; it is one degree of care with a costly watch or jewel, or a valuable horse, and another with coarser and cheaper things. The hirer is, in general, as responsible for the negligence of his servants about the thing hired as for his own. Whether he would be responsible for a wilful injury by his servant would depend somewhat on circumstances, and may not be certain from the authorities ; but we should say, in general, that he would not be so responsible. It may be said that he is not responsible for injury caused by the theft, robbery, or violence of others, unless his own negligence or default caused or facilitated the wrong. If he sells the chattel or gives it away, he can pass no title, and the owner may de- mand and take it from the receiver or from any buyer even if he bought in honest ignorance of the owner's title, and paid full price for it. The obligations of the owner of a thing hired