Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/632

* CHAY ROOT. 550 CHECK. is the Indian niaddpr, and with it some tribes in C<? Ion fornifrlj- paid tlit-ir tribute. CHEAP'SIDE (,M. Engl, chcitc, AS. cCap, bargain, ultimately oonnetted with Lat. caupo, innkeeper + side). A stre*'t in London extend- ing from Saint Paul's Churebjard east to the Mansion Hou.se. It is famous for its fine stores, especially of jewelers and mercers, and for its historical reminiscences. It was originally an ojicn square crossed by Watling Street (q.v.), where fairs, markets, and the like were held dur- ing the Jliddle .ges. Jt is from its mediaeval use that it received its name. The square was narrowed down into a street after the 'Great Fire.' CHEAT (abbrevation of escheat; OF. eschet, Med. Lat. excadere, from Lat. ex, out + cadere, to fall). As a term of English criminal law,cheat has a narrower signification than in popular usage. For example, a man may be induced to sell goods on credit to another by the false rep- resentation of the latter concerning his finan- cial responsibility, and thus be defrauded: but such fraud by the purchaser does not amount to a conunonlaw cheat. To constitvite that offense, false weights and measures, or a false token, coin, or sign nuist be used, or there must be a conspiraey (q.v.) to cheat and defraud. It was an offense against i)ublie trade, rather than against an individual. By statute, both in England and in the United Stales, many fravidu- lenl acts are indictable which did not amount to common-law cheats. See False Pretenses. CHEAT. See Brome Grass. CHEAT RIVER. A river of West Virginia, formed by four forks, rising in the eastern part of the State in the .lleghany Mountains, and uniting in Tucker County (Map: West Virginia, E 2). It ilows through a region rich in iron and coal, and joins the Monongahela River in Penn- sylvania, 4 miles from the State line. It is about 125 miles long, but drains a rather narrow area, owing to its nearness to other streams. It fur- nishes abundant water-power, and in portions of its course Hows through narrow gorges amid magnificent scenery. CHEATS, The. A comedy by John Wilson written in l(i(i2. published in London, in qiarto. in 1004, and ])crformed by Killegrew's com- pany at Vcre .Street, (Tare JIarket. in 100:i. It is a satirical farce in mockery of the Non- conformists, and excited so much disapproba- tion that it was soon withdrawn. See Scruple. CHEATS OF SCAPIN, ska'paN', The. A farce by Otway, performed in February, 1077. and published in the same year, bound up with the author's Titus and Berenice, which had l)een first produced at the same performance. A sec- ond edition appeared in 1701. It is a close adaptation of Moli&re's Les fourberies de Scapin, and was played as far down as the end of the Eighteenth Ccnturj The first edition was dedi- cated to Lord Rochester. CHEBEC. The lea,st fly-catcher {Empidonax mininitis]. a small, olive-green garden bird, com- mon in the eastern United States, so named from its sharply accented call-note. .See Pewee. CHEBOYGAN. shc-boi'g«n. A city and county-seat of Cheboygan County, Mich., 16.5 miles north by west of Bay City, at the mouth of the Cheboygan River, on Lake Huron, and on the Michigan Central Railroad (Map: Michi- gan, .13). It has a good harbor, connected with lake ])orts by regular steamship lines, and con- trols large lumbering interests. Settled in 1849, Cheboygan was incorporated in 1877. The gov- ernment is administered by a mayoi, annually elected, and a city council. The water-works are owned and operated bv the nnuiicipalitv. Popu- lation, in 18110, 02;iu:' in 1!)00, 0489. CHECHEN. See TcHETniEX. CHECK, or CHEQUE. A bill of exchange (<].v. ) drawn on a banker payable on demand. Such is the definition given in the Knglish Hills of E.xchange Act, 1SS2 (4.") and 40 Vict., c. 01, § 73), and in the Xegotiable Instruments Law, which has been adopted by a numberof the I'nited States. (See Laws of New York, 1897. chap. 012. § .321.) In a few Stales it has been held that an instrument drawn upon a printed blank- check form, and diirering from an ordinary check only in that it was payable on a day subsequent to its date, is a check, as distinguished from a bill of exchange. Such was not the prevailing view, however, even before the statutes al)0ve referred to. It is not necessary that a check be drawn by a customer on his banker, nor that it be drawn against funds, although ordinarily it is so drawn: and a person who obtains money on a check which he knows is drawn by one not entitled to draw for the amount specified there- in ciiunnils a fraud and iiuiy be lialile to crim- inal ])unishmcnt. .A check is intended for prompt presentment, and not for u.se as a continuing security: and when presented it is to be paid by the hanker and canceled, not accepted and returned to the holder. In this country the usage of certifying checks prevails. The liability of a bank which certifies a check drawn upon it is the same as that of a drawee who accejits a liill. Tlic elTcct of ccrtificatiiin ujion the draw- er's liability depends upon whether it was pro- cured by the holder or by the drawer. If the drawer procures it, he remains liable on the check as the drawer of an accepted bill of ex- <'hange, payable on demand. If the holder pro- cures it, the drawer and indorsers are discharged from liability. In other words, the holder in the latter case chooses to substitute for payment t)y the b;ink its promise to pay. .Mere delay in presenting a check does not discharge the drawer, unless loss is caused to him thereby. At common law, if the delay did result in loss, as where the bank failed during the period of delay, the drawTr was discharged in toto. By the English Bills of Exchange .Act and the American Nego- tiable Instruments Law, this has been modified, and he is discharged only to the extent of the loss caused by the delay. Crossing checks is an English usage which does not prevail in this countrj'. It consists (1) in writing across the face of the check the words "and comi)any' between two parallel lines, or in simply drawing two parallel trans- verse lines across the face; or (2) in writing across the face the name of the banker. The first is called a general crossing, the latter a special crossing. A crossed check is payable only when presented through a bank, and one crossed specially is payable only through the bank specified. The usage was introduced as a protection and safeguard to the owner of the check, but it did not restrain the negotiability of the instrument. The Bills of Exchange .Act