Volume 49 — Iowa Reports

The petition of plaintiff in substance alleges that on April 8, 1874, N A. Havens made to plaintiff his promissory note for thirty-six dollars and eighty-five cents, with ten per cent interest, and a reasonable attorney’s fee if suit should be commenced to collect the same, and that on May 8,1874, S. & Z. Gr.

Court. Action in equity to subject certain real estate standing in-, the name of the defendant Sallie M. Morton to the payment of a judgment against her husband, the defendant L. M. Morton. Held: and rendered a decree for the plaintiffs. Defendant Sallie M. Morton appeals.

The defendants Palmer & Johnson claimed to be the owners of said notes, and denied that the same had been paid, and they asked judgment for the amount due thereon against the plaintiff.

What this affidavit contained does not appear. On the 3d day of March, 1877, the plaintiff caused an original notice to be published in a newspaper called the Butler County Press, notifying the defendant that on or before the 29th day of March, 1877, there would be on file in the office of said clerk a petition of plaintiff claiming of defendant one hundred and fifty dollars on account, and that unless he - should appear thereto and defend before noon o' the second day of…

. On the 26th day of October, 1874, the defendants executed to John H. Dorland their negotiable promissory note for one thousand five hundred and sixty-five dollars, payable in twelve months from date, with interest at ten per cent. Said note was indorsed in blank by Dorland to the plaintiff, before maturity.

Action in chancery to subject certain real estate to judgments recovered by plaintiffs, and to declare a mortgage thereon executed by one of the defendants to the other to t»e void, on account of the fraudulent purpose of the parties thereto to defeat plaintiffs, as the creditors of the mortgagor. There was a decree dismissing plaintiffs’ petition, from which they appeal. The facts of the case are stated in the opinion.

The plaintiff commenced an action against defendant for the recovery of damages for an alleged wilful and malicious assault, and procured an attachment against the defendant’s property on the ground of his non-residence. The defendant answered, justifying the assault, and claiming damages for the wrongful and malicious suing out of the attachment. There was a jury trial, resulting in a verdict for defendant for thirty dollars.

' The defendants were indicted for the crime of breaking into a store-room with intent to commit the crime of larceny. There was a verdict of guilty, judgment, and defendants, appeal.

1, Practice : CERTIFICATE of judge. The certificate of the judge necessary to give a party the right to appeal a case involving less than one hundred dollars to the Supreme Court must be made at the term at which the case is tried. Appeal from Delaware District Gov/rt. This is an action of replevin for a colt, commenced before a justice of the peace, and involves less than one hundred dollars.

Appeal frpm Linn District Court. On the 4th- day of March, 1868, the plaintiff recovered a judgment in the Dubuque District Court against the defendant, Heil Hale, for the sum of three thousand four hundred and nineteen dollars. Said judgment was founded upon a promissory note executed at Memphis, Tennessee, May 7, 1864, for a stock of sutler’s goods.

The petition states that under and by virtue of an ordinance of the city of Burlington a contract was entered into between the plaintiff and the city, whereby the plaintiff agreed to construct water-works, by means of which the city and citizens thereof, in that portion of the city denominated as the “water district,” could be supplied with water; that plaintiff had fully complied with the contract on its part, but that the defendant, as mayor of the city, had refused to…

The appeal in these actions involves the question of the rights of the intervene >-s. The actions are really one, or were so originally. The action was entitled H. Read et al v. C. K. Howe et al., and was brought to set aside an administrator’s sale and conveyance of certain tracts of land. The plaintiffs were successful as to two quarter sections.

The action was brought before a justice of the peace, on an indemnifying bond. The question is as to the jurisdiction of the justice. A petition was filed, in which the amount claimed is precisely one hundred dollars.

After the plaintiff’s appeal was perfected, the pleadings and evidence in the case were lost. The plaintiff then moved in the District Court for an order that the papers be substituted. The motion was overruled, and the plaintiff appeals from the order overruling the motion.

The petition of plaintiff in substance alleges that at the June Term, 1858, of the Mitchell District Court, the defendant, G. B. Mayfield, recovered judgment against plaintiff, a nonresident, through service by publication and attachment of certain property, for nine hundred and twenty-nine dollars and sixty-three cents and costs, with an order for special execution against the attached property; that in procuring the entry-of judgment in said action the plaintiff therein,…

The defendant was indicted and convicted of the crime of larceny in stealing certain property belonging to one Horn, and now appeals to this court.

This is an action for the recovery of ten thousand dollars for alleged injuries sustained by plaintiff while in the employ of defendant, as a section hand on its track, running a hand car. The petition, in substance, alleges that the hand car was not suitably constructed; that it was old and worn out; that it was overloaded; that plaintiff was compelled to occupy a dangerous position thereon, and that it was run in a careless and negligent manner.

The defendant Williams purchased of the plaintiff certain real estate, and executed a mortgage upon the same to secure the purchase money. And in order to increase the security lie bound himself to put upon the premises improvements to the amount of four thousand dollars within a specified time. The other defendants, N. II.

The defendant was indicted for feloniously breaking into the court-house building of Decatur county with intent to steal. There was a trial and conviction. The defendant appeals.

Action to recover for personal injuries received by the plaintiff’s intestate, Larz Nelson, while employed by the defendant in loading one of its ears. The action was brought by Nelson in his life-time. After one or more trials of the action he died, and his mother, Mary Simonson, is substituted as administratrix.

The petition states that on the 8th day of August, 1854,, the defendant executed, under oath, a confession of judgment in Jefferson county, New York, whereby he admitted himself justly indebted to James Freeland et al. in the sum of two thousand one hundred and fifty-one dollars and twenty-five cents, for goods, wares and merchandise sold and delivered that said confession was duly filed in the Supreme Court in and for the city and county of New York, a court of competent…

An indictment in two counts was presented against the defendant. The first count charges her 'with the crime of burglary, the second with the crime of larceny. The defendant moved the court to compel the State to elect on which count it would proceed. The motion was overruled. The defendant also demurred to the indictment, for duplicity, which demurrer was overruled. She was convicted on both counts. Defendant appeals.

Á2opeals from Pottawattamie District Cowrt. Actions in attachment. Certain of the defendants are intervenors claiming to own parts of the real estate attached. The plaintiffs, for answer to the petitions in intervention, averred that the conveyances by which the intervenors held title were made to defraud creditors. The actions were referred and tried upon oral testimony.

<p>1. Promissory Note: interest annually. A note containing the provision “with interest annually, at seven per cent per annum,” contemplates the payment of interest each year, and upon a default in such payment a cause of action accrues thereon to the payee of the note.</p>

On the 23d day of August, 1877, the plaintiff filed a petition in equity, in substance as follows: “1. That the plaintiff William Mills is the owner of a certain lot in the city of Dubuque, on which is erected a brick dwelling-house, wood-shed and other out-buildings. “2.

<p> Appeal from Union District Court. </p> <p>This is an action for judgment upon a promissory note executed to plaintiff by the defendant P. EL Seay, for two hundred and eighty dollars, with ten per cent interest, payable annually in advance, and for the foreclosure of a mortgage executed by the defendants to secure said note. The defendants’ answer alleges that after said note was issued it was materially altered, without the consent of the defendants, and with the knowledge, consent and authority of plaintiff, by cutting off and removing from the bottom thereof the following words: “We will pay fifteen per cent interest in addition to the interest mentioned in the above note.” The plaintiff filed a demurrer to this answer, which was overruled. The plaintiff filed an amendment to his petition, as follows: “That on or about the 11th of January, 1875, the plaintiff, at the request of the defendant P. EL Seay, loaned to the said P. EL Seay the sum of two hundred and eighty dollars, no part of which has been paid; that defendant orally agreed to pay ten per cent interest per annum for the use of the money loaned, no part of which has been paid, except the interest for one year; that to secure the payment of the money loaned the defendants executed and delivered to plaintiff their certain mortgage deed upon lots 687 and 688 in Afton, Iowa, a copy of which mortgage deed is annexed to the original petition in this case, and (plaintiff) demands relief as prayed for in original petition.”</p> <p>The defendants deny the allegations of this amendment, and aver that the mortgage was executed to secure the payment of a note for two hundred and eighty dollars, which has been materially altered, as above set out. The defendants demanded a jury trial, which the court denied. The defendants excepted. The cause was tried by the court, and the facts were found as follows:</p> <p>1. That there had been a material alteration of the note sued upon, as declared in the original petition, and by reason of said alteration that plaintiff might not recover thereon.</p> <p>2. That on the 11th day of January, A. D. 1875, said plaintiff loaned to the defendant P. H. Seay the sum’ of two hundred dollars, and no part of the sum has been paid.</p> <p>3. That said sum of two hundred dollars was loaned on a usurious contract.</p> <p>i. That the mortgage given by P. PI. Seay and S. E. Seay on lots six hundred and eighty-seven and six hundred and eighty-eight, in the town of Afton, was given to secure said loan of two hundred dollars. The court rendered judgment in favor of plaintiff for two hundred dollars against P. PL Seay, and in favor of defendant against the plaintiff, Samuel Clough, for the costs of the suit, and in favor of the State of Iowa for* the use of the school fund against the defendant P. H. Seay for forty-eight dollars and seventeen cents, and decreed a foreclosure of the mortgage, and ordered that special execution issue against said mortgaged premises to satisfy said several judgments, with interest at six per cent per annum. The defendants appeal.</p>

In 1873 the defendant Bryant was clerk of the District Court of said county, and this action was commenced April 9, 1877, on his official bond, to recover damages alleged to have been sustained by reason of negligence in accepting and approving a bond staying execution on a judgment in favor of the ■ plaintiffs, and against S. S. Baylis.

Action to recover upon a subscription to the stock of the plaintiff company.

This action was brought against appellant, and Weidling & Evers, to recover damages for an alleged breach of warranty in the sale of a “Dexter threshing machine.” A demurrer of Weidling & Evers, on the ground of a misjoinder of parties, having been sustained, and the plaintiffs having elected to stand on the petition and amendments thereto, the appellant filed and pressed to hearing a motion to change the place of trial, on the ground that he was a resident of Scott county.

The plaintiff alleges that she. bought from defendant fifty-feet of a town lot in West Cedar Rapids; that defendant executed to her a deed conveying but forty feet of said premises; that by the false and fraudulent representations of said defendant plaintiff was induced to believe, and did believe, that the deed delivered to her conveyed the whole of said premises; that by the false and fraudulent representations of defendant she has been damaged in the sum of four hundred…

The. plaintiff avers that on the 19th clay of March, 1872, Oliver Tuttle made, executed and delivered to the defendant a conveyance, of which the following is a copy: “For the consideration of one dollar to Oliver Tuttle in hand paid by the Burlington & Missouri Railroad Company, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, we, Oliver Tuttle, hereby grant, bargain, sell and convey unto the said company a strip or parcel of land described as follows, to-wit: So much of the…

Action to recover for personal injuries alleged to have been sustained through the negligence of the defendant in regard to one of its streets. The alleged negligence consisted in allowing lumber to be piled in a street called Valley street. The lumber was piled in the form of steps, and the accident was caused by the plaintiff’s ascending the lumber under the supposition that he was ascending a flight of steps, and by falling from the top into a creek.

It is charged in the indictment that the defendant, being agent and servant of G. C. Heberling, as such, and by virtue of his employment, received a certain sum of money which he feloniously and fraudulently embezzled,- and converted to his own use. The defendant was convicted, and appeals.

<p>1. Municipal Corporations: street railway: contract. Where a city granted to a street railway company the right to lay a double track in its streets, and thereupon the company expended a large amount of money in the enjoyment of the franchise thus conferred, it was held that the citjr could not afterward, b3r amendment to the ordinance conferring the franchise, limit the company to a single track in a street through which it proposed to extend its line.</p> <p>2.--:-- — •:--. Before the city could, in the exercise of its police power, limit the company to a single track, it must have been made to appear that the exercise of the right granted by the original ordinance wrought injury.</p>

The plaintiff, being a physician and surgeon, made certain post-mortem examinations at tlie request of the coroner of the county, and this action was brought to recover for the services performed.

In October, 1875, G. M. Ochiltree obtained judgment against the Missouri, Iowa & Nebraska Railway Company for the sum of four thousand five hundred dollars. In 1875 the plaintiff, George M. Ochiltree, became indebted to A. J. Morrison & Co. in the sum of one thousand one hundred and fifty dollars.

Action to set aside a mortgage as constituting a cloud upon the plaintiff’s title. The plaintiff purchased the premises in question of one William H. Furman. At the time he purchased a mortgage had been executed upon the premises to the defendant, Carrie W. Thayer, and recorded; but it had been indexed and recorded as executed by William H. Freeman instead of William H. Furman.

Action upon a promissory note by the indorsee against the maker. There was a verdict and judgment for defendant. Plaintiff appeals.

The defendant was indicted for the robbery of one E. Lalor of one fifty-dollar bill, and two-five-dollar bills; was tried, convicted, and sentenced to the penitentiary for three years. He appeals.

The petition contains two counts. In the first it is stated that the defendant Roberts entered into a contract with the plaintiff whereby he agreed to construct new north and south fronts to the court-house in said county, according to certain specifications, for the sum of seven hundred dollars; that for .the faithful performance of the contract he executed a bond, which is made a part of the petition, and which was signed by the other defendants as his sureties; that on…

, This action was originally brought February 5,1875, against Charles B. Kline for the possession of forty acres of land described in the petition, and for rent and damages for wrongfully keeping plaintiff out of possession.

The plaintff averred in his petition, in substance, that the defendants are partners; that as their agent he purchased for them one hundred and twenty-three hogs, at three dollars and fifty cents per hundred pounds; that they authorized him to pay for them with his own money, and that he did so; that they refused to receive the hogs and pay for them, and that by such refusal he was damaged in the sum of five hundred dollars.

Plaintiee recovered a decree in an action to foreclose a mortgage upon which a special execution was issued for the sale of the land covered by the mortgage. He directed notice of the sale to be published in a newspaper designated by him. The sheriff, who is the defendant in this proceeding, refusing to follow plaintiff’s direction, commenced the publication of the notice in another newspaper.

On tlie 17th clay of August, 1874, a paper purporting tobe the last will and testament of Bernard Slaven, deceased, was filed for probate in the court below. Margaret Farrell,. a minor, was one of the beneficiaries named in said will. Upon the filing of the will the clerk of the court gave the notice provided by section 2341 of the Code. At the time fixed for proving the will the court appointed John W. Farrell guardia]! ad litem of said Margaret Farrell.

This action was brought to recover of the defendants, as partners, for money and property of the plaintiff used by one of the partners in paying a partnership debt. There was a trial by the court, and a finding of facts which are, in substance, as follows: At the time of the transaction in question the partnership theretofore existing between the defendants had been dissolved. By arrangement between them Limes was to collect the debts due the firm, and pay the firm debts.

In 1870 J. B. Shaw, the husband of plaintiff, executed to the National State Bank of Mount Pleasant bis note for five thousand dollars, and a mortgage to secure it. In March, 1874, Shaw died, and this note, by successive renewals, had become a note for five thousand dollars, dated November, 1873, due in ninety days.

In April, 1876, the plaintiff brought an action in equity against the defendant, in which he sought to recover on an account for flour sold and delivered. The sheriff and another were also made defendants, and an injunction was asked restraining the foreclosure of a chattel mortgage, and a judgment was asked for the amount due on‘the account, and also to set aside the mortgage and declare it void. An injunction was granted, but it was, on motion, dissolved.

Plaintiff filed in the Circuit Court of Yan Burén county, sitting as a court of probate, a promissory note in the following words: “Independent, Iowa, April 9, 1877. “On or before one month after the benefits of the policy .given by the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, of Hartford, Connecticut, to Nathaniel W! McKee is due and payable, we or either of us promise to pay to the order of Charles PI.

Action in chancery to set aside a sheriff’s sale of land and the deed made thereon. One of the defendants, in his answer, which is in the nature of a cross-petition, asked that his title, based upon the sheriff’s deed, be quieted. Plaintiffs’ petition was, upon a trial on the merits, dismissed, and the relief asked in defendants’ cross-petition was granted. Plaintiffs appeal.

The plaintiff was formerly the wife of the defendant. In an action brought by her for divorce and alimony a decree of divorce was granted, and alimony was allowed to the amount of three thousand dollars, and the plaintiff was given the custody of their two youngest children. She brings this action to obtain the custody of the three oldest children, and to obtain a modification of the decree as to alimony.

As these two causes present for consideration the same questions, but a single statement of facts is deemed necessary, In April, 1874, Henry Pfotzer died, seized of lot 64, in the city of Dubuque. As his widow, the plaintiff, had a dower interest therein of one-third, for life, the remaining interest vested in the children of the deceased.

• At the Julie Term, 1878, a motion was filed to dismiss this appeal, because — First, no notice of appeal was served, as required by Code, §§ 3178, 3179; second, no transcript or agreed abstract was filed in this court; third, no motion was ■made in the court below for a trial on written evidence, and, therefore, there could not be a trial de novo in this court, and appellants have failed to assign errors, or serve any on appellee. This motion was sustained.

The plaintiff alleges that the defendant employed plaintiff as a teacher and principal in the schools of defendant for eight months, at one hundred dollars per month, with the stipulation that “either party shall have the right to annul said contract by giving thirty days’ notice;” that at the expiration of four months the board of directors, without the thirty days’ notice, and without fault on the part of plaintiff, or any just cause or excuse, annulled the contract, and…

<p>X. Criminal Law : evidence. Tlie testimony of a witness as to what may have been stated to him by the prosecuting witness, in identification of the place where the offense charged was alleged to have been committed, is not admissible.</p>

<p>1. Contempt: EVIDENCE : INTENT. In a proceeding for the punishment of a contempt, growing- out ol' publications alleged to be false, scandal-' ous and defamatory, evidence is admissible to show tlie meaning and intent of the publications.</p>

<p>1. Mechanic’s Lien : filing of settlement. The requirement of the statute that the written settlement with the sub-contractor shall be given to the owner and contractor by the laborer claiming a lien is sufficiently complied with by filing the settlement with the clerk within the thirty days allowed for filing the lien.</p>

<p>1. Practice in the Supreme Court : ttíiai. de Novo. Where the certificate of the trial judge recites that the case was tried upon oral testimony, and it does not appear that a motion was made for a trial upon written evidence, the case will not be tried de novo in the Supreme Court.</p>

Appeal from Tama Disttict Court. Action of replevin. A demurrer to the petition was sustained and judgment rendered thereon. Plaintiff appeals.

ActioN for personal injuries alleged to have been sustained by reason of a defective sidewalk. . Tliis case is before this court for the fourth time. It is reported in the 39th, 42d and 45th Iowa. The last trial, as well the former ones, resulted in a verdict for plaintiff. Defendant appeals.

The plaintiff claims the right to recover of the defendant the amount of the judgment thus sold by his wife. Other facts are stated in the opinion. There was a trial by jury, and verdict for the plaintiff. Defendant appeals.

This is a suit upon four promissory notes, all of which are of the same tenor, excepting the amounts and time of payment. The following is a copy of one of said notes: “Eldora, Iowa, August 15, 1872. “On or before the 27th day of September, A. D. 1872, for value received, I promise to pay to the order of W. J. Moir, trustee, at Eldora, Iowa, the sum of thirteen dollars, with interest at the rate of ten per cent until paid. “(Signed) R. IT.

Rapicls. This action was brought in the Superior Court of the city of Cedar Rapids, upon two promissory notes. There was a. judgment for plaintiff. Defendant appeals. The facts of the case are found in the opinion.

Certain children residing in -the plaintiff township attended school in the defendant township, and the latter filed a claim for the tuition with the county auditor, with the design and intent of having the amount thereof deducted from the apportionment of school money to be made to the plaintiff, and the same paid to the defendant. This action was brought to enjoin such payment, and involved the question whether the plaintiff can legally be compelled to pay such tuition.

Action upon a promissory note for seven hundred dollars, payable to the order of plaintiff, and signed by tbe defendants. as makers. The defendants answered, averring that the note was usurious, and offered to confess judgment in favor of plaintiff for the sum of six hundred and two dollars, and judgment for the interest to the school fund; that the defendants Noble and Gardner were principal debtors on said note, and the defendant Erits was surety.

The defendant was indicted for the crime of rape npon tbe person of one Ida Hakes, and convicted of an assault with intent to commit rape. Having been sentenced, he appeals to this court.

Action at law. The cause was submitted to the court without a jury, and a judgment was rendered for plaintiff. Defendant appeals. The facts of the case appear in the opinion.

Action upon a promissory note executed by defendants, and payable to the order of Edwin Bayliss. Tlie original petition was filed by said Bayliss as plaintiff, and is in the usual form of a petition upon a promissory note. Afterward a motion was made to substitute the Merchants’ and Manufacturers’ National Bank of Pittsbui gli as plaintiff.

The petition states that in March, 1857, the defendants were engaged in business at Council Bluffs, Iowa, as bankers, general collection and real estate agents; that the plaintiff then and ever since has resided in Pennsylvania, and on the 6th day of said month he “entered into a verbal agreement with the defendants, under which he sent them one thousand dollars, which defendants agreed to receive and hold in trust for him, and as soon thereafter as opportunity should…

The plaintiff seeks tile establishment of a mechanic’s lien on the railway of defendant. There was a reference to the Hon. S. Gr. Smith, who reported the facts and his conclusions of law, and his report having been confirmed by the court and lien denied, the plaintiff appeals.

Action in chancery to enforce a vendor’s lien. There was a decree for plaintiff. Defendant appeals. Tbe facts of tbe case appear in tbe opinion.

The defendant was indicted for wilfully administering to a pregnant woman a drug and substance, and using an instrument and other means, with intent to produce the miscarriage of such' pregnant woman. Upon a trial there was a verdict of guilty, and the defendant was sentenced to the penitentiary for nine months. Defendant appeals.

AN information was filed before a justice of the peace charging that the plaintiff kept and sold intoxicating liquors contrary to law. A warrant was issued, and placed in the hands of the defendant Shook, who was marshal of the town of Moulton. Under and by virtue of the warrant the said defendant seized certain intoxicating liquors, which he claims to have stored in a proper place. But this was a controverted question on the trial.

<p> Appeal from Marshall Circuit Coivrt, </p> <p>Action for seduction. The facts are stated in the opinion. Judgment for plaintiff. Defendant appeals.</p>

This is an action in equity, to enforce against the defendant Hill the specific performance of a parol contract for the sale of one hundred and twenty acres of land. The petition alleges that the defendant Hill gave plaintiff possession of the land in controversy, which was unimproved prairie, and that plaintiff entered thereon and did a large amount of breaking.

'Appeal from Linn District Court. Action at law. The plaintiff alleges that defendant, as the agent of plaintiff, received and disbursed large sums of money on its account; that, pretending he had paid to one Dawley for the purchase of certain lands three thousand and forty dollars, he caused himself to he credited upon plaintiff’s books with that sum. The petition then proceeds in the following language: “3.

Action upon a guardian’s bond. There was a judgment for plaintiff against the guardian, but not against the surety. The guardian and plaintiffs all appeal. The facts of the case appear in the opinion.

On the 9th day of June, 1853, one Hayes Black executed and delivered to the defendant, E. Rockliold, his' promissory note, by which lie undertook to pay to the order of said Rockliold, in eighteen months thereafter, the sum of two hundred and five dollars. On the same day Black and his wife executed and delivered to Rochhold a mortgage upon certain real estate in Jasper county, to secure the payment of said note.

Action upon a promissory note of which the following is a copy: “For value received I'promise to pay to the Grinnell & Montezuma Railroad Company, or bearer, the sum of three hundred dollars upon the completion of said railroad, and cars running thereon to the depot at Montezuma, Iowa, if done within one year from the 1st day of January, 1875, with interest at the rate of ten per cent per annum from maturity.

The record in this case discloses the following facts, which are not in dispute, and which, for convenience, we copy from the statement in the brief of appellant’s counsel: “On the 29th day of December, 1871, the Governor of Iowa issued to the defendant company, by the then name of the Dubuque, Bellevue & Mississippi Railway Company, a patent for thirty-eight thousand acres of land, known as the Tete des Morts land grant, which patent was forthwith recorded in the proper…

On the 2d day of August, 1872, the plaintiffs filed their petition in the Poweshiek District Court, alleging that the defendant A. Shaw, with his own money, purchased certain real estate and caused it to be conveyed to his minor sons, O. E. and L. C. Shaw, for the purpose of hindering and delaying creditors, and praying that the minor defendants may be decreed as holding the legal title in trust for the defendant, A. Shaw.

Action in chancery. There was a decree dismissing plaintiff’s petition, and he appeals. The facts are stated in the opinion.

The plaintiff as surety, and the defendant as principal, executed a promissory note to one Hillman, which note was afterward put into judgment against both plaintiff and defendant.

Action to foreclose a mortgage given to secure the payment of a promissory note, of which the following is a copy: “On or before the 1st day of November, 1885, for value received, I promise to pay to the order of Henry Booknau two thousand dollars, with interest from date until paid, at the rate of ten per cent per annum, payable annually, and reasonable attorney’s fee, if suit is commenced on this note. “(Signed) ■ , Helen O. Burnett.” The mortgage contains a stipulation…

This is an action to foreclose a mortgage upon certain real estate. The petition made certain judgment lien-holders parties defendant, averring that said liens were junior and inferior to plaintiff’s mortgage. The mortgagor made no defense. The owners of the judgments answered, averring that the judgment liens were prior and superior to the lien created by the mortgage. The cause was submitted to the court below upon the following agreed facts: 1.

<p> Appeal from Des Moines District Cowt. </p> <p>The plaintiff claims that he was the holder of a chattel mortgage upon a certain ñatboat owned by one Corville ; that the defendant Haw, being the coroner and acting sheriff of the county, arrested said Corville and his wife upon a charge of keeping a house of ill-fame upon said boat, and seized the boat in the Mississippi river and removed it to the levee at Burlington; that said Corville and wife were admitted to bail upon said charge in the sum of five hundred dollars, and plaintiff became surety on the bail bond, upon condition that said boat and the personal property thereon should be turned over to plaintiff to secure him from loss on said bond, and that thereupon defendant Haw, with the consent of said Corville, delivered said boat and contents to plaintiff; that afterward defendant Haw, claiming to act under and by virtue of an order or process from one Dodge, a justice of the peace, took possession of said boat and contents by force and violence, and .refused to deliver the same to plaintiff on demand, and while thus in possession of said Haw acting as sheriff, said Haw did with force and violence mar, injure, sink and destroy said boat.</p> <p>It is averred that the boat was of the value of eight hundred dollars, and that Corville made default upon said bond, and plaintiff has been compelled to pay the amount thereof, to-wit: five hundred dollars, and has lost the security for the payment of the balance due upon said chattel mortgage.</p> <p>It is further averred that the defendants other than Haw are sureties upon his official bond as coroner of Des Moines county, and judgment is prayed upon said bond for plaintiff’s alleged damages.</p> <p>The answer of defendant Haw, in addition to its general denials, avers in substance that by reason of the death of the sheriff of said county he, as coroner, was acting sheriff, and that the said boat was kept as a house of ill-fame on the Mississippi river, within the jurisdiction of the courts of Des Moines county, and that defendant, in obedience to law and a warrant for the arrest of said boat as a nuisance, did, with a posse and with the aid of a steamboat, take possession of said fiatboat and its contents, including its occupants, and the ■same was by said steamer towed to the levee at Burlington, “there to remain and await the order of the court before which an information had been filed against the keepers, viz.: Corville and wife, for keeping a house of ill-fame; that while said information was pending, and before the grand jury sat, said boat was stolen at night from the possession of defendant by some of its former crew, assisted by this plaintiff, as defendant believes; that the same was done without the knowledge of defendant. Defendant further states that after said boat was stolen, and while being conveyed to its former harbor by the thieves, it sunk in the Mississippi river near the Illinois shore, and was, subsequently, without fault or negligence of defendant, burned. ”</p> <p>The sureties of defendant Haw answer in substance that as such sureties they are not liable “for any real or pretended acts or malfeasance of said Haw, as sheriff. ”</p> <p>There was a trial by jury, and a verdict and judgment against the defendant Haw and the sureties on his bond for the sum of three hundred dollars, and against the defendant Haw alone for the further sum of forty dollars. Defendants appeal.</p>

The petition of plaintiffs alleges that the defendants C. R. Peek, B. W. Davis, H. C. Cramer, and the Jasper County Coal Company attempted.to form a corporation under the name and style of the Iowa & Minnesota Construction Company, to commence on the 14th day of October, 1875, and continue in force for twenty years; that the Jasper County Coal & Railway Company entering into such organization is composed of the defendants E. H. Griggs, D. S. Couch, D. L. Clark, D. Ryan,…

Apiieal from Franklin District Court. The plaintiffs are tax payers and owners of real estate in said county, and bring this action to restrain the collection of certain taxes.

The defendant was convicted of murder in tbe second degree, and sentenced to twelve years confinement in tbe penitentiary, for the killing of George Howrey, and now appeals to tbÍ3 court. Tbe facts of tbe case, so far as they are necessary to be stated for a proper understanding of the points ruled by the court, are found in the opinion.

The plaintiff purchased certain real estate at tax sales made by the treasurer of said county, and this action is brought to recover the money paid said treasurer at the sale, and also certain sums paid subsequently, as taxes assessed on the land purchased. The petition contained twenty-eight counts. To this petition the defendant filed a demurrer applicable to the whole petition.

ActioN to replevy a horse. The answer shows that the defendant claims to own the horse by purchase from one H. B. Carter in 1873. The plaintiff shows in evidence that the defendant gave his note for the horse; that he refused to pay the note; that an action was brought on it by this plaintiff as indorsee, and the defendant pleaded as a defense that the note was given on Sunday, although not so dated.

ActioN upon a promissory note. The defendants, by way of counter-claim, aver that they boarded the plaintiff for several years, and that she was indebted to them therefor in the sum of two thousand two hundred dollars. The plaintiff is step-mother of the wife of the defendant J. M. Molsberry. She commenced living with him in December, 1866, and lived with him most of the time for about ten years.

The defendant Spencer L. Woodworth was formerly administrator of the estate of one Spencer L. Nye. He resigned, and the defendant' Samuel Rees has been appointed. While Woodworth was administrator he collected the sum of one thousand five hundred and seventy-four dollars belonging to the estate, and still retains the same in his hands. The jil a,in tiff is sole heir of the decedent, and brings this action to recover the amount as due her as such heir.

ON the 2d day of October, 1876, the plaintiffs filed in the Cass Circuit Court a petition in substance alleging that on or about the 1st of August, 1876, plaintiffs entered into a parol contract with the defendant Ballard for the purchase of a certain lot of fat cattle and hogs for the sum of seventeen thousand dollars, and as part of said purchase money they executed to said Ballard their joint note for two thousand dollars, secured by a chattel mortgage upon a certain lot…

ON the 8th day of -June, 1876, the plaintiff commenced against L. D. Porch an action of replevin for eleven barrels and two half barrels of liquor, of the alleged value of two hundred dollars, alleging that the said liquors were in the original packages in which they were imported into the State with lawful intent, and not with intent to avoid the laws of Iowa for the suppression of intemperance, and that defend- * ant claims to hold the property under some process against…

Action to foreclose a mortgage given to secure certain promissory notes payable to Phillips & Carmichael. The notes were transferred by indorsement to D. Elwell & Co., by whom they were transferred to the plaintiff. The defendants filed an answer, and the plaintiff dismissed its action. The court held that the defendants were entitled, under the allegations of the answer, to a trial.

A$>peal from, Clarice District Cov/rt. ActioN to quiet title to certain lands. There was a decree granting the relief prayed for by plaintiff. Defendant appeals.

ActioN before a justice of tbe peace. A judgment by default was rendered on July 19, 1875, against tbe defendants. On tbe next day tbe defendants appeared and filed a motion, accompanied with affidavits, showing among other things a meritorious defense to set aside the default and judgment on the ground that it had been rendered before the time allowed by law. The motion was overruled.

The plaintiff S. W. Cobb, doing business in the city of St. Louis, under the name of S. W. Cobb & Co., avers in his petition that he was employed by the defendant, to buy and sell wheat for him at St. Louis; that among the transactions he bought for defendant, in November, 1875, ten thousand one hundred and thirty-seven and eighty one-hundredth bushels of wheat, and in December, 1875, he sold the same for the defendant, at a loss (stating the amount), for which he asks…

Action at law to recover for damage sustained by plaintiff on account of defendant mining coal situated under the bouse and premises of plaintiff, and tbe adjacent streets. There was a verdict for plaintiff. Defendant appeals.

This is an action upon a promissory note executed by defendant to W. W. Kimball or order, for one hundred dollars, indorsed to plaintiff.

Plaintiffs made their motion for the entry of a judgment rvmc pro tune upon a trial before the court, and a finding for plaintiffs, as shown by the minutes entered in the court calendar by the judge. The trial was had three years and six months before the motion was made, and the clerk neglected to enter the judgment.

The plaintiff owns and occupies as a residence certain lots in the town of Hamburg. The defendant is the lessee or owner of a railroad running through that town. In the summer of 1875 rain-storms occurred, and the plaintiff’s premises were overflowed and his property damaged. He claims the overflow was caused by the negligent and improper construction of the embankments of the road, in that sufficient waterways were not provided.

This is an action in equity to subject certain property — the legal title to which is in the defendant Frances C. — to the payment of a judgment recovered against J. W. Morse. The court dismissed the petition, and plaintiff appeals. The facts are stated in the opinion.

This is an action of replevin for six plows of the alleged value of twenty-three dollars each. The cause was tried by the court, and a finding of facts was submitted by the court, as follows: I. Plaintiffs are a copartnership engaged in the manufacture and sale of agricultural implements at Beloit, Wisconsin. II. On the 2d day of March, 1877, Johnson & Searles, of Greene, Butler county, Iowa, executed the following instrument to plaintiffs: “Messrs.

On the 12th of March, 1877, the plaintiff filed his petition claiming of the defendant the sum of two thousand three hundred and sixty-three dollars and twenty-three cents, on account of alleged deposits with the defendant of one thousand dollars December 4,1874, and one thousand dollars February 8,1875, and the further sum of one thousand and thirteen dollars and forty-four cents, on account of deposits alleged to have been made by H. P. Stolp, the claim for which plaintiff…

Appeals from Pottawattamie District Court. Actions upon promissory notes; verdicts and judgments for plaintiffs; defendants appeal. The three cases are presented together upon one abstract. The facts of the case presented to the court appear in the opinion.

Mandamus. There was a judgment in the court below for plaintiff. Defendants appeal. The facts of the case appear in the opinion.

Aotion in equity, to have declared null and void a certain contract to modify judgments rendered in pursuance thereof, and to set aside a sale of the Farmers’ Union Railroad, made under one of said judgments. The facts are stated in the opinion. The District Court found for the defendants, and entered a decree accordingly. The plaintiffs appeal.

Action upon a promissory note. The cause was tried to the court without a jury, and judgment rendered for plaintiffs for the amount of a tender made by defendants. Plaintiffs appeal. The facts of the case are stated in the opinion.

Action by an attorney at law’to recover for services rendered in prosecuting a prisoner indicted for murder. There was a verdict and judgment for plaintiff. Both parties appeal. The facts of the case appear in the opinion.

Action to recover tbe possession of personal property. Plaintiff claimed to be tbe owner, and as sucb entitled to the possession. The defendant denied that plaintiff was the owner or entitled to the possession, and also claimed that he was rightfully in possession, and that he was entitled thereto •as a partner of the plaintiff.

Action upon a promissory note. There was a judgment for plaintiff. Defendant appeals. The facts of the case appear in the opinion.

On the 12th day of July, 1870, plaintiff obtained a judgment in the court below against D. G. Sabin. On the 22d day of April, 1874, an execution was issued upon said judgment to the sheriff of Jones county. Said execution was served by attaching the defendant Jacobs as garnishee, and he was notified to appear on the first day of the next term of the Johnson Circuit Court to answer. He demanded his fees of the sheriff, but the same were not paid for want of funds.

Apipeal from, Polk Circuit Court. Action to foreclose a mortgage. The defendant Rivers applied for a change of place of trial to the District Court, on the ground of prejudice of the circuit judge. His motion was supported by an affidavit in due form, and purported to be signed by the requisite number of persons. The plaintiff moved that the persons whose names appeared to the affidavit be produced by defendant Rivers for cross-examination in open court.

Action in replevin to obtain possession of a combined reaper and mower. The machine in question was sold in 1876 by Warder, Mitchell & Co., through these defendants, as their agents, to one Dumphy. The sale was made with a warranty. Afterward, and before the machine was paid for, Dumphy became dissatisfied, and claimed that the warranty was not fulfilled.

The defendant was convicted of the crime of seduction, and sentenced to a term of imprisonment in the penitentiary of tbe State, and now prosecutes bis appeal to tbis court. Tbe facts of tbe case appear in tbe opinion.

This is an action upon a judgment rendered against defendant in favor of plaintiff, on the 16th day of February, 1872, before J. B. Preston, a justice of the peace of the town of Gfouverneur, St. Lawrence county, New York, for the sum of two hundred dollars and costs.

Action to recover for injuries done a mare and colt owned by plaintiff, by an engine operated by defendant upon its railroad running upon and striking them. There was a verdict and judgment for plaintiff. Defendant appeals. The facts of the case involved in the points ruled by the court appear in the opinion.

This is a special proceeding. A motion was filed in tbe court below asking a judgment against tbe defendant, on the ground that be, as attorney for tbe plaintiff, had obtained a judgment and collected tbe money thereon, which he refused to pay over to the plaintiff. There was a trial to the court, without objection, and judgment rendered for the defendant, and plaintiff appeals.

The defendant, under the law in favor of occupying claimants, seeks to recover of plaintiff the value of improvements, which he alleges he made in good faith, while in possession, under color of title and claim of right, of a certain quarter section of land of which plaintiff has, in a proper proceeding, been adjudged to be the owner. The cause was tried by the court, and a finding of facts was rendered as follows: “1.

ActioN for breach of contract to furnish mill power. Tbe defendant is tbe owner of a steam engine, wbicb be uses in connection witb a plow and wagon shop in the city of Des Moines. Haying more power than he desired to use himself, he entered into a contract with the plaintiffs to furnish them power to run a corn-sheller, corn-burr and hominy mill.

ON the 8th day of October, 1873, a judgment by default was rendered in favor of plaintiffs against Jonas P. Oolby, James Cornwall and Asa C. Gall, surety, for two hundred dollars.

Action for the partition of certain real estate. The plaintiffs, Missouri Flock, Thomas Wyatt, Isabel Helphray, and Susan Weir, aver in their petition that they are each the owner of one thirty-fifth part. The defendants, William Wyatt, Reuben Smith and Robert B. Smith, in their answer deny such claim. The court entered a decree that one thirty-fifth part should be set out to each of the plaintiffs as prayed.

This case is the. same as that reported in 42 Iowa, 677. The defendant owned and operated a coal mine, located a little more than a mile from Carbon station, on the Illinois Central Railroad, and put in a spur track over its own land, extending from the coal shaft to the Illinois Central Railroad track, over which coal for some years had been hauled by horses in Illinois Central Railroad cars.

The petition states that “plaintiff, for cause of action against the defendant, states the defendant, J. B. Jones, maliciously and unlawfully wrote and composed the false, scandalous and libelous article hereinafter set forth, which article was by the defendant caused to be published in an issue of' the Algona Republican, a weekly newspaper published at Algona, Kossuth county, Iowa, of general circulation, November 1, 1876, tending to provoke plaintiff to wrath, expose him…

Action on a contract. The proper averments were made, ■authorizing the issuance of an attachment. The same was issued, but the clerk affixed thereto by mistake the seal of the Circuit, instead of that of the District, Court. The defendant filed a motion to quash, and release the property attached, because the writ of attachment did not have affixed thereto the seal of the District Court.

Action in equity. The petition states that tlie defendant, by the then county judge, issued to one Wilson a pre-emption certificate (which is made a part of the petition) covering certain described land, which at that time was swamp land, belonging to the county; that said certificate has been assigned to and is the property of the plaintiff; that he, “in the spring of 1870, took possession of said land, improving and cultivating the same in virtue of his ownership of said…

Action to foreclose, as plaintiff claims, a mortgage or vendor’s lien. The District Court found for the plaintiff, and the intervenors appeal. The facts are stated in the opinion.

The plaintiff is the owner of a woolen mill upon the Upper Iowa river at the city of Deeorah. The motive power of the mill is furnished by the river. East of and below the mill the defendants Greer and Hunter have erected a dam across the river, and the back flowage of the water caused by the erection of the dam has impaired the water-power heretofore enjoyed by the plaintiff.

The defendant was indicted for obtaining property by false pretense.

Action in chancery to quiet the title of certain lands in plaintiff. Upon a hearing on the merits the Circuit Court rendered a decree granting the relief prayed for, from which defendant appeals.

N. Weaver, Judge, at Chambers. The plaintiff applied for and obtained a writ of habeas corpus. The defendant is deputy sheriff of Kossuth county, and as such he has the custody of the petitioner, who is confined in jail in that county. The petitioner had been brought before one Davey, a justice of the peace in Estherville township, Emmet county, for a preliminary examination upon an information charging him with the crime of assault with intent to kill.

Action of replevin. There was a verdict and judgment for defendant. Plaintiffs appeal. The facts of the case are stated in the opinion.

These are actions in chancery to quiet the title of the respective plaintiffs to two different tracts of land, severally involved in each action. Plaintiff’s petition was dismissed in the first action; the relief sought in the second was granted. The county appeals in each case.

The defendant Lowry is the treasurer of Polk county, and as such was, at the time of the commencement of this action, proceeding to collect a tax voted in Des Monies township, in said county, to aid in the construction of a railroad belonging to the defendant the Des Moines & Minnesota Railroad Company. The plaintiff is a tax-payer of Des Moines township, and as such he brings this action to enjoin the defendant Lowry from the collection of the tax.

The defendant was convicted of the seduction of an unmarried woman of previously chaste character, and sentenced to imprisonment in the penitentiary for the term of one year. He now appeals to this court. The facts of the case are stated in the opinion.

The defendants are husband and wife, and this action is brought on a promissory note executed by John Muth. A judgment is asked against him for the amount of the not.e, and also that it be made a charge on the separate property of his wife. The defendant Louisa Muth demurred to the peti. tion, which being sustained, the plaintiffs appeal.

This is an action upon a note, and for the foreclosure of a. mortgage in the • following form: “For consideration of one thousand dollars, Emma C. and E. GL Wright soil and convoy unto * * * lot numbered twenty-five, etc., in Carpenter’s amended addition to the city of Burlington, to be void on condition that Wright will pay his note for one thousand dollars, payable to Julia Disque or order.” The petition alleges that by oversight and mistake in the draughtsman the number…

The petition sets forth in substance that plaintiffs recovered a judgment against the defendant Thomas Henney; that execution was issued thereon, and that no property was found upon which to levy the same; that on the 18th day of January, 1876, the said Thomas Henney entered into a partnership with Jacob and Peter Klauer for the purpose of carrying on the stove and tin-ware business, and that the articles of copartnership were drawn in the name of the said Elizabeth Henney,…

The parties hereto were married in the province of Nova Scotia in the year 1843. In 1871 a decree of divorce was entered in the court below, at the suit of th' defendant herein. It was charged in the petition for divorce that the plaintiff herein had been guilty of adultery and desertion. There was no appearance to the petition for divorce by plaintiff, she being at that time a non-resident of this State and a resident of New Brunswick.

Action in equity. The plaintiff Joseph Riddle, being the owner of certain real estate, conveyed the same to the defendant Cutter upon certain expressed trusts.

Action in chancery. The petition alleges that plaintiff William P. Watson and the defendants, on the 1st of December, 1813, entered into a written contract of copartnership to prosecute the business of fishing and shipping, selling and disposing of fish, to be prosecuted at some point or points, to be afterward selected, either in California, Oregon or Washington Territory. The name and style-chosen for the partnership was The Columbia Salmon Company.

The defendant is administrator, of the estate of J.W. Wat-, son, deceased. The plaintiffs are creditors of the estate. As snob they filed exceptions to the administrator’s report. The court overruled the exceptions, and from the order overruling them they have taken this appeal.

Appeal frovi Polk Circuit Court. Action in chancery to restrain defendant, who is a road supervisor, from opening a road laid off through the land of plaintiff. The relief prayed for by plaintiff in his petition was granted by the final decree, from which defendant appeals.

The plaintiff alleges that in the fall of 1876 the defendant, by his agent, employed W. W. Wahl, C. H. Edwards and George Edwards to work by themselves and teams in building bridges in Monroe county, and that the said W. W. Wahl, C. H. and George Edwards assigned their several causes of action on accounts to plaintiff, in virtue whereof the plaintiff claims of defendant the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars.

The plaintiffs hold a promissory note executed by one Vandevent as principal, and one Fowler as surety.. The action is brought to collect of the defendant the amount of the note.. The plaintiffs aver in their petition that the defendant agreed with Vandevent to pay it. They aver that the defendant purchased land of Vandevent, and agreed to pay the note as a part of the consideration.

In April, 1873,. James R. McMillin purchased certain real estate and gave a mortgage thereon to secure a portion of the purchase money. At the time the real estate was conveyed to him, and the mortgage executed, there were certain taxes on personal property due from said McMillin, and other taxes, on the same description of property were afterward, and before the’ foreclosure of the mortgage, assessed against him.

On the 24th day of May, 1876, Lyman F. Hodges filed his petition in replevin for eighteen hundred bushels of wheat, claiming that he had a lien thereon for the sum of two thousand dollars. On the 31st day of October, 187G, the cause was, by consent of parties, duly referred by order of the court to J. O. Crosby, Escp, as referee, to hear and try all the issues of law and fact, and report therein to the court.

Appeal from Union District Court. Action to set aside a tax deed. The district court dismissed the petition, and the plaintiff appeals.

On the 23d day of February, 1878, Charles Gilmore obtained permission of the judge of the Fourth Judicial Circuit to commence and prosecute an action against one Jacob Min-ton, under chapter 6, of title 20, of the Code of 1873.

Appeal from Henry Circuit Court. Action for the specific performance of a contract in relation to real estate. Prom the decree both parties appeal.

The plaintiff filed her petition, stating as follows: “September 12, 1839, she was lawfully and duly married unto the said decedent, Bernard Slaven, and thereafter lived and cohabited with him as his lawful wife.

<p>1. Arbitration and Award: when not final. An award by an arbitrator wbo, by tbe terms of the submission, is empowered and required to determine all questions at issue, may be set aside if it is not final and conclusive of the rights of the parties.</p> <p>2. Public Lands: railroads: forfeiture. Where lands were conferred upon a railroad company by the Legislature of the State of Iowa, upon the conditions that the company should receive them in installments as the work of construction progressed, and that, if the road were not completed to a designated point at the time specified, then the State might resume the rights conferred by the act making the grant, it was held that, even in the absence of an act of the Legislature after a default by the railroad company, the latter, by reason of a noncompliance with the conditions, did not possess any rights which could be enforced in the courts.</p>

Appeal from Polk Circuit Court. Action to recover specific personal property. There was a. trial by jury, verdict for plaintiff, and defendants appeal.

This action was commenced against the railroad company to recover the value of a ear load of wheat consigned to the plaintiffs, which tlie company refused to deliver to them. The consignors of the wheat, Kenworthy & Deaton, intervened, claiming they were interested in the subject-matter of the action, and filed their petition of intervention. To such petition tlie plaintiffs demurred, and moved to strike the same from the files. Both were overruled.

Action in chancery to restrain the defendant from entering upon and improving, as a street, a small tract of land adj acent to, and claimed by plaintiffs to be a part of, lot 530, in the city of Dubuque, the title and possession of which are in them. There was a decree dismissing plaintiffs’ petition, from which they appeal. The facts of the case appear in the opinion.

An information was filed before the mayor of the city of Washington charging that the defendant did unlawfully sell whisky, wine and other intoxicating liquors, contrary to the ordinances of the city, and the peace and dignity of the State of Iowa. The defendant pleaded not guilty. A trial resulted in his conviction, and he appealed to the District Court, where, after a trial by jury, he was again convicted, and he has appealed to this court.

The plaintiffs held a judgment against the defendant Andrews for two hundred and thirty-five dollars debt, and seventy-two dollars costs. Execution was issued thereon and returned no property found. This action is brought to subject to the payment of the judgment certain real estate, the title of which was formerly in Andrews, but is now in the defendant Williams. The plaintiffs aver that the conveyance to Williams is fraudulent. Decree for plaintiffs.

The plaintiff claims a divorce from the defendant upon the ground that since his marriage he was convicted of the crime of an assault with intent to commit a rape. ■ The defendant answered, admitting that at the time and in the court mentioned he was convicted as set forth, but alleging that by serving proper notice and executing sufficient bond he perfected his appeal from the judgment of conviction of .the felony referred to in the petition to the Supreme Court, which said…

Appeal fi\opi Johnson Circuit Court. The defendant ivas garnished as tbe debtor of William Scott, in a proceeding before a justice of the peace.. Scott claimed that the debt was exempt from garnishment for the reason that it was for the personal services of himself and sons, rendered within the ninety days next preceding the garnishment. Judgment was rendered against plaintiff, and upon an appeal to the Circuit Court a like judgment was rendered. Plaintiff appeals.

ActioN to replevy a wagon. The defendant is constable, and as such had levied a writ of attachment upon the wagon as the property of one Allen. The plaintiff was formerly the owner of the property, and claims that he made a conditional sale to Allen; that the conditions of the sale were not performed, and that before the levy he retook possession.

Action upon two promissory notes. The defendants, for answer and counter-claim, aver that they purchased of the plaintiffs a threshing machine, and gave their notes therefor; that the plaintiffs warranted the machine; that there was a breach of the warranty; that after it was discovered they gave the plaintiffs the notes in suit, with additional security, in renewal of the notes given for the machine, but they say that they expressly declared and notified the plaintiffs’…

This action was brought under section 1539 of tbe Code. Judgment was rendered against tbe defendant in favor of tbe school fund for three hundred dollars. The defendant appeals.

This is a proceeding to obtain a new trial in an action in chancery in which a decree was rendered against defendant granting the relief prayed for in plaintiff’s petition. A demurrer to defendant’s petition was sustained, and from this decision it appeals. The facts of the case appear in the opinion.

This proceeding was commenced by tbe appellant filing with the sheriff of Scott county a petition for the appointment of. freeholders to assess the damages caused by the location arid construction of appellant’s railway along the bank of the Mississippi river, between high and low water mark, in front of certain premises occupied by the appellees as lessees.

The petition of plaintiff, filed on the 8th day of January, 1877, in the first count alleges in substance that on the 10th day of February, 1853, Charles Foster executed to Martin Ballard a mortgage upon the south-east quarter of section 15, in township 77, range No. 8 west, in Washington county, to secure the sum of three hundred and seventy-five dollars, on that day borrowed of the school fund by said Foster, to become due in five years, for which sum Foster executed his…

Action in equity to quiet the title to real estate. The Circuit Court found for the plaintiff, and entered a decree accordingly. The defendants appeal.

Action in chancery to quiet the title of certain land in plaintiff. The petition alleges that through mistake and oversight a conveyance in plaintiff’s chain of title to the land, being the deed from the grantee of the government, was not recorded until a quit-claim deed from the same person to one of the defendants was executed and filed for record.

The plaintiff brought an action before a justice of the peace in this State against one Doolittle, and obtainedaa judgment against him. A transcript of the same was filed in the Circuit Court of Pottawattamie county, and an execution issued thereon by the clerk of said court, and the defendant was garnished as the supposed debtor of Doolittle.

<p>1. Pleading! promissory note : denial of execution. Tile denial, in an answer, of the “execution” of a note sued on, is not sufficient to cast upon the plaintiff the burden of proving the genuineness of the signature, but will permit defendant to prove that the signature is not genuine.</p>

This is an. action in equity for the foreclosure of a mortgage against the defendant Elijah Bird, and to declare a judgment lien, which the defendant Charles Wolf holds against the defendant Elijah Bird, junior and inferior to the claim of plaintiff. The court rendered judgment in favor of plaintiff, and declared her lien superior to that of the defendant Wolf, who alone appeals.

<p>Practice in the súfreme court ; trial de novo : record.</p>

The plaintiffs, who ave heirs of Frederick Greiner, Sr., deceased, bring this action to set aside a deed executed by said decedent to his son, Frederick Greiner, Jr., alleging that the defendant fraudulently, and by undue influence and duress, obtained said deed ; that at the time the deed was made, and for months previous thereto, deceased had been laboring under a fatal disease; was old, weak, childish, an imbecile, and mentally incapacitated to do any business whatever;…

Appeal ;from Sioux District Court. Action to foreclose a mortgage executed bv the defendants Fannie B. Baker, and herhusand William H. Baker, to secure three promissory notes, each providing for an attorney’s fee in case suit should be commenced. The defendant Emma Cavanaugh has a mortgage upon the same premises, which she claims has priority over the plaintiff’s mortgage. The plaintiff denies the priority. The defendants Fannie B. and William H. Baker made default.

Action on a negotiable promissory note. The defense pleaded was that the note had been transferred to plaintiff after due, and that defendant had paid the note to the payee, in accordance with a written contract of even date with the note. Jury trial, verdict and judgment for the plaintiff, and the defendant appeals.

In 1874 an action was commenced against the defendant by R. Weston, to recover five thousand eight hundred dollars on an account which was attached to the petition, and showed there was due the plaintiff upward of ten thousand dollars. The defendant pleaded a counter-claim, and asked a judgment for fifteen thousand dollars. He also asked that J. H. Weston and R. & J. H. Weston be made parties, which was accordingly done.

Plaintiee brought suit against Perry, the maker, and E. Hogue and M. ,T. Mead, indorsers, of a note for one hundred and forty-four dollars, payable to the order of M. J. Mead. Perry, the maker, and M. J. Mead, the payee and indorser, made default and judgment was rendered against them.

. The plaintiff, being the owner of considerable property, and the father of nine children, one of whom is the defendant, made a division thereof among them upon their agreement to pay him one hundred dollars each, yearly, during his life. This action is brought to recover the amount claimed to be due. There-was a jury trial, verdict and judgment for the plaintiff, and defendant appeals.

Tun defendant was indicted for the larceny of a silver watch of the value of fifteen dollars, and sixty-seven dollars in money. He was tried, convicted, and sentenced to the penitentiary for two years. He appeals.

<p> Appeal from Dubuque Distniel Oowrt. </p>

Appeal from Black BLcrnk District Court. The defendant was convicted of the crime of larceny, and, having, been sentenced, appeals tp this court.