Clear

Free from indistinctness or uncertainty; easily understood; perspicuous, plain; free from impediment, embarrassment or accusation. Webster. For a clear deed, see Rohr v. Kindt, 3 W. & S. (Pa.) 563, 39 Am. Dec. 53; clear title; Roberts v. Bassett, 105 Mass. 409; clear of expense; 2 Ves. & B. 341; clear of assessments; Peart v. Phipps, 4 Yeates (Pa.) 386; clear days; 14 M. & W. 120; 3 B. & Aid. 581. the master or commander (naming him) of a ship or vessel named and described, bound for a port named (and having on board goods described, in case the master requires the particulars of his cargo to be stated in such clearance), has entered and cleared his ship or vessel according to law. This certificate, or clearance, evidences the right of the vessel to depart on her voyage; and clearance has therefore been properly defined as a per, to sail. The same term is also used to signify the act of clearing. Worcester, Diet By U. S. R. S. § 4197, the master of any vessel bound to a foreign port shall deliver to the collector of the district from which he sails a sworn manifest of his cargo and its value. To s;iil without a clearance is punishable by a fine of $500. By R. S. § 4200, before a clearance can be granted to any foreign-bound vessel the owners, shippers or consignors of the cargo shall deliver to the collector sworn manifests of their parts of the cargo, specify the kind of goods shipped and their value, and the master of the vessel and the owners, etc., of the cargo shall subscribe an oath as to the foreign place in which such cargo is intended truly to be landed. The collector of the port cannot refuse clearance because a ship contains contraband; Northern Pac. R. Co. v. Trading Co., 195 U. S. 439, 25 Sup. Ct 84, 49 L. Ed. 2G9. According to Boulay-Paty, Dr. Com. t. 2, p. 19, the clearance is imperatively demanded for the safety of the vessel; for if a vessel should be found without it at sea it may be legally taken and brought into some court for adjudication on a charge of piracy. See Ship's Papers.

Plain; evident; free from doubt or conjecture; also, unincumbered; free from deductions or draw-backs.

— Clear annual valne. The net yearly value to the possessor of the property, over and above taxes, interest on mortgagee, and other charges and deductions. Groton v. Boxborough, 6 Mass. 56; Marsh v. Hammond, 103 Mass. 149; Shelton v. Campbell, 109 Tenn. 690, 72 S. W. 112.

— Clear annuity. The devise of an annuity "dear" means an annuity free from taxes (Hodgworth v. Crawley, 2 Atk. 376) or free or clear of legacy or inheritance taxes. In re Bispbam's Estate, 24 Wkly. Notes Cas. (Pa.) 79.

— Clear days. If a certain number of clear days be given for the doing of any act, the time is to be reckoned exclusively, as well of the first day as the last. Rex v. Justices, 3 Bam. & Aid. 581; Hodgins v. Hancock, 14 Mees. & W. 120; Slate v. Marvin, 12 Iowa, 502.

— Clear evidence or proof. Evidence which is positive, precise and explicit, as opposed to ambiguous, equivocal, or contradictory proof, and which tends directly to establish the point to which it is adduced, instead of leaving it a matter of conjecture or presumption, and is sufficient to make out a prima facie case. Mortgage Co. v. Pace, 23 Tex. Civ. App. 222, 56 S. W. 377; Reynolds v. Blaisdell, 23 R. I. 16, 49 Atl, 42; Ward v. Waterman. 85 Cal. 488, 24 Pac. 930; Jennyn v. McClure, 195 Pa. 245, 45 Atl. 988; Winston v. Burnell, 44 Kan. 367, 24 Pac. 477, 21 Am. St. Rep. 289; Speni-cer v. Colt, 89 Pa. 318; People v. Wreden, 59 Cal. 395.

— Clear title. One which is not subject to any incumbrance. Roberto v. Bassett, 105 Mass. 409.

In a devise of money for the purchase of an annuity, this term means free from taxes, 2 Atk. 376. In the phrase “clear yearly value,” clear means free from all outgoings like a rentcharge, as losses by tenants and management, to which a rent charge is not liable. 2 Ves. 439, -