surrogate having jurisdiction, at any time within six months after the public administrator became vested with the powers of an administrator upon such estate.

Every person keeping a hotel or boarding or lodging house in the city of New York shall report, in writing, to the public administrator the name of every person not a member of his family who dies in his or her house within twelve hours after such death; and every coroner, within twelve hours after an inquest, shall report to the public administrator the name, if known, of the deceased person. Every undertaker shall also report to the public administrator, within twelve hours after burial by him, any deceased person having no next of kin known to him to be entitled to administer, the name and residence of such deceased person. Whoever neglects to comply with this provision is deemed guilty of a misdemeanour, and, upon conviction, is punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary for a period not exceeding six months nor less than one month, or by a fine of $100, one moiety of which is given to the informer, and the other moiety is paid into the city treasury.

By chap. 335, laws of 1871, the surrogate of the county of Kings and county treasurer of that county were authorised to appoint a public administrator for the county of Kings, and thereafter from time to time, as a vacancy in the office should occur, to appoint a competent person to be the public administrator in the county of Kings, who should hold his office for the term of five years unless sooner removed for cause. This public administrator has absolute and sole authority to collect, take charge of, and administer upon the goods, chattels, personal estate, and debts of persons dying intestate, and for that purpose to maintain suits as such public administrator as any executor

or administrator may by law in the following cases :—

1. Whenever such person dies, leaving any assets or effects, in the county of Kings, and there is no widow, husband, or next of kin entitled to a distributive share in the estate of said intestate resident in the state, entitled competent or willing to take out letters of administration on such estate.

2. Whenever assets or effects of any person dying intestate, after his death, come into the county of Kings, and there is no person as aforesaid entitled competent or willing to take administration of such estate.

In the above cases intestacy is presumed until a will is proven and letters testamentary issued thereon. The surrogate of the county of Kings, in cases where authorised by law to issue letters of collection, may, in his discretion, issue letters of collection to the public administrator. He receives no salary for his services.

The county treasurer in each of the other counties of the state, by virtue of his office, has authority to collect and take charge of the assets of every person dying intestate where the assets amount to $100 or more, either in his county or out of it, upon which no letters of administration have been granted, (1) whenever the deceased intestate leaves assets in the county of such treasurer, and there is no widow or relative in the county entitled or competent to take letters of administration on such estate; (2) whenever assets of the deceased intestate, after his death, come into the county of such treasurer, and there is no person entitled or competent as aforesaid to take administration of such estate. But in the county of Richmond the county treasurer has not power to act as public administrator in those cases in which the public administrator in the city of New York has jurisdiction.

In general, mechanics' labourers and others who, by virtue of any contract with the owner or contractor, &c., perform labour or furnish materials used in building, altering, or repairing any house, building, or other improvements, upon lands or appurtenances thereto, upon filing the claim, have a lien for the value of such labour and materials upon such house, building, and appurtenances, and upon the lot of land upon which the same stand, to the extent of the right, title, and interest at that time existing of such owner, but not to a

greater amount than the agreed price or the value of the labour and materials unpaid at the date of filing the claim, This lien continues for one year only unless suit be meantime commenced. There are a number of Acts applicable to different kinds of work, and to certain counties and cities, as well as general provisions for all. The claims have to be filed with the county clerk within so many days after the completion of the work thirty, sixty, or ninety days, as the case may be.

Every mortgage or conveyance intended to operate as a mortgage of goods and chattels which is not accompanied by an immediate delivery and followed by an actual and continued change of possession of the things mortgaged, is absolutely void as against the creditors of the mortgager, and as against subsequent purchasers and mortgagees in good faith, unless the mortgage or a true copy thereof is filed in the office of the town-clerk in the several towns and cities of the state where the mortgager therein, if a resident of the

state, resides; and, if not a resident, in the city or town where the mortgaged property is at the time of the execution of the mortgage. Every mortgage so filed ceases to be valid as against creditors of the mortgager or against subsequent purchasers or mortgagees in good faith after the expiration of one year from the filing thereof, unless within thirty days next preceding such expiration of each and every year after the said filing a true copy of it with a statement of interest is again filed.

When the judgment of a court of record is duly docketed in a county clerk's office, it binds, and is, for ten years and no longer after such filing, a charge upon the real property and chattels real in that county which the judgment debtor has at the time of such docketing, or which he acquires at any time afterwards within the ten years. The judgment of a justice of the peace for $25 or more,

exclusive of costs, when duly docketed, becomes a lien upon and can be enforced against real property.

The goods and chattels of a judgment debtor not exempt by express provision of law from levy and sale by virtue of an execution, and his other personal property, which is expressly declared by law to be subject to levy by virtue of an execution, are, when situated within the jurisdiction

of the officer to whom an execution against property is delivered, bound | by the execution from the time of the delivery thereof to the proper officer to be executed, but not before. The title to personal property acquired before the actual levy of an execution by a purchaser in good faith, and without notice that the execution has been issued, is not affected by an execution delivered before the purchase was made to an officer to be executed.

The party recovering a final judgment, or his assignee, may have execution thereupon, of course, at any time within five years after the entry of the judgment. After the lapse of the five years, execution can be issued thereupon only (1) where an execution was issued within the five years and has been returned wholly or partly unsatisfied or unexecuted; (2) where an order is made by the court granting leave to issue the execution.

When owned by a householder, the following personal property is exempt from levy and sale by virtue of an execution; and each movable article thereof continues to be so exempt while the family or any of them are removing from one residence to another

1. All spinning-wheels, weavinglooms, and stoves, put up or kept for use in a dwelling-house; and one sewing-machine with its appurten

ances.

2. The family Bible, family pictures, and school-books used by or in the family; and other books, not exceeding in value $50, kept and used as part of the family library.

3. A seat or pew occupied by the judgment debtor or the family in a place of public worship.

4. Ten sheep, with their fleeces, and the yarn or cloth manufactured therefrom; one cow; two swine; the necessary food for these animals; all necessary meat, fish, flour, and vegetables actually provided for family use; and necessary fuel, oil, and candles, for the use of the family for sixty days.

5. All wearing apparel, beds, bedsteads, and bedding, necessary for the judgment debtor and the family; all necessary cooking utensils; one table; six chairs; six knives; six forks; six

spoons; six plates; six teacups; six saucers; one sugar-dish; one milkpot; one teapot; one crane and its appendages; one pair of andirons; one coal-scuttle; one shovel; one pair of tongs; one lamp; and one candlestick.

6. The tools and implements of a mechanic necessary to the carrying on of his trade, not exceeding in value $25.

In addition to these exemptionsnecessary household furniture, working tools, and team, professional instruments, furniture, and library, not exceeding in value $250, together with the necessary food for the team for ninety days, are exempt when owned by a person, being a householder, or having a family for which he provides, except where the execution is issued upon a judgment, recovered wholly upon one or more demands, either for work performed in the family as a domestic, or for the purchase-money of one or more articles, except as above mentioned.

Where the judgment debtor is a woman, she is entitled to the same exemptions as a householder.

The pay and bounty of a non-commissioned officer, musician, or private in the military or naval service of the United States; a land warrant, pension, or other reward granted by the

United States, or by a state for military or naval services; a sword, horse, medal, emblem, or device of any kind, presented as a testimonial for services rendered in the military or naval service of the United States; and the uniform, arms, and equipments which were used by a person in that service, are also exempt from levy and sale, and from seizure for non-payment of taxes, or in any other legal proceeding.

Land set apart as a family or private burying-ground, and designated, as prescribed by law, is exempt from sale by virtue of an execution, only upon these conditions

1. A portion of it must have been actually used for that purpose.

2. It must not exceed in extent one-fourth of an acre.

3. It must not contain, at the time of its designation, or at any time afterwards, any building or structure, except one or more vaults or other place of deposit for the dead, or mortuary monuments.

Any money, thing in action, or other property held in trust for a judgment debtor, where the trust has been created by, or the fund so held in trust has proceeded from, a person other than the judgment debtor; or the earnings of the judgment debtor for his personal services, rendered within sixty days next before the institution of the special proceedings, where it is made to appear by his oath or otherwise that these earnings are necessary for the use of a family, wholly or partly supported by his labour, are exempt from seizure.

Homesteads.-A lot of land, with one or more buildings thereon, not exceeding in value $1000, owned and occupied as a residence, by a householder having a family, and designated as an exempt homestead, as prescribed by law, is exempt from sale by virtue of an execution; but is not exempt from taxation or from

A

sale for non-payment of taxes or assessments, or from sale for unpaid purchase-money, or for a debt contracted prior to its being duly designated as an exempt homestead. married woman may in like manner, and to like effect, designate a similar exempt homestead owned and occupied by her as a residence. All conveyances containing such designation must be recorded in the office of the clerk of the county where the property is situated. The exemption

continues after the death of the person in whose favour the property was exempted, as follows:

1. If the decedent was a woman, it continues for the benefit of her surviving children until the majority of the youngest surviving child.

2. If the decedent was a man, it continues for the benefit of his widow and surviving children, until the majority of the youngest surviving child, and until the death of the widow.

The exemption ceases earlier if the property ceases to be occupied as a residence by a person for whose benefit it may so continue; but it is not affected by a suspension of the occupation for a period not exceeding one year, which occurs in consequence of injury to or destruction of the dwelling-house upon the premises. If the value exceeds $1000, the lien of the judgment attaches to the surplus, as if the property had not been designated as an exempt homestead, and the owner of the judgment may procure a sale of the property, and enforce his lien upon the surplus. The owner of real property thus exempt can get the exemption cancelled in terms of sec. 1404 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Any other release or waiver of an exemption of real property (allowed by art. 1, title ii., chap. 13 of the Code of Civil Procedure), or of a homestead, or a private or family burying - ground, is void.

Corporations are formed with great facility and at trifling cost, under general laws, and not by special Act except for municipal purposes, and in cases where, in the judgment of the legislature, the objects of the corporation cannot be attained under general laws. A "domestic corporation" is a corporation created by or under the laws of the state, or located in the state, and created by or under the laws of the United States, or by or pursuant to the laws in force in the colony of New York before the 19th day of April 1775. Every other corporation is a "foreign corporation." The immense variety of corporations formed under the laws is shown by the following "Titles of the corporations respectively," taken from the index of the Revised Statutes of New York (being 118 in number), viz. :— Accumulating. Agricultural. Academies.

To improve animals.
Artistic.

Athletic.

Bathing.
Banking.
Benefit.

Benevolent.

To improve birds. Boards of trade.

Books.

Brandy.

Bridge.

Building. Business.

Butter, cheese, &c.
Cemeteries.

Charitable.
Chemical.
Churches.
Church sheds.
Coal and peat.
Co-operative.
Cotton growing.

To prevent cruelty to children.
To prevent cruelty to animals.
Curative.

Dairy.

Domestic animals, &c. Dramatic.

Dental societies.

Dredging.

Driving park.