Notes of Cases*

Admiralty. General Average—Spontaneous Combustion of Cargo. N. Y. In an admiralty case coming before it recently, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, in the absence of a decision in this country contrary thereto, followed the authority of a House of Lords case, Greenshields v. Stephens (Appel late Cases, 1908, p. 431, 10 Mar. Law Cases, N. S., 597, aff'd by the House of Lords, L. R., App. Cases, 1908, p. 431), in which it was held that the owner of a cargo which is lost by becoming ignited by spontaneous com bustion, being sacrificed in order to save the vessel, is entitled to a general average con tribution from the shipowner. Atlantic Mutual Insurance Co. v. Schooner Wm. J. QuiUan (Jan. 1909). Agency. Husband and Wife—Signature to a Check—Evidence. Kas. Where the issue is whether a husband was the agent of his wife, with authority to sign her name to a check upon her bank account, it is held, in Hawkins v. Windhorse (Kas.), 96 Pac. 48, 17 L.R.A. (N.S.) 219, that evi dence that he frequently signed checks on her account, with her knowledge and consent, s competent. Arrests. Executive Warrant—Constitu tional Law— Non-Liability of Official Issuing Process. U. S. While a county of Colorado was in a state of insurrection the president of the Western Federation of Miners was arrested on an executive warrant as a precautionary meas ure and confined two and one-half months. Alleging that his imprisonment was without probable cause, plaintiff maintained that if the action were unconstitutional, the gov ernor of the state was not protected from personal liability. In Moyer v. Peabody, 29 Sup. Ct. Rep. 235, the United States Supreme Court held that public danger warrants the substitution of executive for judicial'process, •Copies of the pamphlet Reporters containing full reports of any of these decisions which are cited in the National Reporter System may be secured from the West Publishing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota, at 25 cents each. In ordering, the title of the desired case should be given as well as the citation of volume and page of the Reporter in which it is printed.

and that so long as such arrests are made in good faith and in the honest belief that they are necessary to impede insurrection, the governor is the final judge and cannot be subjected to an action on the ground that he had not reasonable ground for his belief. Automobiles. Not Free of Duty— House hold Effects. U. S. The United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the second circuit handed down a decision in U. S. v. W. R. Grace & Co. which has since been made the basis of a ruling of the Treas ury Department. Judge Ward, in deciding the case, held that an automobile was not exempt from tariff duty as a household effect within the meaning of paragraph 504 of the tariff act of 1897, as Congress had "intended to do away with the exemption of household effects generally and restrict it to such as should be like books, libraries, or household furniture." Bankruptcy. Contempt of Court—Bank rupt's Plea of Insanity. U. S. In the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York, pro ceedings were brought under order to show why one Jacob Cashman, a bankrupt, should not be punished for contempt of court for denying his ability to give information re garding the value of his estate at the pro ceedings before the commissioner. It was held, per Hough, D. J., that a plea in con fession and avoidance taking the form of an allegation of insanity imposes the burden of proof on the defendant to prove his insanity, and that if he cannot prove it he may be ad judged guilty upon the facts of the record. In the matter of Jacob Cashman (Jan. 1909). Contempt. Unintentional Misstatement of Law— Newspaper Editorials. R. I. An editorial misstatement of the law as stated in a court's written opinion on a matter of wide application and importance is held, in re Providence Journal Co. (R. I.), 68 Atl. 428, 17 L.R.A. (N.S.) 582, to be a contempt of court, although unintentional. Contracts. Debts on Illegal Agreements— Restraint of Trade—Corporations — Sherman Act. U. S.