THIRD PARTY CLAIM: If the property levied upon is claimed by a third person as his property by a written claim, verified by his oath, or that of his agent, setting out his right to the possession of it, and served upon the sheriff-the sheriff is not bound to keep the property unless the creditor, on demand, indemnifies the sheriff against such claim by an undertaking of at least two sureties in a sum equal to double the value of the property; and the sheriff is not liable for damages for the taking or keeping of such property unless such claim be filed.

FEDERAL EMPLOYEES' SALARIES: As Justices of the Peace and the Judges of the Superior Courts have no jurisdiction over the Federal Government, a writ issued by either of these officials cannot be enforced in the United States Courts, and consequently Federal Employees' salaries cannot be reached in this manner.

SALE OF ATTACHED PROPERTY: If the property is perishable (such as fruit, eggs, or the like), the attaching officer will sell it at once; if the property would depreciate in value during the time the case is pending, an order for its sale at once may be obtained from the judge; in other cases, the property will be sold after a judgment is rendered in favor of the creditor, and the amount received will be applied to pay the judgment.

Whenever the defendant has appeared in the action, he may, upon reasonable notice to the plaintiff, apply to the court in which the action is pending, or to the judge thereof, for an order to discharge the attachment, wholly or in part; and upon the execution of the undertaking an order may be made, releasing from the operation of the attachment any or all of the property attached; and all of the property so released, and all of the proceeds of the sales thereof, must be delivered to the defendant, upon the justification of the sureties on the undertaking, if required by the plaintiff. Such justification must take place within five days after notice of the filing of such undertaking.

MEASURE OF DAMAGES FOR ATTACHMENT IMPROPERLY SUED OUT: If, at the time of the trial, a judgment is rendered in favor of the defendant, he is entitled to his costs, but he cannot recover anything more than this amount from the plaintiff personally, unless he can show that the attachment was issued wrongfully, without probable cause, and with malice. In other words, that the plaintiff brought the action and had the attachment levied,

entirely from spite, and because the defendant owed him nothing at all. The defendant in such case is entitled to exemplary damages, that is, to damages which are intended to be punishment to the plaintiff for bringing such action.

If the defendant wins the case, he may recover damages from the sureties, to such amount as he may have sustained. This is a very uncertain and unsatisfactory amount, and the Supreme Court has not made any positive rule; but the following, among others, are measures of recovery-legal interest upon money deposited in bank, for the time it was withheld from possession of defendant; goods, or corporation stock, which may have depreciated in value, then the amount of such depreciation, especially if he could have sold it in the meantime; if his business be closed up and a keeper placed in the store, he could not recover for loss of business, for expected profits, or for injury to his financial reputation; he might be able to recover attorney's fees, but only in case he had actually paid them, and then only for the work in causing the attachment to be dissolved, and not for the trial of the case. (See Attorneys' Fees.)

If the attachment was levied upon real estate the defendant may not recover for any impairment of credit, for his inability to secure a loan upon the land during the time the attachment is in force; but if the attachment was wrongful, he is entitled to the market value of the property during its detention, but not its value to him.

There is, however, a very serious question as to whether or not the defendant can recover anything at all, because he always has the right and opportunity to file a bond with the sheriff in release of attachment, and thus have his property delivered to him, and save himself any losses. The courts seem to be divided upon the right of a man to sit quietly by and see his property being taken and held by the sheriff, and not do anything to cause it to be released -and yet afterward complain of loss sustained because he was injured on account of his own quiescence.

If the debtor resides out of the state, and an attachment is levied upon property which he may own in this state, a judgment may be obtained against him through publication of summons and his non-appearance. His property may then be sold, and he may never know of it, until too late to protest, appear or appeal.

Great wrongs can be perpetrated by this writ, intentionally or otherwise. If the bondsmen are "men of straw" (not owning the property which they swear is theirs), or if they dispose of the property shortly after they sign the bond (as has been done many times), the party who looks to them for damages which he has suffered by reason of the levying of the writ-will obtain nothing.

In the Justices' Court the bond is not less than fifty, nor more than two hundred dollars. The bondsmen agree that they will pay all damage which the defendant may sustain-not exceeding the amount of this bond, provided the defendant wins in the action. In the Superior Court the amount is not less than $200, and may be any sum which the clerk thinks is proper-usually about onehalf the amount of the prayer of the complaint.

It frequently occurs that when personal property is attached it is found to be mortgaged. Oftentimes this mortgage is fraudulent, placed there for just such an occasion, though it is illegal to do so. But the attachment creditor, however, must pay off the mortgage in full, or else his attachment must be released. If he does so pay the mortgage, he succeeds to the rights of the holder, and the maker of the mortgage must pay him in the future. (See Third Party Claim.)

If there is a mortgage upon real property, the same rule would hold, but usually the equity is sufficiently large, so there is this value upon which the attachment rests. Upon any sale under execution, of real property which was attached, the person buying takes it subject to the previous rights of the mortgage, and subject to being foreclosed, unless he pays it off.

On an appeal, if goods have been taken in possession of the sheriff or constable by a writ of attachment-another writ must be taken out, with another bond, or else the property will be released to the defendant, by the attaching officer.

Auction:

Agency.

See Transfers; Sales; Personal Property; Pledge;

A sale by auction is a sale by public outcry to the highest bidder on the spot.

It is complete when the auctioneer publicly announces, by the fall of his hammer, or in any other customary manner, that the thing is sold.

Until such announcement has been made, any bidder may withdraw his bid, if he does so in a manner reasonably sufficient to bring it to the notice of the auctioneer.

When a sale by auction is made upon written or printed conditions, such conditions cannot be modified by any oral declaration of the auctioneer, except so far as they are for his own benefit. If, at a sale by auction, the auctioneer, having authority to do so, publicly announces that the sale will be without reserve, or makes any announcement equivalent to it, the highest bidder in good faith has an absolute right to the completion of the sale to him; and, upon such a sale, bids by the seller, or any agent for him, are void.

The employment, by the seller, of any person to bid at a sale by auction, without the knowledge of the buyer, and without an intention on the part of such bidder to buy, and on the part of the seller to enforce his bid, is a fraud upon the buyer, which entitles him to rescind his purchase. (See Rescission.)

When property is sold by auction, an entry made by the auctioneer, in his sale book, at the time of the sale, specifying the name of the person for whom he sells, the thing sold, the price, the terms of sale, and the name of the buyer, binds both the parties in the same manner as if made by themselves.

An auctioneer, in the absence of special authorization or usage to the contrary, has authority from the seller, only as follows: (1) To sell by public sale to the highest bidder; (2) To sell for cash only, except such articles as are usually sold on credit at auction; (3) To warrant in like manner with other agents to sell; (4) To prescribe reasonable rules and terms of sale; (5) To deliver the thing sold, upon payment of the price; (6) To collect the price; and, (7) To do whatever else is necessary, or proper and usual, in the ordinary course of business, for effecting these purposes. An auctioneer has authority from a bidder at the auction, as well as from the seller, to bind both by a memorandum of the contract, as prescribed in the article on Sales.

Auctioneer: See also Auctions; Agency.

Any citizen of this state may become an auctioneer for the county in which he resides, and is authorized to sell real and personal property at public auction, on giving a bond for the faithful performance of his duties, and on the payment of the license.

In any city or town where there is no auctioneer, the sheriff or a constable of it is ex-officio auctioneer, and is permitted to sell any property, real or personal, at public auction; and for any delinquency as such ex-officio auctioneer he is liable on his official bond.

Every auctioneer, in case of inability to attend an auction by reason of sickness, or the performance of any duty imposed upon him by law, or during a temporary absence from the city or county within which he is auctioneer, may employ a co-partner or clerk to hold such auction in his name and behalf, such employee to take and file with the clerk of the county an affidavit faithfully to perform the duties of auctioneer. But any auctioneer may employ a crier at any sale, for whose acts he shall be responsible.

No auctioneer is permitted to transfer his license to any other person for any part of the time for which his license is issued; nor is any auctioneer permitted to use the license for the purpose of transacting an auction business in more than one store or specified place of business.

Automobile Law. See Agent; Master and Servant; Sales; Title; Highways; Liens; Employer and Employee.

The 1919 automobile law is 41 pages long, taking up too much space to be copied in a work of this kind. California has an auto to each seven persons of its population, and the laws pertaining to the operation of motor vehicles are well known-or, if not, the Motor Vehicle Department at Sacramento will send a copy to any one asking for it. There are some general rules, however, aside from the special law.

Every owner or manager of an automobile garage, or any agent or employee of such owner or manager, or any other person, having the care, custody or possession of any automobile, who takes, hires, runs, drives or uses such automobile, or who takes or removes from it any part of it, without the owner's consent, is punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Any person who throws or deposits any glass bottle, glass, nails, tacks, hoops, wire, cans or any other substance likely to injure any person, animal or vehicle upon any public highway in the State of California shall be guilty of misdemeanor.

Under the new Motor Vehicle Law, a valid title to automobiles cannot be given from one person to another in a sale unless a trans