must be commenced within sixty days after three months' wages shall have become due.

All suits upon liens in any other than the first class above enumerated, must be commenced within two years after the said materials are furnished, or work or labor done.

DELAWARE.—Any person furnishing labor or materials for constructiag, altering or repairing any building, has a lien thereon to the agreed-upon amount of his claim. This lien takes precedence of all subsequent attachments. To enforce it, the lien-holder must notify the owner thereof of the sum claimed by him to be due, and also of his intention to claim the benefit of such lien. The owner is authorized, on proof of the correctness of the ciaim, to pay the amount, and to deduct the same from what is due by him to the contractor.

MARYLAND.-Any person furnishing labor or materials for coustructing, altering or repairing a building has a lien therefor upon the same, and also takes the land necessarily connected therewith. This lien takes precedence of all others that may subsequently attach. It may be enforced by serving, or causing to be served on the owner of the property or his legal representative, within thirty days after the performance of such labor or furnishing such materials, a specification of the work done or the materials furnished, and stating the price or prices agreed to be paid therefor, together with a notice of his intention to claim the benefit of such lien. If a copy of this statement be filed in the Clerk's office of the county, the lien takes effect from the time of such filing, and remains in force the term of six months, when it expires, unless legal action is previously instituted to secure the collection of the debt.

This law applies only to Baltimore and a few other counties. Lien laws have been enacted for the other counties, but they are changed so frequently, that to insert any or all of them would be useless, and most probably prove a source of loss to those who should place any reliance upon them in case of actions.]

VIRGINIA. Any person furnishing labor or materials for the construction of a building has a lien therefor, both on building and the land connected therewith. This lien is lost at the expiration of six months, if the lien-holder fails to commence an action for the amount of the claim previous to the end of such term. If the recessary action be commenced, and the lien be established, the court is authorized to order a sale of the owner's interest in the house and land to satisfy the claim of the contractor.

NORTH CAROLINA.-Any person constructing, altering or repairing any building under a written contract, signed in the presence of two attesting witnesses, shall, upon filing such contract in a

court of record, have a legal lien upon such building for the term of three years after the term of such filing. But such lien will not impair or take precedence of any prior lien, nor remain in force longer than the time specified, unless process shall be pre viously taken to enforce payment of the debt.

SOUTH CAROLINA.-Any person constructing, altering, repairing or furnishing materials for any building, shall have a lien therefor on the same. But an agreement, specifying the particulars of the work to be done or the materials to be furnished, and a general description of the premises, and signed by the parties to the contract and the owner of the property, in the presence of one or more attesting witnesses, must be filed in the office of the Register of mesne conveyances for the district in which the property is situate. The lien is in force for the term of three years from the filing of such statement.

GEORGIA. All persons furnishing wood, provisions, labor or materials for the construction of vessels of any kind, shall have a lien therefor on the same, if they institute legal proceedings for the collection of their claims any time within twelve months after their claims are due

Any person constructing, altering, or repairing any building, shall have a lien therefor on the same, if he, any time within three months of the completion of the building, shall file a bill of particulars of his claim in the Clerk's office of the county where the property is situate. To enforce his lien, he must institute a suit against the owner of the property for the amount of his claim, within twelve months from the time the debt is due.

Any machinist who may furnish or put up, in any county in this State, any steam mill or other machinery, or who may repair the same, shall be entitled to the same lien on such machinery and the premises, to which the same may be attached, and may enforce such lien in the same manner, and with like benefits, privileges and restrictions, as is extended to masons and carpenters.

TEXAS. Any person furnishing labor or materials for construct ing, altering, or repairing of any building, shall have a lien therefor, of the nature of a mortgage, on the same, and also on the land on which the building shall stand, until the amount due for such services or materials shall be fully paid. The contract for such labor or materials, or a true copy thereof, must be recorded in the Clerk's office of the county where the property is situate, within thirty days after such contract is made.

Any person performing labor on such building, or the grounds necessarily connected therewith, for a delinquent contractor may present an attested statement of the value of such labor to the owner of the property, who is authorized by statute to pay the

amount, and to deduct the same from what may be due the con tractor. [Incorporated cities are exempt from the operation of this law.]

FLORIDA. Any person furnishing labor or materials for con structing, altering, or repairing a building, shall have a lien upon the same until the amount agreed upon by the parties is fully paid To enforce the claim, it is necessary to file in the Clerk's office of the Circuit Court of the county in which the property is situate and within six months after the work has been performed, or the materials furnished, a true account of what is due him after all credits, and verify it by his own oath, or that of some other per. son, and also record at the same time a correct description of the property charged with such lien. The necessary land connected with the building shall also be subject to said lien. Laborers also have each a lien upon such building and land, to the agreed-upon amount of their respective demands.

All persons furnishing materials for constructing, or stores for provisioning, or performing labor or service of any kind upon any kind of vessel, shall have a lien therefor on the same; which lien shall take precedence of all others, provided suit is brought to enforce the same within twenty days from the time when such lien accrued.

ALABAMA.-Any person who shall furnish labor, materials, or stores for any vessel, by order of the master or captain of the same, shall have a lien on such vessel for the same. To enforce this lien, the party must institute an action against the vessel for the amount of his claim, within thirty days from the time when the lien accrued.

Any person contracting to put up any building, shall have a lien upon such building, and on the land connected therewith, until the amount specified in the contract is fully paid. To enforce such lien, the contract, or an attested copy thereof, must be recorded in the office of the Clerk of the County Court, within thirty days after the completion of the building.

MISSISSIPPI. Any person furnishing labor or materials for consructing, altering, or repairing any building, on written contract, shall have a lien therefor upon the same. To enforce such lien, be must have the contract, or a true copy thereof, recorded in the Clerk's office of the Court of Probates of the county. Where there is no written contract, and the claim is held for labor performed, or materials furnished by order of the contractor, then the party so laboring on such building, or furnishing materials for the same, shall, within thirty days after commencing such labor, or furnishing such materials, serve on the owner of the property a statement or bill of particulars of his claim. To enforce the lier,

an action for the recovery of the claim must be instituted within six months from the time the lien accrues.

LOUISIANA. Any person laboring, furnishing labor, or supply. ing materials for constructing, altering, or repairing any building, has a lien therefor on the same. If the claim is over five hundred dollars, and founded on a written contract, the latter, or an attested copy thereof, must be filed in the Clerk's office of the parish (county) where the property is situate, within thirty days after the date of such contract. If the claim be less than five hundred dollars, and is not founded on labor done, or materials furnished, on a written contract, the lien is equally good, but only for six months, when it becomes lost unless the holder shall have previously commenced an action for the recovery of his claim. If, however, the order for the labor or materials is from the contractor, and he the contractor-shall have been paid by the owner according to contract, then no action for the recovery of the debt can be instituted against the owner, who has already paid. But if the owner shall not have paid the contractor, then the moneys due the contractor may be seized for the benefit of the lienholders.

Workmen on any vessel have a lien for all moneys due them for labor on the same, whether the order for such labor is in writing or not; but such lien is lost if they allow the vessel to leave port without enforcing the lien by an action. All claims and con tracts for labor or materials furnished must, to enforce a lien, be filed in the office of the Recorder of Mortgages.

ARKANSAS.-Any person laboring, or furnishing labor or materials for constructing, altering, or repairing any building, to the amount of one hundred dollars, has a lien therefor upon the same. To legalize the lien, the lien-holder must file with the Clerk of the Circuit Court of the county where the property is situate, a correct, attested account of his claim, within three months after the labor performed and the materials furnished. The lien extends both to the building and the land connected therewith, provided such land does not exceed two acres. The lien will continue in force only one year after the completion of the building, unless an action be instituted to enforce it.

TENNESSEE. Any person laboring, or furnishing labor or materials for constructing, altering, or repairing any building, or any machinist who may furnish or repair machinery, shall have a lien therefor upon the same, for the term of one year after the per formance or furnishing of such labor or materials, and till the decision of any suit that may be instituted within that term, on account of such lien. To legalize such lien, however, a written notice of the lien-holder's claim, duly verified, must first be given

to the owner of the property, or his legal representative, at the time the work is begun, or the materials furnished.

Any person laboring on, or furnishing materials for constructing, altering, fitting, or repairing, or stores for provisioning, any vessel, shall have a lien therefor on the same. But to legalize such lien, the lien-holder must institute an action for the amount of his claim within three months from the time when the services are rendered, the materials furnished, or the stores supplied.

KENTUCKY.-The lien enactments of this State, like those of Maryland, are varied and incomplete, and permanent only in certain localities and counties. In the towns of Bowling-Green, Brandenburgh, Covington, Frankfort, Hickman, Lexington, Louisville, Maysville, Newport, Owensboro', Paducah, Russellville, and Smithland, and the counties of Calloway, Jefferson, and Marshall, any person laboring, or furnishing materials for constructing, altering, or repairing any building, has a lion therefor upon the same, and on the land necessarily connected therewith. To render the lien binding, however, he must file the particulars and amount of his claim, and also an intelligible description of the property, and its location, in the Clerk's office of the county where the same is situate, within six months from the time when such labor is performed or furnished, or such materials furnished. In Paducah, and some other of the above-named towns, the lien may be enforced by instituting a suit for the amount of the claim, any time within twelve months.

OHIO.-Any person laboring on, or furnishing labor or materials for constructing, altering, or repairing any building, shall have a lien therefor on the same, and on the land necessarily connected therewith. To bind the lien, he, within four months from the performance of such labor, or delivery of such materials, must deliver to the owner of the building an attested statement of the particulars of the claim remaining unpaid; whereupon, if the account be that of a mechanic or laborer, the owner is authorized to pay the amount, and to deduct the same from what may be owing by him to the contractor. Should the owner fail or refuse to pay the account, or should the statement be that of a contractor or sub-contractor, the correctness of the claim, and the fact of the refusal or failure of the owner to pay it, must be sworn to before a magistrate, and the account and affidavits then filed in the office of the Recorder of the county, when the lien shall remain upon the said building and land for the term of two years from the commencement of such labor, or the furnishing of such labor or mate. rials. Any suit brought within said two years will continue said lien till the rendering of judgment.