ing thirty days thereafter, for the trial of all

matters in variance in the suit between the

parties..

Provisos require plaintiff to file his statement before he refers, and defendant to file his affidavit of defense before he refers, and prohibit the reference of any case set down for trial within thirty days before the date set for trial, except by consent.

Section 38 of the Act of 16th June, 1836, P. L. 724 (1 Purd. 354 pl. 47) provides:

On the trial of any cause, after an appeal from an award of arbitrators, it shall not be lawful for the appellant to produce as evidence in court any books, papers or documents which he had in his power to produce at the time of the arbitration, and withheld from the arbitrators, after being required by the arbitrators to produce the same.

Section 39 of the Act of 1836 (1 Purd. 355, pl. 50) prohibits arbitration in the following cases: Appeals to register's courts; feigned issues; actions on bail bonds and recognizances; actions on penal statutes; actions brought by the commonwealth, unless by consent of the attorney general.

1 Purd. 345 note (d) contains a synopsis of what the courts have held to be cases within and without, the compulsory arbitration act.

Section 40 of the Act of 1836 (1 Purd. 355, pl. 51) expressly confers the following powers upon arbitrators.

1. To require production of books, etc.

2. To judge of the competency and credibility of witnesses, and the propriety of admitting any written evidence that may be offered.

3. To administer oaths and affirmations to witnesses.

5.

to them.

court.

6.

To decide both the law and the fact in the cause submitted

To issue subpoenas and attachments for witnesses.

7. To punish for contempt and disorderly conduct in their

John A. McIlvaine, President Judge of the Washington County, or Twenty-seventh Judicial District Court of Pennsylvania, was born in Somerset Township, Washington County, in 1843- His great-great-great-greatgrandfather was born in Ayr, Scotland, from whence he removed to County Tyrone, Ireland. From there the great-great-great grandfather of the subject of this sketch emigrated to Sussex County, Delaware. This was in the latter part of the seventeenth century. From Sussex County the great-grandfather of Judge McIlvaine removed in the latter half of the eighteenth century to Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and in 1783 his Grandfather McIlvaine settled in Washington County, where the father of the judge was born in 1805.

Having been educated for the law at Jefferson College, Judge McIlvaine was admitted to the bar in 1867.. He soon attracted attention as an able counselor and was honored in 1874 by election to the office of District Attorney in Washington County. In 1877 he was re-elected for another term, and by 1886 had so gained the confidence of his people that he was chosen president judge of the courts of Washington County. Since that he has been twice re-elected and is therefore serving his twenty-fourth year upon the bench. In politics he is a Republican. In religion he is a sturdy Western Pennsylvania Scotch Irish Presbyterian. He is married, but has no children.

PRACTICE IN THE LAWYERS' COURT.

The practice is to wait until the cause is regularly at issue in the common pleas, i. e., plea filed, when necessary, and entered on the issue docket.

This prevents any time being lost in case an appeal is afterwards taken, as the case retains its place on the issue docket. It also presents the case to the arbitrators in proper form.

After a case is at issue, counsel for either party can refer the case to the Lawyers' Court in this way:

Counsel goes to the prothonotary, pays 50 cents, and gets a rule to choose. No precipe is required. The Prothonotary has blank forms. The Prothonotary fixes the day and hour on which the arbitrators are to be chosen. The statute provides that said day shall not be more than thirty days after the rule is issued, and further provides that the rule must be served on opposing counsel (or party) at least fifteen days before the day fixed. Counsel should consider how soon he can serve his rule, and the Prothonotary will fix any date counsel suggests. Usually about twenty days will be found convenient.

Counsel gets one blank form from the Prothonotary, or more, where there are more than one party on the opposite side represented by separate counsel; copies the original, i. e., the one with the court seal on it, onto the blank, gives the copy to opposing counsel and gets him to accept service on the original, which must then be returned to and filed with the Prothonotary. If opposing counsel declines to accept service (which is a rare thing) proof of service is made on the back of the original the same as proof of service of any other notice, i. e., by affidavit of the party who made the service.

On the day and at the hour fixed for choosing the arbitrators the counsel who took out the rule must attend at the desk of the proper court in the Prothonotary's office. If opposing counsel does not attend the Prothonotary, on request, will nominate the Official Arbitrators. If opposing counsel does attend, he may choose some person other than Official Arbitrators, but the counsel who took out the rule can name one of the Official Arbitrators and the Prothonotary will name another, so that there will be at least two of the Official Arbitrators in the case. The character and ability of the Official Arbitrators and Alternates thus far selected has been such that in most cases counsel have agreed to let the Prothonotary name them, and in quite a number of cases opposing counsel have, in accepting service of the rule to choose, certified in writing their consent to the Prothonotary to the nameing of the Official Arbitrators.

Foregoing is the ordinary practice. Of course disagreeable or

petty-foggying counsel can cause annoyance, and if the counsel taking out the rule fears unfair treatment from the other side, he must study the provisions of the statute carefully, and therein, if he digs diligently, he will find the jeu jitsu by which he can "soothe the savage breast."

On the day and hour when the Official Arbitrators are chosen, the counsel who took out the rule to choose must pay the Prothonotary another 50 cents, and the Prothonotary will then issue the rule to refer. These rules are sometimes spoken of as first and second rules, i. e., the rule to choose and the rule to refer.

meet.

In the rule to refer the Prothonotary names the Official Arbitrators and fixes the day, hour and place where and when they shall The time when they shall meet must be not less than ten nor more than twenty days after the Arbitrators are chosen, and the place must be convenient. The Prothonotary will name the room of the Bar Association. The rule to refer must be served, in the same manner as the rule to choose, not only on opposing counsel, but on each of the Arbitrators named therein, at least ten days before the day fixed for the meeting. Here again counsel must consider how soon he can make service, but fifteen days will be usually found convenient. Usually the Official Arbitrators have no objection to dating back their acceptance of service in case counsel is unable to serve them in time.

On the day and at the hour and place fixed in the rule to refer the Arbitrators must meet and be sworn. If they fail in this their award will be void. The statute (1 Purd. 348, pl. 21) provides for the case when one or more of the Arbitrators fail to attend. But in practice the experience is that at least two of the Official Arbitrators attend and that counsel endorse an agreement on the rule to refer to proceed with the cause before the two.

After being sworn the Official Arbitrators take charge of the case, and can adjourn from time to time and from one place to another as they see fit. But the case proceeds before the Official Arbitrators in the identically way it would proceed before a judge and jury, and when once the trial is begun it must be proceeded with to the end without adjournment, except such adjournments as all courts usually take, or except for good cause shown to the satisfaction of the Arbitrators.

The Official Arbitrators usually announce their awards within a few minutes after the trial, but in difficult cases, or where there is difference of opinion among them, they may adjourn the case to another day. If they do not adjourn the case their award must be filed within seven days. The practice has been for counsel for the successful party to prepare the award, present it to all of the Arbi