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'HEN Silas Jones graduated from the high school the world was before him-and not much else. He had not been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, nor had any kind fairy given him a good luck penny which would save the necessity of individual effort on his part. In other words, he was just an average American boy with his way to make in the world-one of the great army of boys who have good stuff in them, but are not geniuses or pets of fortune; the sort turned out by thousands every year from our high schools.

Silas wanted to be a lawyer. He realized that for this career academic and special training would be necessary, and, since his parents could not afford to send him to college, he pluckily determined. to strike out on his own account.

He went to the city where the University of his state was located, and found a job which would leave him a good part of his time for his own purposes. Then he entered the University as a special student. Not hoping to complete the academic course, he selected such subjects as would be most valuable to him in his future as a lawyer. After two years in the collegiate department of the Univer

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sity, he entered the law school and took practically the full three-year course. Not having a sufficient amount of academic work to his credit, he was not allowed to graduate from the law school, and had to console himself with the reflection that he really possessed the knowledge, if not the degree, of a properly diplomaed graduate.

Realizing that his lack of a degree would make it difficult for him to secure a position in any of the law offices of the University city, he determined to go West and try his fortune in new fields. Perhaps in a new town there might be room for a young man of fair ability and good intentions who didn't possess a college degree, but had done his best to lay a sound foundation for his future work as a lawyer in genuine knowledge of the field of law.

He determined to try his luck at Lunnuntown. There were several firms of prosperous lawyers in the town, and possibly one of them might make use of a law clerk who was conscious of not being a genius, but who really did know a thing or two about law books.

He arrived, impecunious but hopeful, and set forth at once to look for the lar

gest and most imposing law office in town. Blaque & Whyte's seemed to meet the requirements. What more likely than that they should need a clerk-a really capable clerk, you know! He never got far enough in to find out. There was an imposing young man in the front office who assured him that the position was already quite satisfactorily filled by himself, and no one else need apply-certainly no insignificant person who was secretly conscious of the fact that he did not even possess a college degree or a law school diploma !

Silas withdrew in good order; but, if he did not follow the example of his prototype, Dick Whittington, in sitting down by the wayside to meditate upon the advisability of turning back from Lunnontown, it was because the wayside was a curbstone and sitting down there would make him too conspicuous. Besides, he didn't have money enough to go back, and it wasn't necessary for him to count the contents of his pockets to make sure, either. He kept on walking, therefore, and it so chanced that as he walked he saw the law sign of Josiah Stockbridge. More to justify himself to himself than with any hope of success, he "turned again" and entered Mr. Stockbridge's office.

Mr. Stockbridge was a lawyer of the old school. He never had had a law clerk, and listened to Silas' application without much interest. He had a very good practice, which he had worked up. himself in the good old personal way, and he didn't believe in modern methods of "team work." Ordinarily he would have turned Silas down with decision and without debate, but possibly the obvious fact that he was a country boy proved for once an advantage. The old man looked him over keenly.

"I suppose you are one of those smart

law school graduates, who know everything," he said gruffly.

"I haven't graduated," Silas began apologetically, "but-"

"That's one point in your favor, at any rate," said Mr. Stockbridge. “But in what way do you think you can help me? Can you draw pleadings?"

Silas was a little dubious. He had taken the usual course, but he was not familiar with the laws and rules of practice in this state.

"Do you suppose you could draw a mortgage?"

Silas had never had any occasion to draw a mortgage, and said so. "Are you a stenographer?"

Silas had to admit that he was not. Mr. Stockbridge rubbed his glasses. "Well, what do you think you could do that would be useful in my office?"

Silas felt a good deal discouraged, but he glanced at the shelves of law books, which lined the room, and ventured to play his one trump card. "I could find authorities for you."

Mr. Stockbridge was surprised into really expressing his feelings. "Find authorities for me, a practitioner of thirty years' standing! Do you think that I would trust that part of my work to an inexperienced clerk? You don't seem to understand that collating and selecting the right authorities is often the winning stroke in preparing a case. It takes experience to do it, too. What do you know about finding authorities?"

Silas ventured to say that at the law school he had been very much interested in the course of legal bibliography and had studied the Use of Law Books, including the practical handling of digests, encyclopedias, annotations, textbooks, et cetera.

"Oh, they teach that sort of thing in law schools now?" said Mr. Stock

bridge. There a hint of sarcasm in his voice and a twinkle of amusement under his shaggy gray eyebrows. "Well, just suppose you let us see how this new-fangled teaching works out." (Now the fact is Mr. Stockbridge had been putting in his spare time for a couple of weeks looking for authorities on a rather unusual proposition, and without success, and he thought it might teach the young man what "finding authorities" meant to casually put this question up to him). "I am defending a suit against the bank here, which presents a proposition which is a little out of the ordinary. When their new building was put up last fall the contractor agreed to finish it by a certain time, and the contract contained a clause exempting the contractor from liability. for delays caused by strikes. While the building was being erected the contractor, in good faith, reduced the wages of his workmen, who thereupon went upon a strike. The strike, which affected all workmen in that trade, was settled almost immediately, and resulted in a substantial victory for the strikers. The Builders' Association, in which the contractor was a member, in an effort to counteract, in some measure, the effect of the strike, passed a rule limiting the number of employés which each member might employ. The contractor who was building the bank took back all of his striking employés, up to the limit set by the Association, which included about three-fourths of those formerly in his employ. As a consequence of all this he was delayed in completing the building beyond the stipulated time. Now, my client, the bank, refused to pay the last installment, and the contractor has sued for the amount. I am going to set up a counterclaim for delay, which the contractor will seek to excuse under the strike clause in the building contract. I

have carefully looked through the various encyclopedias and selected case sets. which I have here in the office (and I have them all), and I have found a variety of authorities as to the effect of the strike clause in contracts for sale, and the case of Delaware, L. & W. R. Co. v. Bowns, 58 N. Y. 573, causes me particular anxiety, holding as it does that a strike caused by a reduction of wages did not deprive the seller of the benefit of the stipulation. I am free to confess that I have found no cases in the books of my library construing such a clause in a building contract. If you can find me any authorities sustaining my contention that a strike resulting from conditions arising in the manner which I have described will not relieve the contractor from liability for delay, I will consider your application for a position as law clerk." He pursed up his lips and looked benevolently malicious.

Silas saw that this was in the nature of a challenge, but he was not at all fazed, for he felt that here he knew his ground. He might not be a genius, but, thank Heaven, he had had the sense to recognize the importance of the course in legal bibliography! To learn where he stood, he asked Mr. Stockbridge whether he had consulted the Digests. Mr. Stockbridge intimated that he didn't have much use for Digests. He had formed the habit of working from the notes to the Selected Cases, which included everything really important, of course. An enterprising law book agent had loaded up his shelves with the entire American Digest System; but, after he had discovered what an unwieldy set of books he had let himself in for, he had never touched them. They were on the upper shelves, covered with dust; but, if Silas imagined that they would be of any

help to him, he'd find them there. Silas rather imagined that they would.

The minute that he was alone, Silas got down the set of the American Digest, Key-Number Series. Recalling his lectures at school on how to find the law, he determined to try the "Descriptive Word" method. Analyzing the proposiAnalyzing the proposition which Mr. Stockbridge had given him, he selected the words, "Delay," "Strikes," and "Labor Unions" as the cross-reference heads to be investigated in the American Digest. Taking down the last volume of the Key-Number Series (Vol. 6), and turning to "Delay," Silas found nearly a column of references, one of which read as follows: "Delay in the performance of contracts in general, see Contracts, §§ 298-300." Further investigation disclosed this head and reference in nearly all of the Key-Number volumes. Making a note of the reference, "Contracts, §§ 298-300," he investigated the cross-reference head "Strikes." He found no reference under this heading which seemed likely to produce results until he reached Volume 2 of the Key-Number Series, where he struck a reference, "As to excuse for delay in performance of contract, see Contracts, § 300." This second reference to "Contracts, § 300," convinced him that this was the Key-Number on authorities in point. He then turned to § 300, under the head of Contracts, in volume 2, and found this digest paragraph:

"Where a building contract provides that the contractor should be liable for delay in performance, he was chargeable with delay, while waiting for brick from the brick factory with which he had contracted, though the delay was due to a strike among the servants of the factory.-Neblett v. MacGraw & Brewer, 193 S. W. 1113."

These facts did not exactly fit Mr. Stockbridge's case, but Silas now felt certain that he had found the proper

place in the Digests where this proposition was classified, and that all he had to do was to keep on. Turning to Vol. 1, Key-Number Series, under the same topic and section number, Silas found the New York case of Barnum v. Williams, 102 N. Y. Supp. 874, 115 App. Div. 694. This was the Supreme Court opinion in a case that he later found, in Vol. 4, Key-Number Series; the later decision of the Court of Appeals, holding that a contractor, who was prevented from completing work on time by default of the owner, and was thereafter delayed by a strike, was not liable for breach of contract. He was gratified to see that he was still finding cases upon his proposition, but they were not calculated to help Mr. Stockbridge's side of the case.

5,

From Vol. 1, Key-Number Series, he went to the Decennial Digest, still following his guiding Key-Number, “Contracts, 300." He found it in volume 5-Contracts, § 300-Delay in performance-Excuses. Under subsection 5. Delay Caused by Strike, he found the Missouri case of Weber v. Collins, 41 S. W. 249, 139 Mo. 501, holding that where twenty-five out of twenty-eight mills in St. Louis were not in operation because of a strike, this fact constituted a "general strike," within the meaning of a contract which excused delay caused by a general strike. This was a point which might interest Mr. Stockbridge, and he marked the place.

Silas knew that the cases prior to the Decennial were to be found in the Century Digest, and, noting that the reference under § 300 in the Decennial was to Vol. 1, Century Digest, §§ 1372-1381, he climbed the ladder to the top shelf, where this set reposed, and took down that volume. He did not get much help from the Century, for the rea

son that provisions against delays caused by strikes were not often placed in contracts until about ten years ago. He did, however, find a note of a case cited from 39 New York Superior Court Reports, 109, holding that delay caused by a strike which occurred after the expiration of the time fixed in the contract was no excuse.

Silas had now exhausted the Digests, and, while he felt gratified at finding a few cases in point which Mr. Stockbridge had not been able to find in his encyclopedias or annotated cases, he knew that, in order to make the search exhaustive, he should look through the cases which were subsequent to the latest American Digest. These current cases would be found in the Reporters of the National Reporter System; but Mr. Stockbridge did not have the Reporters in his office, nor did he own even the Monthly Advance Sheets of the American Digest. Silas was ambitious to make his work exhaustive, and he suddenly made up his mind that he would ask the pompous law clerk in the office down the street to let him look through the late Reporters in the hope of finding additional cases. At this point, however, Mr. Stockbridge entered the room.

"Well, how does it go?" he asked jocularly. "Do your law-school rules work when you are up against the real thing?" "I'm not through yet," said Silas. "I cannot make my search complete, unless I may look through the late volumes of the Reporters for the cases just decided, and I want your permission to go down. the street and examine the library of the lawyers down there."

Mr. Stockbridge gave him a quizzical look. He evidently thought that Silas hated to admit his defeat. At the same time he meant in fairness to give the boy every chance. He did not care exactly

to have Silas continue his investigation in Blaque & Whyte's office, as they were retained on the other side of the case, and he did not want to take chances on the boy turning up something that would prove to their advantage, so he said,

"I don't know that I care to tell Blaque & Whyte that my library is not complete enough to suit you," he said drily, "but I'm just going down to the Court House, and you can come on and examine the library there, if you like."

At the Court House Library Silas found the entire Reporter System, and began a hasty search through the indexes of the late volumes for cases under Contracts, section 300, which might bear upon the proposition in hand. He did not succeed in finding anything, however, and realized that he would have to rest his case on the rather unwelcome results of his search through the digests; but, of course, he understood the importance to Mr. Stockbridge of being informed of the cases against him, as well as those favorable to him. Putting out on the big library table the volumes of the American Digest System in which he had found the authorities, Silas approached Mr. Stockbridge, who had been conversing with the old librarian, and explained that he had found three or four contract cases which were in point on Mr. Stockbridge's proposition, but which held against his contention.

"Oh indeed!" said Mr. Stockbridge. Privately he wondered whether Silas knew a case in point when he saw it, and the expression of his face did not entirely conceal his thought. But his expression changed as he read the paragraphs marked. He looked surprised and annoyed, but clearly he was impressed.

"How did you come to know about these cases, young man?"

"Why, I found them in the Digest. I

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