USA > Indiana > An illustrated history of the state of Indiana: being a full and authentic civil and political history of the state from its first exploration down to 1875 > Part 21
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In 1871, there were about twenty-four block coal mines in operation, and about fifteen hundred tons were mined daily. Now there are more than fifty mines in operation, and the amount mined daily will reach nearly five thousand tons, and the demand is increasing faster than the facilities for raising it. Miners are paid from one dollar to one dollar and twenty cents per ton, and the coal sells, on the cars at the mines, for two dollars and seventy-five cents per ton of two thousand pounds. The usual estimate, to cover all expenses for running
* Prof. E. T. Cox's pamphlet.
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MINERAL WEALTH.
a mine, is fifty cents per ton, which leaves a net profit of from one dollar to one dollar and twenty-five cents per ton. Coal lands sell at from fifty dollars to five hundred dollars per acre, according to location and the extent of the investigations that have been made to prove the quality and quantity.
The following analysis will serve to indicate the quality of the block coal:
OLAY COUNTY, STAR MINE, PLANET FURNACE.
No. 1.
No. 2.
Ash, white
2.74
1.68
Carbon
81.60
83.68
Hydrogen
4.39
4.10
Nitrogen
1.67
1.67
Oxygen
8.88
8.17
Sulphur
.72
.70
100.00
100.00
Calculated calorific power equal to 8283 heat units.
These examples show a fair average quality of the block coal used in the blast furnaces of Indiana for making Besse- mer pig. The quality is alike good, both in the northern and southern parts of the field. Nine blast furnaces in Indiana, and others at Carondelet, near St. Louis, are using the raw block coal for smelting iron ores, and it gives universal satis- faction.
The Brazil blast furnace is sixty-one feet high, fourteen feet across the boshes, and has a closed top. It is using the Mis- souri specular hematite and red hematite iron ores. With three parts of the former and one part of the latter, the make is forty tons of two thousand two hundred and sixty-eight pounds per day, and with equal parts of each the make is thirty-five to thirty-six tons per day. Four thousand pounds of block coal are used to the ton of iron. The Missouri ores now cost, on an average, twelve dollars per ton at the furnace, being an advance over the year 1874 of more than three dol- lars per ton. One and a half tons of the specular ore will produce a ton of pig iron; of the red hematite it requires a little more than this quantity to make a ton of pig.
312
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
This certainly speaks highly for the block coal, as well as of the superior advantages offered in Indiana for the manufacture of iron and Bessemer steel rails. The cost of labor to make a ton of pig iron at the furnace in Indiana, is about three dol- lars and fifty cents .*
The great Indiana coal field is less than one hundred and fifty miles, by railroad, from Chicago, Illinois, or Michigan City, in this State, from which ports the Lake Superior spec- ular and red hermatite ores are landed from vessels that are able to run in a direct course from the ore banks. Lake Superior ore is similar in quality to that from the Iron Moun- tain in Missouri, and is as well adapted for making Bessemer pig. From the Iron Mountain to the block coal field, the dis- tance is two hundred and sixty-six miles by railroad. There are five railroads running from the coal field to St. Louis, and three to Chicago, and two to Michigan City.
Any carefully thinking business man can easily observe the advantages of this immense coal field to the future prosperity of Indiana. From it untold wealth will flow into private and public treasuries. To-day it lays comparatively dormant, awaiting only the combined efforts of capital and labor to make it the centre of activity and the fountain of material prosperity.
But we must not forget the cannel coal. One of the finest seams of this coal to be found in the country is to be seen in Daviess county, Indiana. Here we have a coal five feet thick, of which the upper three and a half feet is cannel, and the lower one and a half feet is a beautiful jet-black caking coal. The two qualities are united, and show no intervening clay or shale, so that in mining, fragments of the caking coal are often found adhering to the cannel. There is no gradual change from one to the other, or blending of the varieties where united, but the change is sudden and the character of the cannel coal is homogeneous from top to bottom.
The cannel coal makes a delightful fire in open grates, and does not pop and throw off scales into the room, as is usually the case with this variety of coal. The following is Prof.
* Prof. E. T. Cox.
MINERAL WEALTH. 313
Cox's analysis of this coal: Specific gravity, 1.229; one cubic foot weighs 76.87 lbs.
Coke
48.00
Ash, white 6.00
Fixed carbon 42.00
Moisture @ 212ยบ F 3.50
Volatile matter .52.00
Gas 48.50
100.00 100.00
Ultimate analysis of the same coal by the same gentleman: Carbon 71.10
Ash 7.65
Hydrogen 6.06
Nitrogen 1.45
Oxygen
12.74
Sulphur
1.00
100.00
From the above analysis it will be seen that this coal is admirably adapted to the manufacture of illuminating gas, both from the quantity it yields and its high illuminating power. One ton of two thousand pounds of this cannel coal yields ten thousand four hundred feet of gas, while the best Youghiogheny coal used at the Indianapolis gas works, yields but eight thousand six hundred and eighty cubic feet. This gas has an illuminating power of 25.2 candles, while the Youghiogheny coal gas has an illuminating power of seven- teen candles.
Cannel coal is also found in great abundance in Perry, Greene, Parke and Fountain counties, where its commercial value has already been attested.
There are numerous deposits of bog iron ore in the north- ern part of the State, and clay iron stones and impure carbo- nates and brown oxides are found scattered over the vicinity of the coal fields. At some localities the beds are quite thick, and of considerable commercial value. Investigation is already showing that Indiana contains valuable ore beds, that will, at no distant day, contribute largely to her importance.
Indiana also contains immense and inexhaustible quantities of building stone, sufficient for all future purposes, of the very
.
314
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
best quality. Numerous quarries are already open and in suc- cessful operation.
There is an abundance of excellent lime in the State. This is gaining a wide reputation, and largely adding to the volume of the State commerce. It abounds in Huntington county in extensive beds, where numerous large kilns are kept in prof- itable operation.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
LAWS AND COURTS OF INDIANA.
A S a work for reference, this volume would not be com- plete without a brief digest of the laws and courts of Indiana. Hence this chapter, in which we shall endeavor to give a complete, concise and simple exhibit of the latest revis- ion of the State laws. We have been aided in our selection of materials for this feature by some of the leading members of the Indianapolis bar .* The last revision of the State laws was accomplished in 1852, and the latest publication of the revised code, as amended, comprises all the public acts and general laws now in force. "Practice in civil suits," says Mr. Pierce, "is under the code of 1852, in which all distinction between law and equity, and all forms of action are abolished. All defenses, except the denial of the facts alleged by the plaintiff, are pleaded specially. On the second and following days of the term, the dockets are called by the court for plead- ings or defaults. Amendments to pleadings are allowed with liberality, somewhat in the discretion of the court."
Actions must be commenced by filing in the office of the clerk of the court, a complaint, in the name of the person or party interested, and the service of summons at least ten days
* We are especially indebted to Henry D. Pierce, Esq.
MM
MOO
Y.
A. VAN CUNDY.
HON. JOHN SUTHERLAND.
D. H . YEOMAN.
JAMES
COMSTOCK.
316
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
before the first day of the term. Service may be made by publication. " A judgment rendered on service by publica- tion may be opened within five years, except in divorce cases, when the judgment may be opened within two years as to the subject of alimony and custody of children," and as to the merits of the divorce, when granted upon service by publica- tion. In the latter case the party obtaining the divorce is prohibited from marrying within two years from the date of the decree.
Arrests are permitted in civil cases where the plaintiff or his attorney lodges with the clerk of the court an affidavit, specifying the right to recover existing debt or damages, and that the defendant is about to leave the State, with property, with intent to defraud the plaintiff. " An undertaking of the plaintiff must first be filed, with sufficient sureties, to pay all damages sustained by the arrest, if wrongful, not to exceed double the amount of the claim."
Attachments may be issued against the property of a defendant, when the action is for the recovery of money, at the beginning of the action, or any time thereafter, only upon the affidavit of the complainant, or his attorney, showing the exact nature of the claim, and that it is just, as also the amount to be recovered, and the existence of one of the fol- Jowing causes: 1. That the defendant is a non-resident, or a foreign corporation. 2. That the defendant is secretly leav- ing, or has left the State, with intent to defraud his creditors. 3. Or conceals himself so that summons cannot be served. 4. Removal of property out of the State. 5. That the defend- ant has sold or is about to sell or dispose of property with intent to defraud creditors. With certain exceptions no attach- ment can issue against a debtor while his wife and family remains settled in good faith within the county where the debtor's usual place of residence had been prior to his absence. All creditors share pro rata who file their claims under an original attachment before final judgment.
CLAIMS AGAINST ESTATES.
In order to recover costs, claims against estates of persons deceased, except judgment and mortgage liens created during
317
LAWS AND COURTS.
the life-time, must be filed with the clerk of the circuit court, within one year from the appointment of the executor or administrator. " After one year, if not filed at least thirty days before final settlement, the claim is, with few exceptions, barred. A succinct statement of its nature and amount is sufficient, if it have attached the affidavit of the claimant, that it is justly due and wholly unpaid. The entry by the clerk upon the 'appearance docket of the court is the only notice of the filing necessary. When the claim has been so entered ten days before the first day of the ensuing term, the executor or administrator may admit or refuse it, on the margin of the docket; if not admitted, it is to stand for trial at the next term. After allowance it has the force of a judgment, and bears interest at six per cent."*
In deeds, mortgages, acknowledgments and recording, pri- vate seals are abolished, and one witness is sufficient, and, when the deed is acknowledged by the party, no witness is necessary. " The certificate of acknowledgment may be annexed or indorsed. All conveyances of land must be by deed in writ- ing, subscribed and duly acknowledged by the grantor or his attorney, empowered by a like instrument. The joint deed of husband and wife passes the lands of the wife, but does not bind her to any of the covenants. Conveyances, to be valid against any other than the grantor, his heirs, or those having notice thereof, must be recorded within ninety days from their execution. To enable deeds and mortgages to be recorded, they must be acknowledged or proved before a judge, or clerk of some court of record, justice of the peace, auditor, recorder, notary public, or mayor of a city, in this or any other State, or before a commissioner of this State residing in another State, or before a minister, charge d'affaires, or consul of the United States in a foreign country. Acknowledgments before an officer having an official seal require no further attestation. Acknowledgment is essential to admit a deed to record, but not to its validity, which may be proved by attesting wit- nesses. A married woman need make no acknowledgment different from that of an unmarried woman. A married
* From Henry D. Pierce's Digest of the Laws and Courts of Indiana.
318
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
woman under twenty-one and over eighteen may join her hus- band in conveying his property, if her father, or if he be dead, her mother, declare before the officer taking the acknowledg- ment, that it would be prejudicial to her and her husband not to convey, and that it is for the interest of the woman to con- vey; this declaration, with the name of the father or mother, to be inserted in the certificate. The conveyance by a corpo- ration must, of course, be under its corporate seal. All con- veyances and mortgages of lands, and every lease for three years, must be recorded in the recorder's office of the county where the lands are situated, within ninety days from the execution thereof, otherwise they are held fraudulent and void as against subsequent purchasers or mortgages in good faith for a valuable consideration." Chattel mortgage must be recorded within ten days from the date of execution, in the county where the mortgagee resides; otherwise they are void as against creditors.
In regard to depositions, they may be taken out of the State under a commission issued by the clerk of the court where the cause is pending. In such cases, " notice must be served upon the adverse party, and reasonable time given to reach the place of taking the deposition by the ordinary facilities of travel, excluding the day of service of notice, intervening Sundays, and the day of taking. Depositions of witnesses may be taken within or without the State, before a judge, justice of the peace, notary public, mayor, or recorder of a city, clerk of a court of record, or a commissioner appointed by a court; but not before any person being of kin to either party, or inter- ested in the action. Unless waived by agreement, officers in other States must act under a commission (detimus potestatem) from the court in Indiana where the cause is pending. Objec- tion to a deponent, as not competent, or to any questions pro- posed to or answers given by him, may be made at the exam- ination and embodied in the deposition, or subsequently in open court."*
And now in regard to executions. There are a lien on per- * Henry D. Pierce, Esq., Indianapolis.
319
LAWS AND COURTS.
sonal property "within the jurisdiction of the officer from the time of delivery, but if there be several executions in the hands of different officers, the first levy has the preference, and divests all liens created by prior delivery. An execution to another county from that in which judgment is rendered, is a lien only from time of levy. Executions may issue at any time within five years after rendition of the judgment; after that period, leave of court must be obtained, upon notice and motion. Executions from a court of record may issue to any county in the State. Property sold on execution, unless oth- erwise directed by the judgment, must be appraised and sold for at least two-thirds its appraised value. When notes or other instruments or contracts in writing contain the clause. 'without relief from" valuation or appraisement laws,' the property of the judgment-debtor is sold upon execution for what it will bring. Stay of execution is allowed on nearly all judgments, by presenting one or more sufficient freehold securities as follows: On sums not exceeding six dollars, thirty days; over six and under twelve dollars, sixty days; over twelve and under twenty dollars, ninety days; over twenty and under forty dollars, one hundred and twenty days; over forty and under one hundred dollars, one hundred and fifty days; over one hundred dollars, one hundred and eighty days. Stays are not allowed on judgments for moneys received in a fiduciary capacity; or for breach of official duty." Every recognizance of this character operates as against the bail, as a judgment confessed. The property of the judgment-debtor must be exhausted before that of the bail.
As to redemptions, personal property taken upon execution may be redeemed by delivering bond. All lands sold under judgments upon contracts, since June 4, 1861, may be redeemed within one year from sale, by the payment of the purchase money, with interest at the rate of ten per cent. per annum. The exemption or stay laws cannot be waived in a binding form.
In regard to exemptions and homestead laws, " every resi- dent householder may claim as exempt from execution, prop- erty, real or personal, to the amount of three hundred dollars,
320
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
on any debt founded on contract made since May 6, 1853. This right exists while in transitu from one residence to another, within the State. There is no homestead exemp- tion."
The legal rate of interest is six per cent .; but any other rate, not exceeding ten per cent., may be provided for by con- tract in writing. All interest over ten per cent. is illegal, as to the excess only. The rate of interest on judgments is six per cent. in the absence of a contract, but any rate may be provided for by contract, not exceeding, however, ten per cent.
Regarding judgments of the supreme and superior courts, they are liens upon all real estate of defendant liable to execu- tion in the county where rendered, for the space of ten years, and after the expiration of twenty years are deemed satisfied. A transcript of the judgment of any court of record may be filed in another county, and from the time of filing becomes a lien on the real estate of the judgment debtor in that county. An order of attachment binds the defendant's property in the county where issued, and becomes a lien from the time of delivery to the sheriff. Goods in the hands of a consignee are subject to a lien for any debt due from the consignor. Jus- tices' judgments become a lien on real estate from the time of filing transcript in the common pleas court. Judgments on bonds payable to the State become a lien on the real estate of the debtor from the commencement of the action. Every recognizance binds the real estate of the principal from the time it is taken, but that of the surety only from the time judgment of forfeiture is taken; those taken by justices in criminal cases become a lien from the time of filing in circuit or criminal courts .*
The law regarding liens of mechanics, etc., is also impor- tant. Mechanics and all persons furnishing materials for, or performing labor upon, any building, or machinery therefor, have a lien on the building and real estate on which it is sit- uated for their pay, either jointly or separately, by filing notice of intention to hold such lien in the recorder's office within
* Manual of Laws and Courts.
321
LAWS AND COURTS.
sixty days after conclusion of the work or completion of build- ing. The lien relates to the time when the work or repairs commenced, and has priority over any subsequent claims only. All who "file under " on action pending prior to judgment are allowed a pro rata decree. Sub-contractors can acquire lien in the same manner, whether the original contractor is paid or not, or they may give notice to the owner to stop pay- ment, and recover whatever is due the contractor. The stat- ute gives a lien on all boats and water craft for debts contracted for supplies, wages, repairs, etc. A mortgage for purchase- money has preference over a prior judgment against the pur- chaser. Mechanics and tradesmen have a lien on goods left for alteration or repair, liverymen and feeders on stock left with them, forwarding and commission merchants on goods in storage. Attorneys have a lien for their fees on all judgments taken by them, upon entering notice on the docket or order book at the time of taking, giving the amount of such fees.
Touching the law on limitation of actions, we quote from the digest of Henry D. Pierce, Esq., as follows: "Actions for injuries to person or character, and for penalty or forfeiture by statute, must be commenced within two years; against public officer or his sureties, within three years; for the recov- ery of real property sold by executors, etc., on a judgment directing such sale, by a party to the judgment, his heirs or assigns, subsequent to the date of judgment, within five years after confirmation of sale; on accounts and contracts not in writing, for use, rents, and profits of real property, for inju- ries to property, and for the recovery of personal property and damages for the detention thereof, for relief against frauds and for money collected by public officer, within six years; for the recovery of real property sold on execution, when action is brought by execution debtor, his heirs or assigns, after date of judgment, within ten years. All actions not limited by statute shall be brought within fifteen years after the same shall have accrued; actions on written contracts, judgments of a court of record, and for the recovery of real estate, within twenty years. Persons under legal disability may bring their actions within two years after such disability is removed. Set-
21
.
322
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
off or payment may be pleaded, notwithstanding the same are barred by statute. When a cause of action is barred by the statute of the State where the defendant resided at date of contract, the lex loci contractus shall govern the limitation. An acknowledgment or new promise, in order to operate as a new or continuing contract, must be in writing, signed by the party to be charged."
In reference to the law bearing upon the rights of married women, we have the following brief resume from the pen of the same writer: "A married woman may sue and defend alone where the action concerns her separate property, or where the action is between herself and husband. The wife may claim the benefit of the exemption law for her husband in his absence. She may qualify as an executrix with the consent in writing of her husband. Marriage, after having been appointed an administratrix, does not cause her removal if her husband consents in writing. Married women may make wills as if single. A wife of an insane husband may contract in relation to her separate property as a feme sole. A mar- ried woman holds her real and personal property and all profits therefrom absolutely as her separate property, and they are not liable for the debts of her husband, but she cannot alien or encumber her personal or real estate unless her husband join in the conveyance. The separate deed of the husband conveys no interest in his wife's land. The courts may authorize her to sell and convey her own real estate in case of abandonment by her husband, or his confinement in the penitentiary, and to make any contracts. By the statute of 1852, tenancies by the courtesy and dower are abolished. A widow takes one-third of her deceased husband's real estate in fee, free from all demands of creditors, where the estate does not exceed ten thousand dollars; where it does not exceed twenty thonsand dollars one-fourth only; and where it exceeds twenty thousand dollars one-fifth only as against creditors. She takes one-third of the personalty. In all cases she takes three hundred dol- lars from the estate without accounting. If a widow marry a second husband, she cannot alienate real estate held by virtue. of her previous marriage, but it goes to her children by the
323
LAWS AND COURTS.
former marriage. A second or subsequent wife, if there are children by a former wife, takes only a life estate in her hus- band's lands unless she have children alive. A widow may elect to take under her husband's will, or the law. Alienage of the wife does not affect her rights if the husband is a cit-
CROSSCUP & WEST-PHIA
PROF. GEORGE W. HOSS. See page 21.
izen, or if an alien he be authorized to hold lands. The wife's interest is saved from reversion in the absence of heirs, where an estate is given to the husband in consideration of love and affection. A widow may occupy the dwelling and forty acres of land of her deceased husband, free of rent for one year."
324
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
In relation to notes, bills and protest, the law is interesting and important: "Bills of exchange and promissory notes payable in banks within the State, are governed by the 'law merchant.' On all bills of exchange payable within the State, whether sight or time bills, three days of grace are allowed. Notes and bills not payable in bank are governed by statutory provisions as follows: All notes and bills are negotiable by endorsement. The assignee may, in his own name, recover against the maker. The suit must be brought in the name of the real party in interest. Whatever defense or set-off the maker of any such instrument had before notice of assign- ment against an assignor, or the original payee, he shall have also against their assignee. The maker is entitled to all defenses against the note in the hands of the assignee which he could make against it in the hands of the payee. All notes and bills should contain the clause, 'without any relief what- ever from the Valuation or Appraisement Laws of Indiana.' The holder of a note or bill, whether negotiable by the law merchant or by the law of this State, may institute suit against the whole or any number of the parties liable; but no more than one suit at the same term. Damages of five per cent. are allowed upon protested bills drawn or negotiated in this State, if drawn upon a person at a place out of the State; and ten per cent. if drawn upon a person out of the United States. Beyond such damages no interest or charges are allowed, except from date of protest. A holder, without consideration, cannot recover damages. Protest must, of course, be made on the last day of grace, in the usual form. If the notary's cer- tificate shows that written notices were duly given to the sev- eral parties, naming them, it is sufficient evidence of the fact."
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