Case Name: WILDER v. JACKSON et al.
Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1922-02-27
Citations: 150 La. 863
Docket Number: No. 24184
Parties: WILDER v. JACKSON et al.
Judges: 
Reporter: Louisiana Reports
Volume: 150
Pages: 863–873

Head Matter:
(91 South. 245)
No. 24184.
WILDER v. JACKSON et al.
(Nov. 3, 1920.
On the Merits, Feb. 27, 1922.)
(Syllabus by the Court.)
I. Appeal and error <&wkey;359, 364, 386(1) — District court clerk in country parish in absence of judge may grant order of appeal and fix amount of bond; appellant cannot be prejudiced by clerk’s error in fixing return day or lodging the appeal within the minimum statutory delay; where appeal is made returnable in 9 instead of the statutory minimum of 15 days and. is lodged on tenth day, it is within the delay fixed by law.
The clerk of the district court, in a country parish, is authorized, in the absence of the judge from the parish and upon the showing of such absence by the oath of the litigant or his attorney, to grant an order of appeal, and, in certain cases fix the amount of the bond, and, within certain limits, the return day; and the litigant, seeking the appeal, cannot be prejudiced by his error in fixing the return day within the minimum delay fixed by the statute; nor is the appellant prejudiced by lodging the appeal in this court within such delay, though the appellee need not answer or otherwise act until the delay has expired; and, where an appeal is made returnable in 9 days, instead of the minimum of 15 days, fixed by statute, and is lodged in this court on the tenth day following the order, it is within the delay fixed by law and also within the days of grace from the return day fixed by the clerk.
On the Merits.
(Additional Syllabus by Editorial Staff.)
2. Mines and minerals <&wkey;>58 — Where lessee was not bound, held lessor was not, and had the right to withdraw though consenting to correction of description in lease.
Where lessee bound himself to nothing in a lease, lessor was not bound whether or not the property was correctly or incorrectly described therein, and any subsequent change in the description could not have purged the agreement of its suspensive, potestative condition nor want of mutuality and consideration which vitiated it ab initio, and, even if lessor had consented to the correct description, he would still have the right to withdraw, as it did not bind lessee.
3. Mines and minerals &wkey;?78(7) — Evidence held not to prove acceptance of check for payment of overdue rentals to prevent forfeiture for failure to drill.
Evidence held not to prove acceptance of a check for overdue rentals required to be paid to prevent forfeiture in case of failure to drill.
Appeal from Third, judicial District Court, Parish of Claiborne; J. E. Reynolds, Judge.
Action by Mrs. Bennie H. Wilder against Charles J. Jackson and others. Judgment for the defendants, and the plaintiff appeals.
Motion to dismiss appeal denied, and judgment affirmed.
Barnette & Blanchard and Wilkinson, Lewis & Wilkinson, all of Shreveport, for appellant.
Blanchard, Goldstein & Walker, of Shreveport, for appellees Louisiana Oil Refining Corporation and Charles J. Jackson.
Thigpen & Herold and Milling & Pugh, all of Shreveport, for appellees Gilliland & Poster.
Hall & Bullock, of Shreveport, for appel-lees A. C. Glassell and K. E. Merren.

Opinion:
On' Motion to Dismiss Appeal.
MONROE, C. J.
Defendants,, appel-lees, move to dismiss the appeal herein, on the grounds: (1) That there was no valid order of appeal or fixing of the bond, those functions having been discharged by the clerk, who was unauthorized thereto; (2) that the "so-called" order was signed on July 3, 1920, and made the appeal returnable on July 12, following; which was less than the 15 days required by law; (3) that the transcript was not lodged in this court within the delay thus fixed.
1. Act 75 of 1884 authorizes the clerk to grant an order of appeal-and fix the amount of the bond, in the absence of the judge from the parish, upon a petition or application in which such absence is made to appear by the oath of the party or his attorney; and, as appears from the record', those requirements were complied with. The granting of such an order is a ministerial function which. is within the power of the General Assembly to authorize the clerks of the district court, outside the parish of Orleans, to perform Const, art. 123.
2. The petition prays that an order for a devolutive appeal be granted, and that the amount of the bond and return day be fixed. The clerk, on July 3d, fixed the bond1 at $250 and made the appeal returnable on the second Monday (which fell on the 12th) of July. It should have been made returnable in "not less than 15 nor more than 60 days" from the date of the order (Act 106 of 1908); but it has been held that an appellant cannot be prejudiced by the error of the judge (and the same ruling applies to the clerk, acting in place of the judge), in fixing the return day of an appeal (Pearce v. District Atty., 49 La. Ann. 643, 21 South. 737; Lazarus v. Friedrichs, 125 La. 619, 51 South. 663; State v. Augustus, 129 La. 617, 56 South. 551), and it has further been held that an appeal will not he dismissed because lodged in this court before the return day fixed by law, though the appellee need not answer or otherwise act until then (Ross v. Naff, 130 La. 594, 58 South. 348).
3. The transcript was lodged in this court on July 13, which was within the minimum delay fixed by law and also within the days of grace, from the return day as fixed by the clerk.
The motion to dismiss is therefore overruled.