by the statute. Unless further time be allowed by special order of the court in the particular case, the certified copy must be filed in this court within ten days from the granting of the application. If the copy be not so filed, the application will be dismissed by the court of its own motion.

6. When service of the citation in error shall have been had, and the original transcripts and briefs sent up to this court by the court of civil appeals, it shall be the duty of the clerk to put the case upon the trial docket, and to mark upon the file the number of the case as shown upon such docket. Cases upon the trial docket shall be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are entered thereon.

7. Causes in this court will be regularly submitted on Thursday of each week, though a case may be set down for submission upon another day by the permission or direction of the court.

8. A case shall stand for submission upon the first regular day for the submission of causes, coming after the expiration of thirty days from the day on which the writ of error shall have issued, provided

the citation in error shall have been served ten days before such submission day. If not so served, then the case shall be subject to submission on the first regular submission day, which falls ten days after service of the citation.

9. Motions in a case not submitted will be heard on the day next preceding the submission day for such case; and the adverse party will be required to take no tice of all motions filed in the cause on or before the Tuesday immediately preceding such submission day. Notice shall be given of all motions filed after that time.

10. The clerk shall keep a motion docket, upon which shall be entered every motion as soon as filed. The motions shall be numbered consecutively upon the docket, and its number shall be placed on the mo tion itself.

11. A party who elects to file in this court a brief, in addition to the brief filed in the court of civil appeals, shall comply as near as may be with the rules prescribed for briefing causes in the latter court, and shall confine his briefs to the points raised in the motion for a rehearing and presented in the application for a writ of

error.

TRANSCRIPTS.

1. The clerks of the courts of civil appeals shall receive the transcripts deliv. ered and sent to them, and receipt for the same, if required, but they shall not be required to take a transcript out of the post office, or an express office, unless the postage or charges thereon be fully paid.

2. The clerk shall indorse his filing upon the transcript, of the date of its reception, if it comes to his hands properly indorsed, showing who applied for it, and to whom it was delivered, if presented within ninety days from the time the appeal or writ of error is perfected; but if it comes to his hands after the said date, or not so properly indorsed, he shall, without filing it, make a memorandum upon it of the date of its reception, and keep it In his office, subject to the order of the person who sent it, or to the disposition of the court. Said transcript shall not be filed until a satisfactory showing has been made to the court for its not being properly indorsed, or for not being received by the clerk in proper time; and upon this being done it may be ordered by the court to be filed, upon such terms as may be deemed proper, having respect to the rights of the opposite party.

3. Either party may file the transcript for which he has applied to the district clerk, and which has been delivered to him; both of which facts must appear on the transcript by the indorsement of the

district clerk. If the indorsement shows that it was applied for by one party and delivered to the other, it must be shown by the indorsement of the clerk, or otherwise, to entitle it to be properly filed as the transcript of the party to whom it was delivered, and that it was delivered to one by the consent of the other, as each party has the sole right to the transcript which he applied for to be made out for him; and if it is so filed, without that fact being shown, the court may strike the case from the docket as improp erly filed, upon its own inspection, or upon motion of the party to whom the transcript belonged.

4. If both parties file transcripts within the proper time,-which they may do, — and that of the appellant or plaintiff in error is properly made and indorsed, it shall be regarded by the court as the transcript of the record in the case, and the court will grant the appellee or defendant in error leave to withdraw that filed by him for his own use.

5. If but one party file his transcript in proper time, that shall be regarded as the transcript of the record in the case.

6. From the time when the transcript, properly made out and indorsed, is filed, it will cease to belong to either party, but will become a record of the court, subject to its control and disposition.

7. Transcripts in appeals from judg ments in proceedings in quo warranto shall be filed in the court of civil appeals within twenty days after appeal is per.

fected, and the first Tuesday following such twentieth day shall be the day for filing motions in such cases.

MOTIONS.

8. All motions relating to informalities in the manner of bringing a case into the court shall be filed and entered by the clerk in the motion docket, on or before the Tuesday next before the day on which such case is subject to be called for submission; otherwise the ground of objection shall be considered as waived, if it can be waived by the party. Such filing and docketing will be sufficient notice of the motion.

9. Motions to dismiss for want of jurisdiction to try the case, and for such defects as defeat the jurisdiction in the particular case, and cannot be waived, shall also be made, filed, and docketed at said time, which filing and docketing shall be notice of the motion: provided, however, if made afterwards, they may be entertained by the court, after such notice to the opposite party as the court may deem proper to have been given under the circumstan

ces.

10. Motions, made either to sustain or defeat the jurisdiction of the court, dependent on facts not apparent in the record, and not ex officio known to the court, must be supported by affidavits or other satisfactory evidence.

11. Motions for certiorari to perfect the record shall also be made in the time required in rule 8. They must be accompanied with a sworn statement showing a necessity for the same, unless the record shows it, the filing and docketing of which shall be notice of the same. If made afterwards, they will be entertained only upon suen terms and upon such notice as the court may deem proper. Unless reasons appear to vary the rule, the party applying, in all cases, will be taxed with the costs.

12. Mutions made to postpone the case to a future day, or to continue it until the next term, unless consented to by the opposite party, shall be supported by sufficient cause, verified by affidavit, unless such sufficient cause is apparent to the court.

13. The motion docket will be called on Wednesday of each week, when the motions filed and docketed according to the preceding rules will be in order for submission, at the instance of either party; and if not submitted then may be submitted at the regular call of the trial docket, unless sooner called up and disposed of.

14. The arguments of counsel upon all motions shall be confined to a brief explanation of the grounds in the motion, so as to make them intelligible to the court, with a reference to the statutes and decisions relating thereto, unless further argument is requested by the court.

15. The clerk, upon filing and docketing a motion, will indorse upon the motion its number, and the number of the case to which it belongs, which shall also be entered in the motion docket, together with the attorney's name who makes the motion. Any opposition in the way of answer to said motion by the opposite par

ty may be filed, and in like manner indorsed and noted in the motion docket, and the name of the attorney therein ontered.

THE DOCKET.

16. The clerk, before the regular call of the trial docket, shall have the file number indorsed on each transcript. Where briefs have been filed in a case, the name of the attorney or attorneys signed to the brief shall be entered by the clerk on the trial docket, opposite the name of the appropriate party, and that shall indicate to the court who appears for such party in the cause.

17. The clerk shall not make such entry of an attorney's name until he shall have filed his briefs; but he shall permit any attorney who desires to make an appearance in the case before he files his briefs, or without filing them at all, to place his name, in his own handwriting, upon the trial docket, opposite the name of the party for whom he appears, and that shall be regarded by the court as having whatever effect is given to the mere appearance of a party to a case in court without brief filed.

18. The court will not enter upon the docket the names of attorneys in a case, but counsel desiring their names entered shall see that it is done under the foregoing rule before the case is called.

19. Counsel desiring to call the attention of the court to a case on the motion docket or trial docket, not then called in its regular order, must, before doing so, provide himself with the number of the case on the docket.

CALLING THE DOCKET.

20. The trial docket will be called in regular order, according to the filing of the cases as they stand thereon, commencing with the first of those that have not been previously submitted; but the court shall not be required to take the submission of a case until the business on hand will admit of a prompt disposition after the submission has been taken.

21. Upon the call of the trial docket for the submission of cases, either party may submit a cause, if it appears to have been

properly prepared for submission on his part, unless, for good cause, the court shall postpone the hearing to a further day, or by agreement of counsel to a future day of the term, which will not be done so as to interfere with the business of the court. This rule is subject to exceptional cases given a preference to under some law or rule of the court, and to the action of the court on motions for the postponement and continuance of causes."

PREPARING A CAUSE FOR SUBMISSION.

22. A cause will be properly prepared for submission only when a transcript of the record exhibits a cause prepared for appeal in accordance with the rules prescribed for the government of the district and county courts, and filed in the court under the rules, with briefs of one or of both the parties, in accordance with the rules for the government of the court.

23. Said record should contain an assignment of errors as required by the statute. If it does not, the court will not consider any error but one of law that may be apparent upon the record, if the judgment is one that conld legally have been rendered in the lower court and affirmed in the appellate court.

24. The assignment of errors must dis- | tinctly specify the grounds of error relied on, and a ground of error not distinctly specified, in reference to that which is shown in the record, or not specified at all, shall be considered as waived, unless it be so fundamental as that the court would act upon it without an assignment of errors, as mentioned in rule 23.

25. To be a distinct specification of error, it must point out that part of the proceedings contained in the record in which the error is complained of, in a particular manner, so as to identify it, whether it be the rulings of the court upon a notion, or upon any particular part of the pleadings, or upon the admission or the rejection of evidence, or upon any other matter relating to the cause or its tri al, or the portion of the charge given or refused, the fact or facts in issue which the evidence was incompetent or insufficient to prove, the insufficiency of the verdict or finding of the jury, if special, and the particular matter in which the judgment is erroneous or illegal, with such reasonable certainty as may be practicable, in a succinct and clear statement, considering the matter referred to.

26. Assignments of error, which are expressed only in such general terms as that the court erred in its rulings upon the pleadings, when there are more than one, or in its charge, when there are a number <of charges, or the verdict is contrary to law, or to the charge of the court, and the like, without referring to and identifying the proceeding, will not be regarded by the court as a compliance with the statute requiring the grounds to be distinctly specified, and will be considered as a waiver of errors, the same as if no assign ment of errors had been attempted to be filed.

27. In cases submitted to the judge upon the law and facts, the assignments of error shall be governed by the same rules as in other cases, and the party desiring to appeal should, as a predicate for specific assignments of errors, request the judge to state in writing the conclusions of fact found by him separately from the conclusions of law. And in agreed cases under the statute the foregoing rules as to assignments of error shall be complied with as far as practicable.

28. There will be no assignment of errors allowed in the appellate court when none has been filed in the lower court, unless by consent of parties.

BRIEFS.

29. The appellant or plaintiff in error, in order to prepare properly a case for submission when called, shall have filed a brief of the points relied on, in accordance with and confined to the distinct specifications of error, which assignments shall be copied in the brief, and to such

fundamental errors of law as are apparent upon the record, each ground of error being separately presented under the proper assignment; and each assignment not so copied and accompanied with its appropriate propositions and statements shall be regarded as abandoned.

30. The appellant or plaintiff in error, in preparing his brief, shall make a general and succinct statement of the nature and result of the suit, as an introduction, which may be omitted in an agreed case under the statute, and then each point under each one of the assignments relied on shall be stated in the shape of a proposition, unless the assignment is itself in the shape of a proposition to be maintained, and then it will be sufficient to copy the assignment.

31. To each one of said propositions there shall be subjoined a brief statement, in substance, of such proceedings, or part thereof, contained in the record as will be necessary and sufficient to explain and support the proposition, with a reference to the pages of the record. This statement must be made faithfully, in reference to the whole of that which is in the record having a bearing upon said proposition, upan the professional responsibility of the counsel who makes it, and without intermixing with it arguments, reasons, conclusions, or inferences. But an argument bearing only on the propositions submitted may follow each statement.

32. The propositions, if more than one under one ground of the assignment, shall refer to it, and be stated separately.

33. In a proposition relating to the error of the court in overruling a motion for a new trial or to arrest the judgment, in which there are several grounds, the par ticular ground or grounds should be referred to with the appropriate explanation; and if the same grounds of error have been presented in other propositions it will be unnecessary to repeat them.

34. In propositions relating to fundamental errors of law apparent upon the record, enough must be stated to make the error of law which pervades the case obviously apparent, without requiring the court to search through the record to find errors, which they will not do unless properly pointed out, if the judgment is one which the trial court is competent to ren der in such a case.

35. When the assignments of error are numerous, counsel should present propositions on those which are most important in the determination of the case, waiving those that cannot control the result of the decision of this court,-among which may be classed those involving questions of fact wherein the evidence is so preponderating or so conflicting as that the court, under well-established rules of decision, would not set aside the verdict of the jury or judgment of the court upon them.

36. There should be annexed to each proposition, with its statement, and at the end of it, a reference simply to the authorities relied on, if any, in support of it, in the following order, to wit: The statutes and decisions of this state; the stat utes and decisions of the United States, if they are applicable to the case; elementary

authorities; other decisions in the American and English courts. In citing decisions, those most nearly in point should be cited first, and they should not, usually at least, he so numerous as to require a waste of time in their examination.

37. The brief of the parties, framed in accordance with these rules, must be signed by the party or his counsel; and if by counsel it shall appear for and on behalf of what party or parties, by name, it is signed; and the copies thereof filed in the appellate court shall be plainly written or printed, and if it covers more than eight pages of foolscap they shall be printed.

38. Such brief may be amended by a citation of additional authorities to the respective points or propositions made in it, which must be filed, and notice of it given to the counsel for the opposite party, if in attendance, one day before the case is called. No other amendment to the brief shall be allowed by the court, unless it is or can be done without injustice or unreasonable inconvenience being thereby imposed on the other party.

39. The failure of appellant or plaintiff in error to file an assigninent of errors and briefs in the lower court, and in the appellate court, in the time and in the manner prescribed by law and by the rules, shall be ground for dismissing the appeal or writ of error for want of prosecution, by motion made by appellee or defendant in error, as other motions under rule 8, unless good cause is shown why it was not done in the time and manner as prescribed, and that they have been filed at such time and under such circumstances as that the appellee or defendant in error has reasonably not suffered any material injury in the defense of the case in the appellate court. In deciding said motion, the court will give such direction to the case as will cause the least inconvenience or damage from such failure, so far as practicable.

40. When it shall be found that the rules prescribed for the preparation of a case for submission have been fully complied with by the appellant or plaintiff in error, the court will, in its discretion, regard this brief as a proper presentation of the case, without an examination of the record as contained in the transcript, and may found its decision thereon, unless the appellee or defendant in error shall, by the time of calling of the case, file in the appellate court copies of his brief, to be there kept with the transcript, containing his objections, succinctly and definitely, to the grounds of error as presented in the propositions of appellant or plaintiff in error in his brief, taking up each of them in order, and stating such other matters contained in the record, in the mode prescribed for appellant and plaintiff in error, as may sustain his objection to each; to which may be added propositions of his own, supported by like statements of what is in the record, so as to present his view of the case, citing the proceedings in the transcript, with the pages, when practicable, to which he refers in his statements.

41. Whatever of the statements of the appellant or plaintiff in error in his brief is not contested will be considered as ac

quiesced in. To each of his said objections or propositions may be annexed his authorities, cited in the order indicated for the brief of appellant or plaintiff in error.

42. When appellant or plaintiff in error has failed to prepare the case for submission, by the omission of what is required after bond or affidavit filed for appeal and for writ of error with citation served, the appellee or defendant in error, before the call of the case, may file in the appellate court a brief, in the manner required of the appellant or plaintiff in error,-except that his propositions will be shaped so as to show the correctness of the judgment, -which the court may, in its discretion, regard as a correct presentation of the case, without examining the record further than to see that the judgment is one that can be affirmed upon the view of the case as presented by appellee or defendant in error. The appellee or defendant in error shall be entitled to the custody of the transcript after it is filed in the appellate court, for the purpose of preparing his brief.

43. The appellee or defendant in error may submit the record, upon a suggestion of delay, upon making a brief statement of the character of the suit, the proceedings therein, and the judgment rendered, which will be required in every case of such submission when appellant or plaintiff in error has filed no brief. If this is done in a case properly prepared for submission by appellant or plaintiff in error, it will be considered an acquiescence in the statement of appellant or plaintiff in error, in his brief, as to the contents of the record, and as merely a denial of the legal consequences contended for by the appellant or plaintiff in error, unless the appellee or defendant in error shall also file a brief, as heretofore provided, which he may do. If the appellant or plaintiff in error has not prepared the case for submission, the record will be examined sufficiently to ascertain that it is or is not properly a delay case, and if found to be a plain case of delay it will be acted on as such; but if not, it will be reversed, or referred back for a brief, or brief and argument, on one or both sides, as may be directed. In deciding under this rule, where the case has not been prepared for submission by the appellant or plaintiff in error, the court will be required to look only to the substantial merits as they may appear in the record.

44. When affirmance is asked upon certificate filed, there need be nothing more than a request for affirmance, signed by the party or his counsel. It shall not be submitted sooner than one week after be ing tiled, if the court should be in session that length of time. The appellee or defendant in error may be heard on a mo. tion to dismiss the certificate, or on a motion to file the transcript of the record, or on a motion to set aside the judgment rendered, as in other cases of rehearing.

the authorities, so as to enable the court to decide the case, the court may set aside the submission, and refer it back, with such orders for postponement, filing of briefs, reference to authorities, by one or both parties, and reargument, written or oral, as may be deemed proper. If, however, one party has fully complied with the rules, and has filed a satisfactory brief that will enable the court to decide the case, and the other party is in default, and has not filed a satisfactory brief in accordance with the rules, the court may, in its discretion, disregard the latter party's brief, as if not filed in the case, and act upon that alone which bas been properly filed in accordance with the rules.

AGREEMENTS OF COUNSEL.

46. All agreements of parties or their counsel relating either to the merits or conduct of the case in the court or in reference to a waiver of any of the requirements prescribed by the rules, looking to the proper preparation of an appeal or writ of error for a submission, shall be in writing, signed by the parties or their counsel, and filed with the transcript or be contained in it, and, to the extent that such agreement may vary the regular order of proceeding, shall be subject to such orders of the court as may be necessary to secure a proper preparation for a submission of the case.

ARGUMENTS OF COUNSEL.

47. When the case is properly prepared for submission, any party who has filed briefs in accordance with the rules prescribed therefor may, upon the call of the case for submission, submit an argument to the court, either oral or plainly written or printed, which, if written or printed, may be left on file with the transcript, copies of which need not be furnished unless printed.

48. The arguments must be upon the disputed points, whether of law or fact, in support of the propositions relied on, on one side, and objections and counter propositions on the other, and it must be confined to them, avoiding any reference or comment upon positions taken in the trial court, or to other extraneous matters not involved in or pertaining to that which is found in the record.

49. In referring to statutes, that part directly bearing upon or relevant to the position should be read at the bar, or stated in the written or printed arguments; and in citing elementary books or decisions of courts, the principle should be stated, or so much should be read or stated, as bears directly on, or tends to maintain, the proposition for which it is cited in the brief.

50. After the case has been presented to the court by such explanation as may be necessary, each side may be allowed an hour in argument at the bar, with twenty minutes more in conclusion by the appellant; and, after being so presented, if the magnitude or importance of the case or the difficulty of the question seems to require it, a louger time may be allowed. Not more than two counsel on each side

will be heard, except upon leave of the court.

51. If counsel for but one party has filed briefs, an argument by him may be allowed, conformably to the preceding rules as nearly as practicable, under the direction of the court.

52. Counsel who argue a case at the bar will be expected to be able to answer ques tions propounded by the members of the court, relating to the matters contained in the record, and to the laws or authorities cited in the argument.

53. Should it be apparent, during the progress of the trial, or afterwards, that the case has not been properly prepared, as shown in the transcript, or properly presented in the brief or briefs, or that the law and authorities have not been properly cited, which will enable thecourt to decide the case, it may decline to receive the submission, or, if received, may set it aside, and make such orders as may be necessary to secure a more satisfactory submission of the case.

54. When a case has been properly prepared for submission, and a satisfactory oral argument has been made, the court will promptly announce its judgment, if practicable, at the next succeeding session of the court, and, when deemed necessary, deliver a written opinion; if not then, at some time during the term of the court.

CUSTODY OF TRANSCRIPT.

55. Neither the transcript nor any of the papers in a case shall be withdrawn from the custody of the clerk, nor taken from his office or the court room, without a receipt left therefor.

56. Cases, after submission, are no longer under the control of the attorneys, and the clerk will not let the transcripts of such cases go out of his office, except on the order of one of the justices of the court.

57. Original papers sent up with the trauscript by order of the trial court for the inspection of the appellate court will be retained in the office, and will not be allowed to go out of the custody of the clerk, except by order of one of the justices of the court, which order must be filed with the papers of the cause.

58. The clerk shall furnish the parties and counsel with an opportunity, when reasonably applied to for that purpose, to inspect the records, judgments, papers, opinions, books, and dockets in his office in which they may be interested; but he shall not be required to permit copies thereof to be taken without his consent. He shall, upon tender of reasonable compensation, give certified copies of the records of his office.

59. The clerk shall be responsible for every transcript or other paper in a cause that is missing from his office, unless he can produce the receipt of an attorney for the same, or otherwise show, by satisfactory evidence, that some one took it from his custody or from the court room without his consent, or that said transcript had passed into the hands of one of the justices of the court, and had not been returned to his custody.