is prayed for the court shall have authority to decree a divorce from bed and board if the causes proved be sufficient to entitle the party to such relief only.

Sec. 969. REVOCATION OF DIVORCE A MENSA ET THORO.-In all cases where a divorce from bed and board is decreed it may at any time thereafter be revoked by the court upon the joint application of the parties to be discharged from the operation of the decree.

Sec. 970. CAUSES ARISING AFTER DIVORCE A MENSA ET THORO.Where a divorce from bed and board has been decreed the court may afterwards decree an absolute divorce between the parties for any cause arising since the first decree and sufficient to entitle the complaining party to such decree.

Sec. 971. ONLY RESIDENTS DIVORCED.-No decree of nullity of marriage or divorce shall be rendered in favor of anyone not a resident of the District of Columbia, and no divorce shall be decreed in favor of any person who has not been a bona fide resident of said District for at least three years next before the application therefor for any cause which shall have occurred out of said District and prior to residence therein.

Sec. 972. ISSUE OF A MARRIAGE ANNULLED. In case any marriage shall be declared by decree to have been void on account of either party having a former wife or husband living, if it shall appear that said marriage was contracted in good faith by the other party and in ignorance of said obstacle to the marriage, that fact shall be found and declared by the decree, and in such case the issue of said marriage shall be deemed to be the legitimate issue of the parent who was capable of contracting.

Sec. 973. ISSUE OF A LUNATIC'S MARRIAGE. Where a marriage is declared null and void on account of the idiocy or lunacy of either party at the time of the marriage the issue of the marriage shall be deemed legitimate.

Sec. 974. LEGITIMACY OF ISSUE OF A MARRIAGE DISSOLVED. —A divorce for any of the causes herein provided for shall not affect the legiti macy of the issue of the marriage dissolved by such divorce, but the legitimacy of such issue, if questioned, shall be tried and determined according to the course of the common law.

Sec. 975. ALIMONY PENDENTE LITE.-During the pendency of a suit for divorce, or a suit by the husband to declare the marriage null and void, where the nullity is denied by the wife, the court shall have power to require the husband to pay alimony to the wife for the maintenance of herself and their minor children committed to her care, and suit money, including counsel fees, to enable her to conduct her case, whether she be plaintiff or defendant, and to enforce obedience to any order in regard thereto by attachment and imprisonment for disobedi ence. The court may also enjoin any disposition of the husband's property to avoid the collection of said allowances, and may, in case of the husband's failure or refusal to pay such alimony and suit money, sequestrate his property and apply the income thereof to such objects. The court may also determine whether the husband or wife] who shall have the care and custody of infant children pending the proceedings.

Sec. 976. PERMANENT ALIMONY.-When a divorce is granted to the wife, the court shall have authority to decree her permanent alimony sufficient for her support and that of any minor children whom the court may assign to her care, and to secure and enforce the payment of said alimony in the manner before mentioned, and may, if it shall seem fit, retain to the wife her right of dower in the husband's estate.

Sec. 977. If the divorce is granted on the application of the husband, the court may, nevertheless, require him to pay alimony to the wife, if it shall seem just and proper [; but in such cases the husband may appeal].

Sec. 978. After a decree of divorce in any case granting alimony and providing for the care and custody of children, the case shall still be considered open for any future orders in those respects.

Sec. 979. MAIDEN NAME OF WIFE RESTORED.-In granting a divorce from the bond of marriage the court may restore to the wife her maiden or other previous name.

Sec. 980. MAINTENANCE OF WIFE. -Whenever any husband shall fail or refuse to maintain his wife and minor children, if any, although able so to do, the court, on application of the wife, may decree that he shall pay her, periodically, such sums as would be allowed to her as permanent alimony in case of divorce for the maintenance of herself and the minor children committed to her care by the court, and the payment thereof may be enforced in the same manner as directed in regard to such permanent alimony.

-When the validity

Sec. 981. SUIT TO DECLARE A MARRIAGE VALID. of any alleged marriage shall be denied by either of the parties thereto the other party may institute a suit for affirming the marriage, and upon due proof of the validity thereof it shall be decreed to be valid, and such decree shall be conclusive upon all parties concerned.

Sec. 982. COURT TO ASSIGN ATTORNEY IN UNCONTESTED CASES.-In all uncontested divorce cases, and in any other divorce case where the court may deem it necessary or proper, a disinterested attorney shall be assigned by the court to enter his appearance for the defendant and actively defend the cause, and such attorney shall receive such compensation for his services as the court may determine to be proper, such compensation to be paid by the parties as the court may direct.

Sec. 983. [CORRESPONDENTS] CO-RESPONDENTS.-In all divorce cases where adultery is charged the person or persons with whom the adultery is charged to have been committed shall be made defendant or defendants and brought in by personal service of process or by publication as in other cases.

CHAPTER XXIII.

EJECTMENT.

Sec. 984. PARTIES.-Every action of ejectment shall be brought in the name of the real claimant and may be brought against the person actually occupying the premises claimed, either in person or by tenant, or against both the claimant and his tenant, or other occupant claiming under him, or, if they be not actually occupied, against some person exercising acts of ownership thereon adversely to the plaintiff. If a lessee be made a defendant at the suit of a party claiming against the title of his landlord such landlord may appear and be made a party defendant in the place of his lessee. And any person claiming to be in possession may, on motion, be admitted to defend the action.

Sec. 985. FORM OF DECLARATION. The plaintiff in his declaration must describe the premises claimed with reasonable certainty, and set forth distinctly the nature and quantity of the estate claimed by him in the same, and it shall be sufficient for him to state in addition thereto that the plaintiff was possessed of the premises, and while he was so possessed the defendant entered wrongfully into possession of the same and withholds the possession thereof from the plaintiff, or wrongfully detains such possession, or that the defendant is wrongfully exercising acts of ownership thereon. Such acts of ownership, however, unaccompanied with possession shall not, except as hereinafter provided, be held to amount to an adversary possession, so as to make it necessary for the plaintiff to sue in order to avoid the bar of the statute of limitations.

Sec. 986. COUNTS.-The declaration may contain several counts and several parties may be named as plaintiffs, jointly in one count and separately in others.

[Sec. 987. PLEADING.-The defendant may demur or may plead the general issue of "not guilty," which shall put in issue the plaintiff's title and right to the possession and under which all matters of defense may be given in evidence.]

Sec. 988. EVIDENCE.-It shall be sufficient to entitle the plaintiff to a verdict to show that he is entitled, as against the defendant, to the immediate possession of the premises claimed and that the defendant is in possession thereof, holding adversely to the plaintiff, or is exercising acts of ownership over the same adversely to the plaintiff; except that in an action by one or more joint tenants or tenants in common against their cotenants, the plaintiff's shall be required to prove an actual ouster or some other act amounting to a denial of the plaintiff's title and his exclusion from the enjoyment of the property.

Sec. 989. OUTSTANDING LEGAL TITLE.-It shall be no bar to the plaintiff's recovery that the legal title to the property claimed is outstanding in another as mortgagee or trustee under a mortgage or deed of trust to secure a debt unless such mortgagee or trustee, or those

claiming under him, has taken possession of the premises; or unless the defendant claims under such mortgagor or grantor in the deed of trust.

[Sec. 989. OUTSTANDING LEGAL TITLE.-It shall be no bar to the plaintiff's recovery that the legal title to the property claimed is outstanding in another as mortgagee or trustee, if the mortgage or deed of trust has been satisfied and the plaintiff would be entitled to an unconditional decree for the release or reconveyance of the property to him, nor shall the mortgagee or trustee in such case be entitled to maintain an action of ejectment against the party so entitled.]

Sec. 990. Where real property has been sold under a written contract executed by the vendor, and there has been such a performance of its terms by the vendee as would entitle him to a decree in equity for a conveyance of the legal title, without condition, such vendor shall not be entitled at law, any more than in equity, to recover said property from the vendee.

[Sec. 991. MORTGAGOR.-Wherever, by the terms of a mortgage or deed of trust, the debtor is entitled to retain possession of the property conveyed until default in the payment of the debts secured, said mortgage or deed of trust shall be no bar to the recovery of possession of the property in ejectment, before such default, by the mortgagor or grantor, against either the mortgagee or trustee or a stranger.]

Sec. 992. SEVERAL JUDGMENTS AGAINST DEFENDANTS. If it appears on the trial that some of the defendants occupy distinct parcels of the property claimed, in severalty, the plaintiff, if entitled to recover, may, in the discretion of the court, have several judgments against the tive parties, according to the proof of occupancy.

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Sec. 993. RECOVERY OF LESS THAN IS CLAIMED.-The plaintiff, under a claim to certain described premises, may recover less than the whole property claimed, and, under a claim to an entire property, may recover an undivided part thereof.

Sec. 994. JOINT TENANTS AND TENANTS IN COMMON.-Joint tenants must sue jointly in ejectment, but tenants in common may sue either jointly or separately, and any numbers of tenants in common, less than the whole number entitled, may sue jointly in reference to their undivided interests.

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Sec. 995. MESNE PROFITS AND DAMAGES.—The plaintiff may embody in his declaration, in a separate count, a claim for the mesne profits received by the defendant from the property sued for or for the clear value of the use and occupation thereof extending to the time of the verdict, and also damages for waste or injury to the premises during said period; and if the jury find for the plaintiff they may, the same time, find and assess the said mesne profits, or the value of said use and occupation and the amount of said damages; and, besides a judgment for the recovery of the property, there shall be rendered a judgment against the defendant for the amount so found by the jury, except in the case provided for in section ten hundred and three hereafter. Act of June 30, 1902.

[Sec. 995. MESNE PROFITS AND DAMAGES.-The plaintiff may embody in his declaration, in a separate count, a claim for the mesne profits received by the defendant from the property sued for or for the clear value of the use and occupation thereof to the defendant during his occupation thereof, and during the plaintiff's ownership thereof, within a period commencing three years before the commencement of the suit and extending to the time of the verdict, and also damages for waste or injury to the premises during said period; and if the jury find for the plaintiff they may, at the same time, find and assess the said mesne profits, or the value of said use and occupation and the amount of said damages and, besides a judgment for the recovery

of the property, there shall be rendered a judgment against the defendant for the amount so found by the jury, except in the case provided for in section ten hundred and three hereafter.]

Sec. 996. LANDLORD AND TENANT. If the action be by a landlord against his tenant, the plaintiff may embody in his declaration, in separate counts, a claim for furniture if leased with the realty, for arrears of rent due at the termination of the tenancy, a claim for double rent in cases authorized by this code from the termination of the tenancy to the verdict for possession, and a claim for damages for waste or injury to the premises or furniture during the defendant's occupancy of the same and before the commencement of the suit; and if the jury find for the plaintiff, they may at the same time find the amounts due for arrears of rent and for double rent and for damages as aforesaid, and judgment shall be rendered accordingly.

Sec. 997. PLAINTIFF MAY SUE SEPARATELY FOR RENT OR DAMAGES. The plaintiff in ejectment shall not be bound to join his claim for rent or damages with his claim for the recovery of the land, and his omission to do so shall not prevent him from suing for the same separately.

Sec. 998. EXPIRATION OF TITLE PENDING SUIT.-If the title of the plaintiff in ejectment shall expire after the commencement of the suit but before the trial, and but for said expiration he would have been entitled to recover, the verdict shall find such facts, and the plaintiff shall be entitled to recover his damages sustained by the wrongful withholding of the possession.

Sec. 999. ADVERSE POSSESSION. In an action to recover vacant and unimproved lots of ground it shall not be necessary, in order to maintain the defense of adversary possession, to show that the premises in controversy had been inclosed; but if it appear that the property had been assessed for taxation to the defendant, or those under whom he claims, and that he or they had regularly paid the taxes on the same and were the only persons who had exercised control over the same for a period of fifteen years before the bringing of the action, such facts shall be the equivalent of possession by actual inclosure.

Sec. 1000. VERDICT.-If the plaintiff's title be established by proof, the verdict of the jury shall be generally for the plaintiff as to the whole or part of the property or interest claimed in the declaration, as the case may be; if, on the contrary, the plaintiff fail to make satisfactory proof of title, the verdict shall be for the defendant as to the whole or part of the property, as the case may be, and it may be for the plaintiff as to part and for the defendant as to other part thereof, and judgment shall be rendered according to the verdict, except as hereinafter provided.

Sec. 1001. If it appear on the trial that the defendant did not wrongfully enter into possession of the property sued for, or exercise acts of ownership over the same adversely to the plaintiff, as aforesaid, the verdict of the jury shall be that the defendant is not guilty, and thereupon judgment shall be rendered in favor of the defendant against the plaintiff for the costs of the action, but such judgment shall not be a bar to a future action by the plaintiff against the defendant for the recovery of the property.

Sec. 1002. JUDGMENT.-Any final judgment rendered in an action of ejectment shall be conclusive as to the title thereby established as