Long

This is an appeal from the judgment taken within sixty days .after its rendition.

The respondents’ objections to the consideration of the bill of exceptions are without merit. The proposed bill and the proposed amendments thereto were not delivered to the clerk for the judge within the time required by section 650 of the Code of Civil Procedure, but it appears that they were mailed to the clerk in due time and that they did not reach him because they were lost in transmission through the mail. Upon motion, after due notice as the record recites, the court after-wards made an order relieving the appellants of this omission and permitting the bill and amendments to be then filed, which was done. The bill was thereafter duly settled, and it is therefore properly a part of the record on appeal.

The case involves a breach of an alleged agreement to execute a sub-contract for the carriage of the United States mails on two mail routes. The acts of Congress provide that a mail contractor under the United States will not be permitted to sublet or transfer his contract without the consent in writing of the postmaster-general, and that when such consent is obtained, the sub-contract…