Fraser

The complaint was filed on April 22, 1909, and the action is to recover possession of the value of certain personal property which plaintiff alleges in his complaint that he “is the owner of and entitled to the immediate and exclusive possession of,”—namely: “One twin screw boat called the Skimmer, formerly named the Fruitvale, including the pair of new Clifton engines upon said boat,” and other described articles constituting her equipment; also two old barges and their equipment which, it is alleged, “lay on September 16, 1907, on the mud flat just below Benicia, California, at the old Delaney’s Ways and Ship Yards”; also “one barge known as R. T. & C. Co. No. 1, including the engine centrifugal pump used in or connected therewith,” said scow being on September 16, 1907, “anchored at Benicia.” It is also alleged that, at the time of filing the complaint, all said property was in the possession of defendants and wrongfully withheld from plaintiff, and that “the foregoing description is as accurate as plaintiff can give.” A general demurrer to the complaint was overruled, as was also a demurrer that several causes of action had been improperly united.

Defendants answered by…