Villain

The defendants, Civil Service Commission of the City and County of San Francisco et al., appeal from a declaratory judgment decreeing that plaintiffs are the holders of permanent civil service positions as *853 general clerk stenographer in the public welfare department of the city and county, and ordering their reinstatement in such positions, and the payment of their salaries at the rate of $150 a month, less sums earned, together with any increase provided by law, from respective dates of their purported discharges in the fall of 1938 and spring of 1939. The main question on appeal is whether the uneontradicted evidence supports the trial court’s findings and conclusion that the positions held by plaintiffs were in fact permanent, although erroneously designated as temporary.

In August, 1934, the civil service commission conducted an examination to establish an eligible list for appointment to the classified civil service position of general clerk stenographer. Plaintiffs, together with many others, participated in this examination, and qualified for appointment. On a list of 225 eligibles adopted by the commission on November 14, 1934, they ranked respectively as numbers 177,…