Gates

(after stating the facts as above). Section 5825, 2 Rem. Comp. Stats, provides as follows:

“In the following cases specified in this section, any agreement, contract and promise shall be void, unless such agreement, contract or promise, or some note or memorandum thereof, be in writing, and signed by the party to be charged therewith, or by some person thereunto by him lawfully authorized, that is to say: * * * (5) An agreement authorizing or employing an agent or broker to sell or purchase real estate for compensation or a commission.”

The sufficiency of the above memorandum to satisfy the requirements of this section is the principal question involved on the present writ of error. Looking to the written memorandum alone, there is an entire absence of any agreement authorizing or employing the plaintiff in error as agent or broker to sell the timber, or to pay Mm a commission. It simply grants to him a 10-day option to purchase for $3.25 per 1,000, and, as between the immediate parties, it is immaterial whether we call the 25 eents per 1,000 deduction a commission or a mere rebate. The plaintiff in error contends that the memorandum has a twofold purpose; that it is an…