Matson

The appellant filed a petition in involuntary insolvency against Walter J. Matson, who subsequently died, and whose executrix, Frances E. Matson, has been substituted. The appellee filed an answer denying, among other things, that Hale Company, a corporation, a bankrupt, was a creditor of Walter J. Matson. The case was tried upon this issue, among others, and the referee, acting as special master, found that Hale Company was not a creditor of the alleged bankrupt. This finding was approved by the district court, and the petition was denied and the bankruptcy proceeding dismissed.

A review of the evidence thus passed on by the special master and by the District Court is sought on the ground that the evidence is undisputed, and the conclusion dedueible from the undisputed evidence is one of law which has been erroneously determined in the lower court.

The evidence before the referee and before the District Court consisted largely of a transcript from the books of Hale Company, showing a balance due from Walter J. Mat-son, alleged bankrupt, of over $20,000 and a statement referred to as a confession made by the bankrupt in the presence of the officers and representatives of the…