Mills

(after stating the facts as above). [1] The appellees moved to 'dismiss the suit in the court below for want of jurisdiction in equity, and although they have taken no appeal from the adverse ruling of the. court upon the motion, it is proper for this court to consider first the question of the jurisdiction so suggested. We think equity had cognizance of" the cause of suit, for the reason that the very nature of the suit itself demands relief which equity alone can afford, and there is no adequate remedy at law. The appellant, a surety on a bond in the penal sum of $50,000, could lawfully be required to pay no more than the penal sum so named. It was confronted with claims largely in excess of that amount, and it could obtain relief only by a decree for a pro 'rata distribution of the fund for which it was liable, and this could only be done in a single suit in equity, to which all claimants might be made parties. In American Surety Co. v. Lawrenceville Cement Co. (C. C.) 96 Fed. 25 , there was a large number of actions at law on a contractor’s bond, and the aggregate amount of the claims exceeded the penalty of the bond. It was held that those facts entitled the surety to…