canvassing board, the results thereof declared, and certificates of election shall be issued thereon, the same as if all such votes had been cast in, certified and returned from such city, village or incorporated town: Provided, it shall not be necessary under this act for the election commissioners to make or cause to be made a revision of the registry for special elections, or elections to fill a vacancy in a single office. § 3. An officer who shall willfully refuse to perform any duty required by this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be liable to a fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, and on conviction shall be removed from office, by the order of court wherein such fine is assessed, and any person or combination of persons who shall under any pretense whatever attempt to establish a rival polling place, or otherwise attempt to obstruct or interfere with any election held or to be held under this act, shall be guilty of a felony, and on conviction shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary not less than one nor more than three years. § 3. All acts or parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby repealed. § 4. Whereas an emergency exists, therefore this act shall be in force from and after its passage. APPROVED March 23, 1887. EVIDENCE AND DEPOSITIONS. COPIES OF ENTRIES. § 1. Amends section 23, act of 1872, by making it apply to swamp and overflowed lands sold by counties. AN ACT to amend section 23 of an act entitled "An act in regard to evidence and depositions in civil cases," approved March 29, 1872, in force July 1, 1872. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: That section twenty-three (23) of an act entitled "An act in regard to evidence and depositions in civil cases," approved March 29, 1872, in force July 1, 1872, be and the same is hereby amended so as to read as follows: "Section 23. Copies of the books and entries of the sale of all lands or lots heretofore or that hereafter may be sold by this State or any of the officers thereof under any law of this State, certified to be true and correct copies of such books and entries by the proper person or officer in whose custody said books and entries may properly be, shall be prima facie evidence of the facts stated in said books and entries The certificate of such officer of the purchase of or issuing of a patent for any tract of land sold by this State or any agent of the same, shall be deemed and taken as evidence of title in the party certified to have made such purchase or obtained such patent, his heirs or assigns, unless a better and paramount title is exhibited for the same. The patent for land shall be deemed a better and paramount title in the patentee, his heirs and assigns, than such certificate, and when any swamp and overflowed lands and lots heretofore have been or hereafter may be sold under any law of this State by any proper person or officer of the county in which said lands lie, copies of the books and entries of the sales of such swamp and overflowed lands and lots certified to be true and correct copies of such books and entries by the proper person or officer in whose custody such books and entries may properly be, shall be prima facie evidence of the facts stated in such books and entries. The certificate of such officer of the sale or entry of any tract or tracts of such swamp and overflowed land or lots and of the execution of a deed for the same, giving the date of such sale or entry, the date of the execution of the deed, the name of the purchaser and description of the land, under the seal of his office, may, if the original deed be lost, or it be out of the power of the party wishing to use the same to produce it in evidence, and such original deed has never been recorded, be read in evidence in place of said original deed and shall be prima facie exidence of the execution and delivery of a proper deed for such land, and shall be deemed and taken as evidence of title in the person certified to have made such entry or purchase, his heirs and assigns, until a better and paramount title is exhibited for the same. And whenever it shall appear that the original deed upon any entry or sale of such swamp and overflowed lands is lost, or not in the power of the party wishing to use the same to produce in evidence, and the same had never been recorded as aforesaid and that the books and original entries of sale of such swamp and overflowed lands or lots have also been lost or destroyed, and the clerk of the county court or other proper officer shall have made return of such sales and entries to the Auditor of Public Accounts according to law, a certified copy of such return by the Auditor under his seal of office, may be used in evidence with the like force and effect as herein before provided: Provided, that the party applying to the Auditor for such certificate shall pay a fee of one dollar for each certificate. APPROVED June 17, 1887. BREAKING SEAL. § 1. Aménds section 32, act of 1872, by authorizing clerks of court to open sealed depositions when the endorsements therein are sufficiently clear to designate the contents. AN ACT to amend section thirty-two (32) of an act entitled "An act in regard to evidence and depositions in civil cases," approved March 29, 1872, in force July 1, 1872. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: That section thirty-two (32), of an act entitled "An act in regard to evidence and depositions in civil cases," approved March 29, 1872, in force July 1, 1872, be, and the same is, hereby amended so as to read as follows: "Section 32. It shall not be lawful for any party litigant, or the clerk of the court into which any deposition may be returned as aforesaid, to break the seal of the same, either in term time or in vacation, unless by written consent of the parties thereto or their attorneys, or by the order of the court duly entered of record, And if any such person or clerk shall presume to open any such deposition when taken and returned as aforesaid, without such consent or order of the court, as aforesaid, he shall be considered guilty of a contempt of court, and may be punished accordingly: Provided, that it shall not be considered an offense for the clerk to break open any such deposition, as aforesaid, when it is doubtful, from the indorsements made thereon, whether the same be a deposition or not; but in such case, it shall not be proper for such clerk to permit any person to examine any deposition which may be thus opened by mistake, until the consent of the parties or their attorneys is first had and obtained therefor, as aforesaid, or until the court shall have entered the order therefor as aforesaid." APPROVED June 16, 1887. EXEMPTIONS. HOMESTEADS. § 1. Amends section 4, act 1873, by adding the proviso. AN ACT to amend section four (4) of an act to amend an act entitled "An act to exempt the homestead from forced sale, and to provide for setting off the same, and to exempt certain personal property from attachment and sale on execution, and from distress for rent, approved April 30, 1873, in force July 1, 1873. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: That section four (4) of an act entitled an act to amend an act entitled "An act to exempt the homestead from forced sale and to provide for setting off the same, and to exempt certain personal property from attachment and sale on execution, and from distress for rent," approved April 30, 1873, in force July 1, 1873, be and hereby is amended so as to read as follows: "Section 4. No release, waiver or conveyance of the estate so exempted, shall be valid, unless the same is in writing, subscribed by said householder and his or her wife or husband, if he or she have one, and acknowledged in the same manner as conveyances of real estate are required to be acknowledged, or possession is abandoned or given pursuant to the conveyance; or, if the exemption is continued to a child or children, without the order of a court of competent jurisdiction directing a release thereof: Provided, that in all cases when such release, waiver or conveyance shall be taken by way of mortgage or security, the same shall only be operative. as to such specific release, waiver or conveyance; and when the same includes different pieces of land, or the homestead is of greater value than one thousand dollars, said other lands shall first be sold before resorting to the homestead, and in case of the sale of such homestead, if any balance shall remain after the payment of the debt and costs, such balance shall, to the extent of one thousand dollars ($1,000), be exempt, and be applied upon such homestead exemption in the manner provided by law." APPROVED June 17, 1887. PERSONAL PROPERTY. § 1. Amends section 2, act 1877, by requiring a schedule to be made in ten days, and requires the appraisers to fix a fair cash value on the property. AN ACT to amend section 2 of an act entitled "An act to exempt certain personal property from attachment and sale on execution and from distress for rent," approved May 24, 1877, in force July 1, 1877. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: That section 2 of "An act to exempt certain personal property from attachment and sale on execution and from distress for rent," approved May 24, 1877, in force July 1, 1877, be amended so as to read as follows: "Section 2. Whenever any debtor, against whom an execution, writ of attachment or distress warrant has been issued, desires to avail himself or herself of the benefit of this act, he or she shall, within ten days after notice of the execution, attachment or distress warrant, make a schedule of all of his or her personal property of every kind and character, including money on hand and debts due and owing to the debtor, and deliver the same to the officer having the execution, writ of attachment or distress warrant, which said schedule shall be subscribed and sworn to by the debtor, and any property owned by the debtor and not included in said schedule shall not be exempt as aforesaid, and thereupon the officer having the execution, writ of attachment or distress warrant, shall summon three householders, who, after being duly sworn to fairly and impartially appraise the property of the debtor, shall fix a fair valua tion upon each article contained in said schedule, and the debtor shall then select from such schedule the articles he or she may desire to retain, the aggregate value of which shall not exceed the amount exempted to which he or she may be entitled, and deliver the remainder to the officer having the writ, and the officer having such writ is hereby authorized to administer the oaths required herein of the debtor and appraisers." AN ACT to regulate the manufacture, transportation, use and sale of explosives, and to punish an improper use of the same. SECTION 1. Be in enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: That any person, firm, company or corporation who shall make, manufacture, compound, buy or sell, or otherwise procure or dispose of, or bring within the limits of this State, any dynamite, or any nitro-chlorate, or other explosive compound, with the intent to use the same, or that the same may be used for unlawful injury to or the unlawful destruction of life or property in any place whatsoever, shall be deemed guilty of felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than five years nor more than twenty-five years. § 2. Any person abetting or in any way assisting in making, manufacturing, compounding, buying, selling, procuring, disposing of, storing, removing or transporting any dynamite, nitro-chlorate, or other explosive compound, as above named, either by furnishing the materials, ingredients, skill, means or labor, or by acting as agent, or in any manner acting as accessory before the fact, knowing or having reason to believe that the same is intended to be used by any person or persons in any way for the unlawful injury |