Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/153

* DEMURRAGE. 121 DENBIGHSHIRE. stipulated in charter-parties that the freighter may detain tlic vessel, either for a specified time or as Ion;; as he pleases, on jiayin;; so much per diem for overtime. All the ordinary causes of detention, such as port repilalions, the crowded s«tate of the harhor, and the like, are at the risk of the freighter, and demurrage must be paid, though it be proved that the delay was unavoid- able, unless it is due to the ship-owner's fault. The demurrage ceases as soon as the vessel is cleared for sailing, though she should be pre- vented from actually doing so by adverse winds. When the days of demurrage are limited by spe- cial contract, and the shij) is detained beyond them, the sum due as denuirrage under the con- tract will be taken as the measure of the loss for the further time which may be claimed in the form of damages. It will be open, however, to both parties to show that the rate thus fi.xed per diem is either too high or too low. Where there is no stipulation beyond the ordinary agree- ment that the usual time shall lie allowed for loading and unloading, the master will be en- titled, when this period expires, either to sail or to claim damages for detention. A suit for the recovery of demurrage is an admiralty and mari- time case. Consult the authorities referred to under Admir.lty Law. DEMURRER. A pleading which in legal ef- fect admit> the facts alleged by the opposite jiarty to be true for the purpose of argument, but denies that they are sufficient, as a matter of law, to sustain his claim: or which sets up that there is some other defect on the face of the pleading which is a legal reason why the plaintiff should not be allowed to proceed under it. It is always based solely upcm what is stat€<d in the pleading to which it is interposed, and cannot contain any other defense. Its pirposes vary somewhat in different Juris- dictions: but, generally, in addition to denying that the facts alleged constitute a cause of action, it may be used to put in issue the jurisdiction of the court, the capacity of the plaintiff to sue, that another action is pending between the par- ties for the same cause, that there is a defect of parties ])laintiff or defendant, or that several causes of action are improperly joined in the same pleading. It may be interposed to any pleading of either plaintiff or defendant which alleges 'new matter' — that is. something in ad- dition to what was set out in the last previous pleading. It is in the discretion of the court to allow the party whose pleading is thus attacked to amend if the ohjediiin is well taken and sustained, and great liberality is shown by the courts in this respect, especially where the <lefect is in some technical matter of form and an amendment cur- ing it woild not preju<lice the oiijwsite party. On the other hand, if the demurrer is overruled the demurrant is usually allowed to answer if he can convince the court there is probable merit in Ills proposed defense. These privileges are usu- ally granted upon terms, as the imposition of co-ts to date of the argiment. They have been abolished and other proceedings designed to ac- complish like results substituted in the King's Bench and Chancery divisions of the High Court in England, but are retained and in constant use in most of the I'nifcd States, both under the codes and the modified common-law system of pleading. See. swkB; Ple.^ding. DEMY, d^-nii' (Fr. demi, from Lat. dimidius, half). A term applied to those holders of schol- arships in Magdalen College, Oxford, called demy- ships. The name would seem to be a shortened form of the Latin demi-socii (half-fellows), the formal term by which they are more elegantly distinguished. Of the thirty-eight demyships, there are eight senior, valued each at £100, and thirty junior, of the value of £50 a year. Addi- son was a demy. DEMY. A ])articular size of paper. In America, writing demy is a sheet 16 by 21 inches. In Kngland, writing demy is 15 by 20 inches; printing demy is 17 1-; by 22 inches; and double demy. 2(i by .38|i; inches. DENAIN, df-nax'. A town in the Depart- ment of Xord, France, on the left bank of the Scheldt, live miles southwest of Valenciennes (Map: France, K 1). It owes its prosperity to its situation in the centre of an extensive coal- field. The immediate vicinity of iron-mines also gives it unusual facilities for smelting, and its works of this kind are of considerable importance. Denain is a regular and well-built town, and has a good market. It has some manufactures of beet-root sugar, steel, candv, and s|)irits. Popu- lation, in ISim. in.OOO; in "1901, 23,204. DENA'RIUS (Lat. from cleiii, ten each, from decern, ten). The principal silver coin of ancient Rome. The earliest money of Rome was of bronze, and the standard was the as, nominally a pound of bronze. In B.C. 2G9 the as, which had decreased in size and value, was fixed by law at a lower valuation, and a silver coinage was introduced, with the denarius (= 10 asses) and the qiiiitarius (=5 asses). About B.C. 154 the denarius was nmde equivalent to 16 asses (still further reduced), and remained so (about 17 cents) until the time of Nero, after which it un- derwent a gradual diminution until silver money disappeared entirely in the third century a.d. DEN'ARY SCALE. See Notation. DE NATU'RA DEO'RUM (Lat., On the Nature of the Gods). A treatise on the nature of the gods by Cicero, containing an exposition of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophies, and a criticism of both from the point of view of the Academics. It is in the form of a conversation between representatives of the three schools. DENBIGH, denlil (Welsh Din-bach, little fort ). A uniuiiipal borough and the county town of Denbighshire, Wales, .SO miles west of Chester (Jlap: Wales, .3). It stands in the vale of the Chvyd, on the sides and at the foot of a rugged, steep, limestone hill, crowned by the im- posing ruins of a castle built in 12S4 by Henry Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, on the foundations of fortifications erected by William the Conqueror, and where there are traces of still earlier castel- lated remains. It sheltered Charles I. after the battle of Rowton Moor. It was taken by the Roundheads, but was dismantled after the Res- toration. A lunatic asylum for the five counties of North Wales was erected near the town in 184.S. It ;ilso contains a Bluecoal school and an asylum for orphan girls. The town's industry consists of the manufacture of boots and shoes, and trade in leather. Population, in 1901, 6400. Henry II. Stanley, the African explorer, was born near Dcnbigli. DENBIGHSHIRE. A county of North Wales, on the Irish Sea and between the Dee and