same manner as from parents, and as if such foster parents were the parents of such child. (As amended by chapter 154 of the Laws of 1910.)

§ 117. Application in behalf of child for the abrogation of an adoption from a charitable institution.-A minor who shall have been adopted in pursuance of this chapter or of any act repealed thereby, from an orphan asylum or charitable institution, or any corporation which shall have been a party to the agreement by which such child was adopted, or any person on the behalf of such child, may make an application to the county judge or the surrogate's court of the county in which the foster parent then resides, for the abrogation of such adoption, on the ground of cruelty, misusage, refusal of necessary provisions or clothing, or inability to support, maintain or educate such child, or of any violation of duty on the part of such foster parent toward such child; which application shall be by a petition setting forth the grounds thereof, and verified by the person or by some officer of the corporation making the same. A citation shall thereon be issued by such judge. or surrogate, in or out of such court, requiring such foster parent to show cause why the application should not be granted. The provisions of the code of civil procedure relating to the issuing, contents, time and manner of service of citations issued out of a surrogate's court, and to the hearing on the return thereof, and to enforcing the attendance of witnesses, and to all proceedings thereon, and to appeals from decrees of surrogate's courts, not inconsistent with this chapter, shall apply to such citation, and to all proceedings thereon. Such judge or court shall have power to order or compel the production of the person of such minor. If on the proofs made before him, on the hearing on such citation, the judge or surrogate shall determine that either of the grounds for such application exists, and that the interests of such child will be promoted by granting the application, and that such foster parent has justly forfeited his right to the custody and services of such minor, an order shall be made and entered abrogating the adoption, and thereon the status of such child shall be the same as if no proceedings had been had for the adoption thereof.

After one such petition against a foster parent has been denied, a citation on a subsequent petition against the same foster parent may be issued or refused in the discretion of the judge or surrogate to whom such subsequent petition shall be made.

§ 118. Application by foster parent for the abrogation of such an adoption. A foster parent who shall have adopted a minor in

pursuance of this chapter or of any act repealed thereby, from an orphan asylum or charitable institution, may apply to the county judge or surrogate's court of the county in which such foster parent resides, for the abrogation of such adoption on the ground of the willful desertion of such child from such foster parent, or of any misdemeanor or illbehavior of such child, which application shall be by petition, stating the grounds thereof, and the substance of the agreement of adoption, and shall be verified by the petitioner; and thereon a citation shall be issued by such judge or surrogate in or out of such court, directed to such child, and to the corporation which was a party to such adoption, or, if such corporation does not then exist, to the superintendent of the poor of such county, requiring them to show cause why such petition should not be granted. Unless such corporation shall appear on the return of such citation, before the hearing thereon shall proceed, a special guardian shall be appointed by such judge or court to protect the interests of such child in such proceeding, and the foster parent shall pay to such special guardian such sum as the court shall direct for the purpose of paying the fees and the necessary disbursements in preparing for and contesting such application on behalf of the child. If such judge or surrogate shall determine, on the proofs made before him, on the hearing of such citation, that the child has violated his duty toward such foster parent, and that due regard to the interests of both require that such adoption be abrogated, an order shall be made and entered accordingly; and such judge or court may make any disposition of the child which any court or officer shall then be authorized to make of vagrant, truant or disorderly children. If such judge or surrogate shall otherwise determine, an order shall be made and entered denying the petition.

APPRENTICES AND SERVANTS.

Section 120. Definitions; effect of article. 121. Contents of indenture.

122. Indenture by minor; by whom signed.

123. Indenture by poor officers; by whom signed.

124. Binding out children by charitable corporation; indenture; by whom signed.

Section 125. Penalty for failure of master or employer to per form provisions of indenture.

126. Assignment of indenture on death of master or employer.

127. Contract with apprentice in restraint of trade void.

§ 120. Definitions; effect of article.-The instrument whereby a minor is bound out to serve as a clerk or servant in any trade, profession or employment, or is apprenticed to learn the art or mystery of any trade or craft, is an indenture.

Every indenture made in pursuance of the laws repealed by this chapter shall be valid hereunder, but hereafter a minor shall not be bound out or apprenticed except in pursuance of this article.

To entitle a master to recover from a stranger the value of work and services performed for and rendered to him by one alleged to be an apprentice, a valid contract of apprenticeship must be established by the plaintiff. Supreme Court, January, 1885, Barton v. Ford, 35 Hun, 32.

§ 121. Contents of indenture.- Every indenture must contain: 1. The names of the parties;

2. The age of the minor as nearly as can be ascertained, which age on the filing of the indenture shall be taken prima facie to be the true age;

3. A statement of the nature of the service or employment to which the minor is bound or apprenticed;

4. The term of service or apprenticeship, stating the beginning and end thereof;

5. An agreement that the minor will not leave his master or employer during the term for which he is indentured;

6. An agreement that suitable and proper board, lodging and medical attendance for the minor during the continuance of the term shall be provided, either by the master or employer, or by the parent or guardian of the apprentice;

7. A statement of every sum of money paid or agreed to be paid in relation to the service;

8. If such minor is bound as an apprentice to learn the art or mystery of any trade or craft, an agreement on the part of the employer to teach, or cause to be carefully and skilfully taught, to such apprentice, every branch of the business to which such

apprentice is indentured, and that at the expiration of such apprenticeship he will give to such apprentice a certificate, in writing, that such apprentice has served at such trade or craft a full term of apprenticeship specified in such indenture;

9. If a minor is indentured by the poor officers of a county, city or town, or by the authorities of an orphan asylum, penal or charitable institution, an agreement that the master or employer will cause such child to be instructed in reading, writing and the general rules of arithmetic, and that at the expiration of the term of service he will give to such minor a new bible.

Every such indenture shall be filed in the office of the county clerk of the county where the master or employer resides.

§ 122. Indenture by minor; by whom signed. Any minor may, by the execution of the indenture provided by this article, bind himself or herself:

1. As an apprentice to learn the art or mystery of any trade or craft for a term of not less than three nor more than five years;

2. As a servant or clerk in any profession, trade or employment for a term of service not longer than the minority of such minor, unless such indenture be made by a minor coming from a foreign country, for the purpose of paying his passage, when such indenture may be made for a term of one year although such term may extend beyond the time when such person will be of full age.

An indenture made in pursuance of this section must be signed, 1. By the minor;

2. By the father of the minor unless he is legally incapable of giving consent or has abandoned his family;

3. By the mother of the minor unless she is legally incapable of giving consent;

4. By the guardian of the person of the minor, if any;

5. If there be neither parents nor guardian of the minor legally capable of giving consent, by the county judge of the county, or a justice of the supreme court of the district, in which the minor resides; whose consent shall be necessary to the binding out or apprenticing in pursuance of this section of a minor coming from a foreign country or of the child of an Indian woman, in addition to the other consents herein provided;

6. By the master or employer.

§ 123. Indenture by poor officers; by whom signed. The poor officers of a municipal corporation may, by an execution of the indenture provided by this article, bind out or apprentice any minor whose support shall become chargeable to such municipal corporation.

In such case the indenture shall be signed,

1. By the officer or officers binding out or apprenticing the minor;

2. By the master or employer;

3. By the county judge of the county, if the support of such child was chargeable to the county, by two justices of the peace, if chargeable to the town, or by the mayor and aldermen or any two of them, if chargeable to the city.

The poor officers by whom a child is indentured and their successors in office shall be guardians of every such child and shall inquire into the treatment thereof, and redress any grievance as provided by law.

The provision of the Revised Statutes (1 R. S. 617, § 15) declaring that a majority of the superintendents of the poor of a county "shall be at all times competent to transact business and to execute any powers vested in the board of superintendents" authorizes the majority to act, irrespective of and without consultation, with the minority.

The authority to bind minors as apprentices given to said superintendents (2 R. S. 134, § 5) may, therefore, be executed by a majority, without a meeting of or notice to all. Court of Appeals, February, 1874, Johnson v. Dodd, 56 N. Y. 76.

The government has the right to require the services of its citizens, minors as well as adults, for the public defense. It may dissolve the relation of master and apprentice existing by force of municipal regulations, and the obligation of service resulting from indentures executed under or sanctioned by local law.

The relation is dissolved by the acceptance of the apprentice into the military service of the government, although his enlistment was his voluntary act, not compelled by the government, and without the consent of the master; and the wages due the former for his service in the army as well as bounty money belong to him, to the exclusion of any claim thereto by the latter. ld.

A mother who has received temporary relief from the poor officers is not a person chargeable to the public, within the meaning of the statutes, allowing a child who, or whose parents, become chargeable, to be bound out. Albany City Recorder, March, 1873, People ex rel. Heilbronner v. Hoster, 14 Abb. Pr. N. S. 414.

Abandonment of a child by the father is the surrender of his parental right to the child's custody. Court of Appeals, April, 1875, People ex rel. Wehle v. Weisenbach, 60 N. Y. 385.