Walker v. District Grand Lodge No. 18

1. A plea in abatement is necessarily a proceeding in the cause to which it appertains,^-a mere part and parcel of the action considered as a whole,—and not a proceeding separate and distinct from the main action. It is a defense interposed to stop the plaintiff’s *645action, but it is essentially a proceeding in the main cause. A plea in abatement can not be maintained where there is a purported entry of service and yet the defendant insists that he was never in fact served, unless there is a traverse of the return of service (Citizens Bank v. Fort, ante, 427) ; consequently, the determination…