The plaintiff, a carpenter, sued upon two causes of action -to foreclose a mechanic’s lien, and a trial was had, as is usual in such cases, before the court, without a jury. At the close of plaintiff’s evidence, the defendants, without announcing that they rested their case, moved to dismiss the complaint, and thereupon the court dismissed the complaint on both causes ■of action, and subsequently the judge signed and filed findings, holding specifically against plaintiff’s contention every fact necessary to justify the conclusion of law “that the defendants are entitled to judgment of dismissal upon the merits, with costs. ” As defendants moved without announcing that they rested their case, they were not entitled to a dismissal upon the merits, but only to a nonsuit. Therefore what the court below granted must and will be deemed, considered, and reviewed as a nonsuit, under the rule laid down by the court of appeals in Place v. Hayward, 23 N. E. Rep. 25, which was tried originally before a referee, and the defendant therein, after the close of the plaintiff’s evidence, and without announcing that he rested his (defendant’s) case, moved “that the complaint be dismissed on the merits,” which was granted by the referee. Judge Earl, writing for reversal of the general term, and granting a new trial, says: “Nevertheless, what the referee did was to nonsuit the plaintiff. . We can give no other significance to the pro-needing. Therefore he should have made no findings of fact except such as would justify a nonsuit upon the trial. Under the Code the referee was required to make findings of fact and of law after granting the nonsuit; but he had no right to make any findings of fact depending upon disputed or inconclusive evidence. Therefore, to maintain this judgment, the defendant is bound to show that there was no disputed question of fact which, upon a jury trial, the court would have been required to submit to the jury, and that upon the undisputed evidence he was entitled to a judgment.” The judgment be
