JUDICIAL  C0I».  597

See.  166.  Eyery  claim  against  the  United  States  cognizable  by
the  Court  of  Claims,  shall  be  forever  barred  unless  the  petition  set>
ting  forth  a  statement  thereof  is  filed  in  the  court,  or  transmitted  to
it  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate  or  the  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Bepre-
sentatiyes,  as  provided  by  law,  within  six  years  after  the  claim  first
aocmes:  Provided,  That  the  claims  of  married  women,  first  accrued
during  marriage,  of  persons  under  the  age  of  twenty-^ne  years,  first
«eerued  during  minority,  and  of  idiots,  lunatics,  insane  persons,  and
persons  beyond  the  seas  at  the  time  the  claim  accrued,  entitled  to
the  claim,  shall  not  be  barred  if  the  petition  be  filed  in  the  court  or
transmitted,  as  aforesaid,  within  three  years  after  the  disability  had
ceased;  but  no  other  disability  than  those  enumerated  shall  prevent
any  claim  from  being  barred,  nor  shall  any  of  the  said  disabilities
operate  cumulatively.
Sec.  157.  The  said  court  shall  have  power  to  establish  rules  for  its
government  and  for  the  regulation  of  practice  therein,  and  it  may
punish  for  contempt  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  the  common  law,
may  appoint  commissioners,  and  may  exercise  such  powers  as  are
necessary  to  carry  into  effect  the  powers  granted  to  it  by  law.
Sec.  158.  The  judges  and  clerks  of  said  court  may  administer  oaths
and  affirmations,  take  acknowledgments  of  instruments  in  writings
and  give  certificates  of  the  same.
