FORTHWITH. As soon as by reasonable exertion, confined to the object, it may be accomplished. (Approved in Dickerman v. Trust Co., 176 U. S. 193, 20 Sup. Ct. 311, 44 L. Ed. 423.) This is the import of the term; it varies, of course, with every particular case ; 4 Tyrwh. 837; Edwards v. Ins. Co., 75 Pa. 378. See Scammon v. Ins. Co., 101 Ill. 621 ; 11 H. L. Cas. 337; Bennett v. Ins. Co., 67 N. Y. 274; Pennsylvania R. Co. v. Reichert, 58 Md. 261; Meriden Silver Plate Co. v. Flory, 44 Ohio St. 437, .7 N. E. 753. It is not as promptly as immediately; in some cases it might mean within a reason able time ; 7 Dowl. 789.
When a defendant is ordered to plead forthwith, he must plead within twenty-four hours; Wharton. In other matters of prac tice, the word has come to have the same meaning; 2 Edw. 328 ; Dickerman v. Trust Co., 176 U. S. 193, 20 Sup. Ct. 311, 44 L. Ed. 423. A demand for an account forthwith is not the same in substance and effect as a demand for an account within 15 days; Green v. Kelley, 64 Vt. 309, 24 Atl. 133.
Where a verdict was returned .between noon and one p. m. on Saturday, while the justice was hearing other cases, an entry of judg ment on the verdict on Monday was suffi cient under a statute requiring it to be ren dered "forthwith" ; Sorenson v. Swensen, 55 Minn. '58, 56 N. W. 350, 43 Am. St. Rep. 472. Where a chattel mortgage must "be forth with deposited" to affect subsequent bona fide purchasers, the filing more than three months after execution was notice to pur chasers who' took title after the filing; Vick ers v. Carnahan, 4 Tex. Civ. App. 305, 23 •S. W. 338. A statute providing that an or der to revive an action may be made forth with, means at the first term after plain tiff's death ; Horsley v. Asher's Heirs, 94 Ky. 314, 22 S. W. 434. When an insurance policy required notice of loss to be given forthwith, it was sufficient twelve days after the fire when no harm was caused by delay ; Capitol Ins. Co. v. Wallace, 50 Kan. 453, 31 Pac. 1070.