In the language of tbe courts of equity, a “stale” claim or demand is one which has not been pressed or asserted for so long a time that the owner or creditor is chargeable with laches, and that changes occurring meanwhile in the relative situation of the parties, or the intervention of new interests or equities, would render the en- forcement of the claim or demand against conscience. See The Galloway C. Morris, 2 Abb. U. S. 164, 9 Fed. Cas. 1,111; King v. White, 63 Vt. 158, 21 Atl. 535, 25 Am. St. Rep. 752; Ashurst v. Peck, 101 Ala. 409, 14 South. 541; The Harriet Ann, 11 Fed. Cas. 597.