When a notice of a motion is given, or an order to show cause is made returnable before a judge out of court, and at the time fixed for the motion, or, on the return day of the order, the judge is unable to hear the parties, the matter may be transferred by order of the judge to some other judge before whom it might originally have been brought.
[1911 CPA § 423; RL § 5365; NCL § 8912]