Sarratt v. Arthur
Sarratt v. Arthur
Opinion of the Court
The plaintiff in the court below (appellee here) claims that defendant was indebted to her for the rent of said business property for the months of February and March, 1915, at the rate of $25 per month, under the terms of a written, lease, which is set out in the record. The clause in said lease which gave rise to this litigation has reference to the term of the lease, and is in the following language:
“Party of the first part does hereby rent and lease unto pa.rty of the second part the following premises in the city of Birmingham: [Here follows description of the premises] for and during the term of 13 months, to wit, from the 1st day of January, 1914, to the 31st day of March, 1915.”
The defendant insisted that the term of the lease expired January 31, 1915, which time would have covered 13 months from January 1, 1914. The contention, on the other hand, is that the term of the lease was, in fact, for 15 months, and that the figures “13” were evidently a typographical error, and that the term of the lease should be construed, from the particular description stated in the lease, to be “from the 1st'day of January, 1914, to March 31, 1915.”
“When not used in pleading for the above purpose, the general meaning of the phrase ‘to wit’ seems to be: ‘To particularize what is too general in the preceding sentence, and render clear and of certain application what might seem otherwise doubtful or obscure; words used to call attention to a more particular specification of what has preceded.’ ”
*54 In the case under consideration, the term designated as “13 months,” which is a very-general description, indefinite and incomplete within itself, and may be rejected as surplusage, is followed by a particular description, that is definite and complete. Under such circumstances, we are of the view that the rule well established, that the particular description will control, is conclusive of the result here. Carter v. Chevalier, 108 Ala. 563, 19 South. 798; Garner v. Morris, 187 Ala. 658, 65 South. 1000. The designation of the number of months in the general description of the term, it will be observed, was by the figures “13,” and we are of the opinion that, considering the entire contract, this was but a typographical error in the insertion of a “3” in the place of a “5.”
We have examined with care the following authorities relied upon by counsel for appellant: Siegel-Cooper & Co. v. Colby, 176 Ill. 210, 52 N. E. 917; Nindle v. State Bank, 13 Neb. 245, 13 N. W. 275; Biddle v. Vandeventer, 26 Mo. 500. The leases there under', consideration contained phrases and terms entirely different from those in the instant case, and do not, in our opinion, militate at all against the conclusion here reached, and we do not deem it necessary to discuss each case separately, stating the differentiating features.
Finding no error in the record, the judgment of the court below will be affirmed.
Affirmed.
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