Cable Co. v. Shelby
Cable Co. v. Shelby
Opinion of the Court
As we read the record, the only contentions seriously made by defendant on the trial were: (1) That plaintiff voluntarily repaid to defendant the expense money obtained from the Denver Company, and thereby foreclosed his right to again recover it; and (2) the claim was included in a settlement of certain other business dealings between the parties, and was by that settlement discharged.
Neither of these contentions can be sustained: (1) It is true that plaintiff, upon-the request of defendant’s president, repaid to defendant the expense money wrongfully obtained by him from the funds of the Denver Company; but this payment was made according to plaintiff’s testimony, for the bene"fit of the Denver Company, upon the promise of defendant’s president to so apply it, and to “straighten it out” later on. The object of this transaction was obviously, to correct the previous irregularity, and not to renounce his claim by plaintiff, nor to deny its validity by defendant’s president. Thus explained, the prima facie significance of plaintiff’s repayment of the money was completely nullified.
[3J (2) Plaintiff had borrowed $10,000 from defendant for the purchase of that much stock in the new Birmingham Company, which he attached as collateral to his notes therefor, and gave as additional security a mortgage on real estate. In the face of defendant’s thr.eat to foreclose on the debt, and upon defendant’s invitation to propose in writing some settlement of the matter, and to also present his claim for organization expenses, plaintiff made a written proposal: (1) That he should be allowed to extend his obligation by a renewal of the notes; or (2) that he should surrender the collateral excepting his real estate mortgage, and that the notes be returned to him canceled. Plaintiff then called attention to his claim for expenses, and the circumstances under which he paid them, and- remarked that they had never been refunded to him.
*30 Defendant, by its attorney, wrote to plaintiff that—
“The Cable Company has accepted proposition No. 2 as set forth in your letter 'of January 10th. As a consequence, we are returning to you herewith, properly canceled, your notes to the extent of $10,900.00, also mortgage given to us as security, the notes simply being marked ‘paid,’ no release of the mortgage being- necessary, as it was not recorded. We also inclose abstract of title upon the property.”
These writings, the one of proposal, and the other of acceptance, are complete in themselves, and defendant’s acceptance of plaintiff’s proposition No. 2, and its execution thereof, very clearly excludes from consideration any question of the satisfaction of plaintiff’s separate claim for expenses. As a matter of law, it was not included in the adjustment of the other matter, whatever may have been tbe understanding of defendant’s representatives in the transaction.
Tbe general affirmative charge was properly refused to defendant.
The tenth, and eleventh assignments of error are based upon exceptions to specified language of the trial judge ' in his oral charge to the jury, which, however, is not to be found in the charge. The assignments cannot, therefore, be sustained.
[ 6] If there was error in not excluding defendant’s answers to interrogatories 3 and 6, it was entirely harmless, since the facts stated therein could have had no possible influence upon tbe determination of the issue.
On the whole case, we are satisfied that the jury reached a proper conclusion, and we find no prejudicial error in the record.
Let the judgment be affirmed.
Affirmed.
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