Sheehan v. South River Brick Co.
Sheehan v. South River Brick Co.
Opinion of the Court
The South River Brick Company brought an action against F. W. Pierce and Mrs. Elizabeth Sheehan, for the purpose of establishing and enforcing a materialman’s lien. Pierce filed no answer, but Mrs. Sheehan made a vigorous defense. The jury found in .favor of the plaintiff, and she brings here for review a judgment overruling her motion for a new trial. The evidence is voluminous and in many particulars conflicting. After a careful examination and study of it, we find that the following presents the most favorable view of the facts from the standpoint of the plaintiff: In the spring of 1.895, Mrs. Sheehan made a contract with Pierce for the erection of a brick building on Piedmont avenue in the city of Atlanta, the same to be completed by the 1st day of July, according to certain plans and specifications prepared for her by R. L. Jones & Co., architects. Pierce made an oral agreement with the South River Brick Company, under the terms of which that company undertook to furnish him what brick he “needed for the erection of that building.” At the time-this contract was entered into, no definite number of brick was-specified, but the parties estimated that the quantity required would be between 250,000 and 300,000. On various dates up to and including the 27th of June, the Brick Company furnished Pierce some 294,'000. It furnished no more until the-
“Atlanta, Oct. 19,189.5.
“Mr. F. W. Pierce, City. Dear Sir, — We note, by reference to the plans, that you have not carried the chimneys of the tenements of Mrs. Sheehan as high as they should be; and we therefore notify you to carry same done at your expense after a reasonable time has elapsed in which you fail to do so, and we will not accept the houses as complete until this and other defects are remedied.
Respectfully, R. L. Jones & Co., Archts.”
It does not appear that Mrs. Sheehan had any knowledge of the complaint made by her architects to Pierce with reference to the chimneys, or that she was informed that they had addressed to him the letter above quoted. Indeed, it does not appear that she even knew the chimneys had not been built according to contract. On the 2d day of November there was a meeting in the office of her attorneys, at which she, Pierce, and R. L. Jones were present. Pierce was then endeavoring to obtain a final settlement with Mrs. Sheehan. Nothing was said on that occasion with reference to the chimneys or any other part of the brickwork on the building. She did, however, make complaint that the house had not been completed according to coi}tract, because of the failure of Pierce to put up certain window-blinds. Pierce contended that, under the specifications, he was not required to furnish these blinds, and in this contention was sustained by Jones. Another matter of dispute between Mrs. Sheehan and Pierce was as to how much he had forfeited by reason of his failure to complete the building within the time limited by the contract. This difference
The main contention of Mrs. Sheehan at the trial was, that the plaintiff was not entitled to assert a lien upon her property, for the reason that it had failed,-as required Ity law,'to give her notice of its claim of lien within thirty days from the completion of the contract with Pierce. The question, therefore, upon which the case necessarily turns is whether or not, upon the state of facts above recited, the Brick Company was entitled to a verdict establishing its alleged lien. In our opinion it was not. It is clear that if Pierce, after the 27th of June, had given to the company no further order for material, notice to Mrs. Sheehan of its demand against him -would have been unavailing if not served within thirty days from that date. In this connection, see the Civil Code, §2801, which declares that the notice therein provided for shall “be given within thirty days of . . the furnishing of the material.” Did the furnishing of the 250 brick on November 4th make that the date from which the thirty days should be computed? We think not. It is true that in New Ebenezer Association v. Gress Lumber Co., 89 Ga. 125, this court held, in effect, that where material is furnished under “one and the same contract,” but from time to time as
If, at the time of making the final settlement above alluded to, Mrs. Sheehan had insisted that Pierce should thereafter, though paid in full, place additional bricks upon the chimneys, or if it had been tacitly understood between them that he was to do so, this case would wear an altogether different aspect. In that event, she could not be heard to say he was, on November 4, no longer her contractor or authorized to act in that capacity. But, as has been seen, no such understanding was had between them. On the contrary, it is evident that Mrs. Sheehan in good faith endeavored on the day of the settlement to bring about a final adjustment of every matter, with a view to discharging from her service, at once and for all time, her contractor. Indeed, there is something more than a suggestion
Judgment reversed.
Reference
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- SHEEHAN v. SOUTH RIVER BRICK COMPANY
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