Wall v. Ouachita Lumber Co.
Wall v. Ouachita Lumber Co.
Opinion of the Court
On April 2, 1907, plaintiff and defendant entered into a written contract, whereby it was agreed that plaintiff should “cut, haul, raft and deliver,” to defendant, or its agent, at West Monroe, “during the remainder of the floating season of 1906 and 1907, all the pine timber that may be cut, hauled, floated out, rafted, or all the pine timber that may be handled,” by him between the date of the contract and August 1, 1907, not to be less than 1,000,000 feet; same to be delivered above the mill of defendant, securely tied to the bank of the river, and each stick branded “S. E. W.”
Defendant answers: That it agreed to take all the timber that was cut, hauled, floated, and rafted, or handled by plaintiff, between the date of the contract and August 1, 1907, and delivered, between those dates, above its mill in West Monroe, tied to the banks of the river and branded with the letters “S. E. W.,” and to pay for same at the rate of $8 per 1,000 feet, Doyle scale, as delivered, save $100, which was advanced; that the time at which the timber was to be delivered was of the essence of the contract; that it was during the “remainder of the floating season of 1906 and 1907,” and not later than August 1, 1907; that within that time plaintiff delivered 915,252 feet of merchantable ■ timber, the price of which, at the rate agreed on, was $7,313.18; and that the same was paid in full. Defendant denies that it refused to receive any timber tendered in accordance with the contract, and alleges that it complied with all of its obligations thereunder.
It is shown, and plaintiff admits it in th§ testimony, that the term, or expression, “remainder of the floating' season of T906 and 1907,” as used in the contract sued on, meant the remainder of the season of high water in the Ouachita river, which season had begun in the fall, or winter, of 1906, and was expected to end about August 1, 1907; and which, as a matter of fact,-did end about August 10, 1907, after which date the water was too low for the floating of logs. It is also shown that • defendant accepted and paid, at the contract price, for all'logs' that were delivered by plaintiff, at the place- of
The judgment appealed from is therefore affirmed, at the cost of the plaintiff.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- WALL v. OUACHITA LUMBER CO., Limited
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Logs and Logging (§ 34*) — Contract of Millowner — Construction. ' _A contract whereby a millowner agrees to receive logs, on the Ouachita river, during the floating season of 1900-07, does not oblige him to accept_ logs tendered in November or December, 1907, at which period the floating season of 1907-08 begins. (Syllabus by the Court.)