Chamberlain v. Wood
Chamberlain v. Wood
Opinion of the Court
Actions of assumpsit brought by the several plaintiffs against Otis C. Wood, to enforce a lien for the several amounts due them for their personal services and the services of their teams, performed under contract with the defendant upon certain spool timber and spool bars manufactured therefrom and attached upon the writs. Wood was engaged in carrying out two contracts, entered into by him with the American Thread Company to furnish and deliver at the Company’s mills in Lake View and Milo a certain quantity of spool bars, for which payment was to be made as follows:
Plaintiffs claimed that the place of destination for sale or manufacture was at Milo and Lake View; the defendant contended that it was at his mill in Elliotville where the timber was sawed into spool bars! The cases were tried before the presiding Justice, with the right of exception, who found that the plaintiffs were entitled to a lien upon said spool bars, and ruled that the place of destination for sale and manufacture was Milo and Lake View; and gave judgment for the plaintiffs in each action. The only exception taken by the defendant is to the ruling as matter of law as to the place of destination for sale or manufacture.
The statute under which the lien is claimed is as follows: “Whoever labors at cutting, hauling or sawing of. spool timber or in the manufacture of spool timber into spool bars and the piling of such bars or at cooking for persons engaged in such labor, has a lien thereon for the amount due for his personal services and the services performed by his team, which takes precedence of all other claims, continues for sixty days after. such timber or spool bars. arrive at the place of destination for sale or manufacture, and may be enforced. by
We do not overlook the fact that the statute speaks of labor “in the manufacture of spool timber into spool bars,” and that the spool timber in this case was actually manufactured into spool bars at the defendant’s mill in Elliotville. The laborer has “a lien thereon for the amount due him for his personal services and the services performed by his teams.” A lien on what? Not on the timber alone, for then the laborer who manufactured the timber into spool bars would divest himself of his lien by performing the services for which the lien is given. Plainly the word “thereon” embraces both the spool timber and the spool bars before named in the section. It is unnecessary to consider whether in some cases the timber and the spool bars may have different places of destination for sale or manufacture. The lien is given upon both for all the different kinds of services enumerated, and continues for sixty days after either the timber or the bars arrive at the place of destination for either sale or manufacture. Wood’s contract was for spool bars. Spool bars were
Exceptions overruled.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- George H. Chamberlain v. Otis C. Wood and Lumber S. Ed. True v. Same William L. Merrill v. Same Silas F. Huff v. Same Simon R. Griffin v. Same John McKay v. Same Edward Tucker v. Same
- Status
- Published