State ex rel. Holland v. Knapp, Stout & Co.
State ex rel. Holland v. Knapp, Stout & Co.
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
Knapp, Stout & Co., as creditors of Joy Brothers & Co., levied an attachment upon certain lumber in the yard of the latter firm, which had already been selected from the stock of Joy Brothers & Co. by Holland & Co., in part payment of an indebtedness of Joy Brothers & Co. to Holland & Co. Knapp, Stout & Co. retained the luihber after it was claimed by Holland & Co., and the present action is upon the bond given by Knapp, Stout & Co. under the statute. The cause was tried by the court without a jury, and the finding and judgment were for plaintiff.
On this state of facts, the trial court gave judgment for the value of the poplar wood as shown by the testimony.
The defendants asked the following declaration of law, which was refused : —
“ If the court, sitting as a jury, find from the testimony that on or about December 11, 1878, the firm of Joy Brothers & Co. were indebted to Nelson, Holland & Co. in the sum of about $400, .and that on said day Joy Brothers & Co. agreed with Nelson, Holland & Co. to sell them lumber in payment of said indebtedness, and in pursuance of said agreement the said Joy Brothers & Co. did, on said day,*469 sbow the said Nelson, Holland and Co. a part of the lumber which they proposed to sell them in payment of said debt, and the dimensions and price per thousand feet of the same were ascertained and agreed upon, but the aggregate amount was not then determined, but was insufficient to pay the whole of said debt, and that- it was further agreed upon between said Joy Brothers & Co. and Nelson, Holland & Co., at said time, that after they had mutually determined the value of the lumber so shown and counted, at the prices so agreed upon by them, that Joy Brothers & Co. would and should sell them other lumber to be thereafter selected and measured, sufficient in amount to pay the residue of said debt, and that the value of the lumber, and dimensions and price per thousand feet of which had been ascertained, had not been determined before the attachment was levied by the sheriff, as set out in the petition, and the lumber which Joy Brothers & Co. were to sell to Nelson, Holland & Co. in payment of the residue of said debt, had not at that time been measured and set apart to them, then the court declares the law to be, that there was not a sale to the plaintiffs of any of the lumber sued for in this petition prior to the levy of said attachment, and plaintiffs cannot recover in this action.”
It is contended by appellant that the evidence shows that the contract with Joy & Co. was not executed; that the agreement was that Holland & Co. were to take lumber enough to pay their entire claim of $400, and not to take lumber to pay merely a part of it; that the lumber selected was neither delivered by Joy Brothers, nor accepted by Holland Co., in payment pro tanto, and that Holland & Co. could not have been compelled, under the arrangement, to take a part of the lumber until there had been assigned to them a sufficient quantity to pay them in full at the prices agreed upon, and that, therefore, no title passed to the lumber selected.
It would not necessarily follow, because the contract was
The agreement between the parties is clear enough. Holland & Co. feared that Joy Brothers might not be able to day tbeir note at maturity, and, in view of this, suggested that Joy Brothers should at once pay in lumber at certain prices. To this Joy Brothers assented, and certain marked lumber was picked out, which was already severed from the other lumber in the yard, in part performance of this agreement. Now, however true it may be that Joy Brothers might not have been obliged to deliver any more lumber, if Holland & Co., after receiving a part, had refused to take the whole sum due in lumber, as agreed, or that Holland &
We think that the trial court committed no error'in refusing the declaration of law asked by defendants, and that the judgment was warranted by the evidence in the case, and should be affirmed. It is so ordered.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.