Current River Lumber Co. v. Cravens
Current River Lumber Co. v. Cravens
Opinion of the Court
— A preliminary question arises in this ease on the respondent’s motion to dismiss the
This brings us to the merits of the appeal. The action is one to enforce a mechanic’s lien for materials against a house. The parties defendant are the owner with whom the contract was made, and the county of Greene which became a mortgagee of the premises on November 3, 1890, and John Endley, the owner of the premises at the date of the institution of the suit. The answer of defendants was a general denial. The trial of the cause by the court resulted in a judgment for plaintiff for the debt and a judgment establishing its lien. The main complaint made on this appeal is that the judgment, as far as the lien is concerned, is not supported by any substantial evidence.
The following facts are uneontroverted by the evidence : The defendant Cravens was engaged in building six or more houses in the city of Springfield, and in doing so he bought the necessary lumber from the-plaintiff on general account. The account ran against him without anything to indicate therein for what purpose the lumber was bought. The lumber was not furnished for any particular house. He made payments; on account from time to time, which were credited generally on his account. When he ceased to make payments, the plaintiff presented to him a gross bill for-
“Q. Didn’t you go to Mr. Hahn at his request and separate these bills for lumber used in the three different houses, numbers 33, 35, 36? A. No, sir; not in the way that he is trying to put it at me.
“Q. How did you do it? A. Mr. Hahn came to me when he came up from his mill, and came over to my place and says: H have come to see you.’ Says ’ I: ‘What about?’ He says: H have got to divide up that lumber bill in some kind of shape to make alien.’ Says I: Do you know how much?’ He says: H don’t know, unless I just divide them up into three sizes and put a lien onto them.’ I says: ‘Gro ahead. I guess that is the best you could do.’ And he went ahead and divided.it up and asked me if I would O. K. it, and I told him I would as to amount, but I couldn’t tell what. I says that boxing didn’t go into the house, and I O. Kd. the bill simply because it was the amount I owed Mr. Milner.’ ”
It will be thus seen that the court’s finding is ■opposed to its declaration of law. Even the attenuated evidence, which under other circumstances might have been furnished by the “0. Kd.” bills, was rebutted by the testimony of Cravens upon the stand, from which it distinctly appeared that he did not know whether the lumber went into the building or not. Moreover, he was not in a position to make any admissions as far as they affected the question of lien, having parted with the title to the property anterior to such admissions. His so-called admissions were declarations against the interest of third persons, and not against his own, and as such inadmissible.
It only remains to be seen whether the declaration of law made by the court was correct. It was once’ held that, if materials are furnished for a certain house, the fact that they were not actually used in its construction did not defeat the lien. Morrison v. Hancock, 40 Mo. 561. This judicial aberration, which lost sight of the governing principle that the lien is one which attaches •on account of the material, and not on account of the debt, was subsequently repudiated. Simmons v. Carrier, 60 Mo. 581; Fitzpatrick v. Thomas, 61 Mo. 516; Schulenburg v. Prairie Home Institute, 65 Mo. 295; Deardorff v. Everhartt, 74 Mo. 37. It is now well settled in this state that, in order to entitle a material-man to a lien, the material must be furnished for the house and be used in its construction. Schulenburg Lumber Co. v.
It results from the foregoing that the judgment must be reversed, having no foundation in the evidence as far as the lien is concerned. The judgment is reversed, and the cause remanded with directions to-enter a -general judgment against defendant Cravens for the debt sued for, and a judgment in favor of the other defendants.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.