Glencoe Lime & Cement Co. v. Clore
Glencoe Lime & Cement Co. v. Clore
Opinion of the Court
This is an action originally begun before a justice of the peace by plaintiff, Glencoe Lime & Cement Company, a corporation, appellant here, ■against Charles E. Clore, Hartshorn-Barber Realty & Building Company, a corporation, G. A. Wahl, W. A. Dnncan, and The Savings Trust Company, a corporation, wherein it was sought to recover a general judgment in the sum'of $61.88 against the Hartshorn- Barber Realty & Building Company, the alleged contractor for the erection of a certain building, for material
In plaintiff’s statement filed in the justice court, •it is averred that defendant Clore was the owner of the lot, and that he entered into a contract with defendant Hartshorn-Barber Realty & Building Company, by which the latter agreed to erect for defendant Clore a certain building thereon; that thereafter, to-wit, during the period from March 17, 1910; to March 23, 1910, inclusive, at the instance and request of and under contract with defendant Hartshorn-Bar-ber Realty & Building Company, plaintiff furnished to and for said building the materials described in its account filed with said statement.
Wahl and Duncan are made defendants because it is alleg’ed that they claim an interest in the property by virtue of a deed of trust, and the defendant Savings Trust Company is alleged to have been the owner of one or more of the notes secured by said deed of trust.
The trial before the justice resulted in a judgment against defendant Hartshorn-Barber1 Realty & Building Company, in the sum of $64.40, and the same was adjudged a mechanic’s lien against the building and lot mentioned. In due time the defendants, excepting the Hartshorn-Barber Realty & Building Company, perfected their appeal to the circuit court of the city of St. Louis, where the cause was tried before the court sitting as a jury, a jury having been theretofore waived. No declarations of law were given or requested, and the court rendered a judgment in favor of plaintiff and against the defendant Hartshorn-Bar-ber Realty & Building Company for $66.38, without a lien upon any of the property above mentioned, and rendered judgment in favor of all of the other defendants. Prom this judgment plaintiff appeals to this court.
The evidence disclosed that on the 14th day of March, 1910, a contract was entered into between defendant Hartshorn-Barber Realty & Building Company, on the one part, and W. A. Duncan Land & Real Estate Company, on the other, wherein the former was designated as the contractor and the latter as the owner, and wherein the former agreed to erect for the latter the building in question. This contract is signed by Hartshorn-Barber Realty & Bldg. Co., per Wm. J. Barber, Pres’t., J. H. McClure, Sec’v., and by W. A. Duncan Land & R. E. Co., W. A. Duncan, Pres.
One clause of this contract provided that the contractor should furnish an approved surety company bond for not less than eleven hundred dollars, to guarantee the faithful performance of the work and to protect the owner against liens, claims, damage suits, etc.
It will be observed that this contract was not with defendant Clore, who admittedly was the owner of the premises, but with W. A-. Duncan Land & R. E. Co. At that time the latter, according to the testimony of
Appellants assert that the trial court committed errors in the admission and exclusion of evidence, but in the view that we take of the case it is unnecessary to notice them. Nor need we concern ourselves with the question as to whether or not this contract between Duncan and the Hartshorn-Barber Realty & Building Company was valid and binding until the bond in question had been procured by the latter company.
The record discloses no contract directly with Clore, admittedly the owner of the property, for the construction of the building in question. Under the statute relating to mechanic’s liens the materials in question must have been furnished by plaintiff under and by virtue of a contract with the owner, or his agent, trustee, contractor or subcontractor, in order to entitle the plaintiff to a mechanic’s lien. There was no contract shown directly between the owner and the Hartshorn-Barber Realty & Building Company,
It is not necessary to discuss other points raised by counsel in their briefs and argument. No finding of fact or declarations of law appearing in the record, and there being substantial evidence to support the judgment, the latter cannot be disturbed on appeal.
The judgment of the circuit court is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.