International Harvester Co. of America v. Alger
International Harvester Co. of America v. Alger
Opinion of the Court
This is a trial de novo. In January 20, 1910, defendant gave to plaintiff a written order for a 20-horse power International, Type C, tractor gasolene engine; on March 29, 1910, an engine Avas delivered for Avhich he executed and delivered to the plaintiff two notes, a chattel and real estate mortgage securing the same, for the sum of $1,550, the first note falling due October 1, 1910. Defendant retained said engine and used it until October, 1910, Avhen he notified the plaintiff that he would not accept the same. The written order for the engine mentioned above contained the following provision: “The undersigned hereby acknowledges having received a true copy of this order, agreement, and warranty, as indorsed on the'back hereof.” The warranty reads as follows: “The International Harvester Company ■of America (incorporated) warrants the within described engine to do
Plaintiff had judgment in the court below for a foreclosure of the mortgage and defendant appeals. Although divided into many subdivisions by the assignments of error, we believe the contention of appellant may be narrowed to one, to wit, that the engine actually delivered was not the identical article ordered from the company. In support of this contention, plaintiff offered in evidence the testimony of conversations had by Alger with the sales agent, to the effect that the engine which plaintiff had for sale would develop 20-horse power as a tractor upon the drawbar. Among other things defendant testifies that the agent told him that the engine would draw a larger load than the Hart-:Parr 45-22 engine, and that it would do the work of sixteen horses, etc. This testimony is not offered, as we understand it, to show a breach of the written warranty above set forth, but merely to support the contention that the company did not deliver the engine described in his written order. He also offered in evidence statements of the same nature made in March, 1910, by one Smith, who came
In other words, if we understand appellant, his contention is that a smaller weaker engine was substituted for the one ordered by him, and the cases cited in appellant’s brief are cases where substitution existed. It was expressly conceded through the whole argument that the engine in question was a good engine for its size, was well made, and gave perfect satisfaction in every respect excepting that it would not deliver 20-horse power at the drawbar, although it did deliver more than 20-horse power at the fly wheel by the brake test, and in all respects fulfilled its written warranty. After careful consideration of the evidence, which, of course, cannot be set forth in detail in the confines of this opinion, we have reached the conclusion that the evidence will not bear out appellant’s contention. In the first place the order calls for a trade article, a 20-horse power engine. And while the defendant himself testifies that it was understood by the sale agent that he desired to purchase an engine that would deliver 20-horse power at the drawbar, we do not believe such testimony impeaches the written order signed by the defendant which names only 20-horse power International, Type C, tractor gasolene engine. If defendant did not understand the trade meaning of this description, he could easily have ascertained the same from the dealer or from the company direct. The trade talk of the sale agent should not be relied upon to vary the terms of this written order.
Again, the fact that defendant kept and operated the engine nearly six months was a circumstance easting great doubt upon the sincerity of the defendant’s present claim. The evidence shows that defendant
Reference
- Full Case Name
- INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY OF AMERICA v. FRED L. ALGER
- Status
- Published