Duffy v. Johnson
Duffy v. Johnson
Opinion of the Court
Appeal from the district court of Ward county, K. E. Leighton, Judge.
This is an action by the plaintiff against the defendant to recover damages for the violation of certain terms of an oral lease of certain land and personal property. The undisputed facts, or as substantially proved by the evidence, are as follows: The defendant was the owner of a certain farm in McLean county, North Dakota. In the fall of 1916, the plaintiff and the defendant entered into a contract by the terms of which the plaintiff leased defendant’s farm on shares for the farming season of 1917. Under the terms of the lease, the defendant was to furnish the plaintiff with ten head of horses for use on the defendant’s farm. The plaintiff claims that the horses were to be furnished also for use on other places and farms as plaintiff might see fit to use to work the same for himself and others.
This contention finds ample support in the evidence. Plaintiff fully performed his agreement with defendant with reference to farminj' the land which he leased from the defendant. Plaintiff, during the harvest season of 1917, undertook the performance of and did perform certain labor for other parties in which he desired to use the defendant’s horses, which, under the terms of the oral lease, he had a perfect right to do. At the time he was about to enter upon the performance of such work with such horses, he was notified by defendant not to take the horses off the defendant’s farm. Plaintiff insisted on taking the horses and performing such work for other parties. Thereupon the defendant commenced an action in claim and delivery, and the sheriff, executing the writ therein, took the possession of the horses in question from plaintiff on the 25th day of August, 1917, and during the time when plaintiff was using said horses in cutting grain for one Bondley. There
The terms of the lease were that defendant was to furnish all the seed, machinery, and horses with which to farm said land, and the plaintiff was to do all the work and receive one third of the grain so raised. It seems the grain in 1911 was very short, and, in order to save the grain, it was necessary to use a header instead of a binder. Whether the defendant refused to furnish the header, and whether the plaintiff was justified in procuring another header to cut the grain, were questions of fact for the jury, which have been decided in favor of the plaintiff. The jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff, and a judgment was entered for $549.44. A considerable share of this judgment is for the hire and feed of the horses procured by the plaintiff to do outside work for various parties. It is also shown by the evidence that the defendant was to get one sixth of whatever was earned by such outside work. This credit has been allowed defendant by plaintiff. There is sufficient evidence to support the judgment, and there is really but a single question involved in the case, which is: After the horses were rebonded by plaintiff, and after being so rebonded and taken back into plaintiff’s possession, and upon the defendant again notifying plaintiff not to take them off the place to do other work, was
Judgment is affirmed, with statutory costs on appeal.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- JAMES J. DUFFY v. SEVERIN JOHNSON
- Status
- Published