Reed v. Wood
Reed v. Wood
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiff in error was plaintiff in the court below. The petition upon which the case was tried alleges, in substance, that plaintiff was a commission merchant carrying on business in the city of New York; that the defendants shipped to plaintiff 215 cases of eggs to be sold on commission, the plaintiff to receive five per cent for making the sale, and all charges paid by him on the eggs; that at the time said shipment was made defendants drew a draft on the plaintiff for the sum of $900, which according to the custom of the trade was to be paid by plaintiff and the amount thereof to be deducted from the proceeds of the sale of the eggs; that said draft was presented to the plaintiff, and the same was accepted and paid by him before he received the eggs and without knowing their value; that plaintiff subsequently, after the receipt of the eggs, owing to the bad and unsalable condition of a large number thereof, was com
The petition in error contains three assignments of error, as follows:
2. The verdict was not sustained by sufficient evidence.
3. The court erred in overruling the motion for a new trial.
The second and third of the above assignments are not mentioned or referred to in the brief of counsel for plaintiff; hence, under the repeated utterances of this court, are regarded as waived, and will not be noticed by us. (Gill v. Lydick, 40 Neb., 508.) The first assignment is directed generally by numbers only against three instructions given at the request of the defendants. Turning to the transcript we find that the defendants asked four separate and distinct instructions, all of which were given by the court, and that none of these requests are numbered. The first assignment is, therefore, not sufficient to present any question for review, since it is left so indefinite and uncertain as to the particular instruction intended. Again, the assignment of error in the motion for a new trial, as well as the petition in error, is directed against the giving of a group of instructions en masse; hence, such assignment is insufficient, unless all the instructions in such a group are bad. Two of the four instructions asked by the defendant, and given by the court, read as follows:
“You are instructed that the law holds the consignee, in the conducting of the business of the consignor, to the same degree of care and diligence which a prudent man would exercise in the management of his own affairs.
“ In determining the negligence, if any, on the part of the plaintiff to do and perform all that was required to be done in the matter of handling and selling the eggs for defendants, the jury should take into consideration all the circumstances that surround the transaction; any want of good faith on the part of the consignee, if it shall have been proved; the perishable nature of the article consigned, the deterioration of the same, and the consequent necessity*499 of selling the same at once; the keeping of the defendants in ignorance of the true condition of the eggs, if such facts shall have been proven, and the inconsistencies and absurdities which may appear from the testimony of the plaintiff, or his employes; or the failure of the plaintiff to perform any act which a reasonably prudent man would have done.”
As to the instruction first above quoted it is sufficient to say that it is a literal copy of one of the instructions given on the trial in the district court in Housel v. Thrall, reported in 18 Neb., 484, and which was approved as good law by this court on the review of said case. No criticism was made in the brief to the giving of the defendants’ request last above quoted. It is not believed to be faulty, but was based upon the evidence, and fairly submitted to the jury for their determination the disputed questions of fact in the case. Having reached this conclusion, the first assignment of error must be overruled without an examination of the other instructions. The judgment is
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Abram G. Reed v. Charles S. Wood
- Status
- Published