Crooks & Co. v. Eldridge & Higgins Co.
Crooks & Co. v. Eldridge & Higgins Co.
Opinion of the Court
The Eldridge & Higgins Company filed its petition in the court of common pleas, complaining, after formal averments, of Robert Crooks & Company, as follows:
“That the said defendant is indebted to the plaintiff in the sum of $1,012.56, which indebtedness was created and arose in the following manner, to-wit:
“On the 20th day of March, 1896, the'said plaintiff paid to the said, defendant the sum of $912.56 for 187 bags of granulated sugar containing 100 pounds each, and also $100.00 for freight and other expenses connected with the sale and delivery of said sugar.
‘“The said plaintiff further says, that the said 187 bags of sugar, when delivered to the plaintiff, was not as represented and did not correspond to the sample by which the plaintiff was induced to purchase the said sugar, and from which the said sale was made. The said sugar was also unmerchantable and unmarketable and unfit for use, and did not correspond to the sample exhibited to the plaintiff at the time of the purchase of the same.
“Wherefore, the plaintiff says, that there was no consideration for the payment of the said sum of $1,012.56, and the said plaintiff is entitled to recover the said sum of $1,012.56 from the said defendant.
*202 “Wherefore, the plaintiff prays judgment against the said defendant for the said sum of $1,012.56, and its costs herein expended.”
The answer was a general denial.
The relief sought in this petition was not the recovery of damages, and the petition does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action for damages. The contract between the parties is not set out, nor is the precise nature of the representations or warranty by the defendants, if any, alleged, nor the breach thereof. Professedly the action is for the recovery of the purchase money paid for 187 bags of granulated sugar, and the basis of the plaintiff’s claim is that the sugar was “unfit for use,” that is, of no value, and “that there was no consideration” for the payment of the money sought to be recovered. To sustain a recovery for the plaintiff under this petition, the plaintiff must show that the sugar was entirely worthless. If the sugar was proven to have any value whatever, the plaintiff could not recover the price paid for it without rescinding and averring and proving that it made, or offered to make, restitution of the entire lot of sugar purchased, within a reasonable time. 19 Encyclopaedia PI. and Prac., 71. There was no such allegation in this petition, and the proof was that the lot of sugar purchased was 250 bags, instead of 187 bags, and if any offer to return was ever made it was for no more than 187 bags. As there was no amendment or suggestion of amendment before or after verdict, .by far the largest part of the evidence embodied in the record was incompetent, under the issues. The trial court seems to have, in part, comprehended this, when the jury were instructed that “the plaintiff can only recover, if at all, upon proof of the special matters alleged in the petition. He can
It may be added that this instruction did not give to the" jury the true rule of damages. If the jury should have been instructed to compute damages at all, under the pleadings in this case, the measure of damages would be the difference between the value as represented and the actual value of the sugar, together with any special damages which might be alleged and proven. The measure of damages given by the court was the difference between the contract price and the actual value of the sugar, not to exceed the entire purchase price, and freight paid, which freight was claimed in the petition, but not distinctly and properly alleged as special damages.
The judgment of the court of common pleas and the judgment of the circuit court affirming it are
Reversed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.