Glasgow v. Hill
Glasgow v. Hill
Opinion of the Court
Obinion by
The plaintiff brought an action of replevin against S. W.
Nelson Morris & Company, on July 20, 1898, obtained a judgment in the circuit court of the United States against S. W. Hill, who at that time and for years before owned a lot of land in the city of Allegheny, upon which the judgment became a lien. The buildings erected upon the lot, which were also the property of Hill, were designed and equipped with the necessary machinery for the cold storage business and the manufacture and sale of ice, and had been continuously used for that purpose from the year 1889. The property was sold by the United States marshal, to the plaintiff, on September 3, 1901, and in pursuance of such sale the deed was duly acknowledged and delivered to Glasgow on September 21,1901. The steam engine, dynamo and pump in question were at that time upon the land, bolted to foundations in the manner usual with'such machinery, and were an essential part of the equipment of the ice manufactory and necessary to the purposes for which it was and had been used. With the exception of the chattels here in controversy S. W. Hill owned all the machinery in the establishment. The articles in question had been placed in the manufactory at the following dates, viz.: the steam engine on March 17, 1898, the dynamo on August 3, 1899, and the pump on October 22, 1900. These particular pieces, of
The plaintiff presented evidence which, if believed, warranted a finding that S. W. Hill had personally been in the actual possession and absolute control of the property down to the time of the sale. The appellant presented evidence tending to establish that the Hill Ice Manufacturing Company had applied for and procured a charter from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania on January 17, 1898, to conduct the business of manufacturing, buying and selling ice, that thereupon S. W. Hill had made a proposition to sell the property to the corporation, which the latter accepted and took possession of the property and continued the icé büsiness which had previously been carried on by Hill, but that the consummation of the transaction had been delayed by the litigation with Morris & Company, and the entry of the judgment against Hill had prevented the conclusion of the transaction. The charter of the corporation was not recorded until October 8, 1901, after this writ of replevin had been issued. The appellant presented evidence which, if believed, would have warranted a finding that the chattels in question had been purchased and installed by the Hill Ice Manufacturing Company, while in possession of the premises. This testimony was oral and the principal witness was S. W. Hill, whose testimony was not reconcilable with the manner in which he had carried on the business and dealt with the property, if the testimony of the witnesses produced by the plaintiff was true.
Hill having been the owner of the land and the manufacturing
The contention of the appellant,, that the court should have given binding instructions in favor of the defendant corporation, cannot be sustained. If the appellant ever did own this property, it had placed it in such a position and so dealt with it that it was in this case bound to produce the evidence of its title. The evidence produced was oral and it was not of such a character as to warrant the court in assuming the facts to be clearly established. The transaction between Hill and the corporation may have been entirely honest, but there were circumstances connected with it and the business was conducted in such a manner as to make it subject to suspicion. The question of the ownership of the property by the corporation was
The jury having found that the appellant did not own the property, and there being no error in the instructions under which that result was reached, it is hot necessary to consider the specifications of error which go only to the measure of damages.
The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
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- Fixtures — Trade fixtures — Ice plant — Evidence—Question for jury — Replevin. In an action of replevin to recover a steam engine, dynamo and pump, it appeared that the defendant in the replevin owned land on which was erected an ice plant, which he operated. Under a judgment against the defendant in the replevin the land and plant were sold, and a deed made to plaintiff therefor. Shortly after the execution of the deed, the defendant removed from the plant the property which was the subject of the replevin. Over two years prior to the sale, the defendant secured a charter for a corporation, and made a proposition to sell the ice plant to the corporation, which the latter accepted and took possession of the property, and continued the ice business. The transaction, however, was not consummated at the time of the execution of the deed, to plaintiff, and the charter of the corporation was not recorded until after the writ of replevin had been issued. There was evidence that the chattels in question had been purchased and installed by the corporation, while in possession of the premises. There was also evidence that they had been put into the plant to supply the place of similar-machinery owned by defendant, which had been worn out. It appeared that the articles in question were attached to the freehold connected with the other machinery, and were absolutely necessary to the operation of the plant. Held,, that it was for the jury to determine whether the chattels were the property of the corporation placed in the plant as trade fixtures, and that a verdict and judgment for the plaintiff should be sustained.