Maryland Casualty Co. v. Bower
Maryland Casualty Co. v. Bower
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The defendant had contracted to perform certain work for the Philadelphia & Beading Railway Company and the plaintiff company became surety for the performance of the contract. Under the terms of the agreement between the plaintiff and the defendant the latter agreed to pay to the former an annual premium of $1,650, in advance, so long as . the liability of the plaintiff on the bond continued, “and until sufficient official notice in writing, of the termination of the said bond and the liability thereunder, shall be served upon the company.” On September 16,1914, there was served upon the plaintiff company a release of all liability under the contract, which release was signed by W. Hunter, chief engineer of the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Co. The defendant admitted liability for the pro rata proportion of the premium, for the period ending September 16, 1914, and the plaintiff took judgment for that amount, electing to proceed for an alleged balance. The only question at the trial, was as to the authority of the chief engineer of the Reading Railway Co. to terminate the liability upon the bond. The jury found that the chief engineer was vested with such authority and returned a verdict in favor of the defendant. The plaintiff appeals from that judgment, contending that there was not sufficient evidence to warrant such a finding.
Mr. Hunter, the chief engineer, who released the bond in this case, having died, his successor in. office was called as a witness. He testified that he had been connected with the office of the chief engineer for fourteen years and during that period it had been the uniform practice of the office, to prepare contracts to ask for surety bonds for the faithful completion of work in order to protect the company, and to terminate such bonds when, in the judgment of the chief engineer, the company was fully protected. The assistant secretary of the company testified that it was one of the duties of the chief engineer to execute bonds in cases of contract and to terminate the liability when, in his judgment, the work had progressed far enough to protect the company,. under contracts similar to that involved in the present
The judgment is affirmed. .
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Maryland Casualty Company v. Bower
- Cited By
- 1 case
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- Published
- Syllabus
- Railroads — Corporations—Authority of chief engineer — Release of contractor — Principal and surety — Termination of contract of suretyship. Where a contractor for railroad work agrees to pay an annual premium to a surety company for executing a surety bond so long as the contractor’s liability on the bond shall continue, and until the plaintiff shall be released from liability by the railroad company, a release of liability executed by the chief engineer of the railroad company will end the contract of suretyship, where it appears that the contractor’s agreement with the railroad company gave the chief engineer great powers over the conduct of the work, with authority to determine when the contract had been completed, and it also appears that it had been the uniform practice of the chief engineers of the company to execute bonds in eases of contract, and to terminate the liability, when in their judgment, the work had progressed far enough to protect the company. When a corporation has delegated to an officer the entire control and management of a particular part of its business, evidence is admissible to establish what had been the uniform practice of that officer, acquiesced in without question by the corporation in dealing with the subject-matter.