Tapper v. Sunlight Oil & Gasoline Co.
Tapper v. Sunlight Oil & Gasoline Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The contract in question is in the words and figures following, to wit: “Philadelphia, January 3rd, 1895. We agree to furnish you your supply of 75 gasoline -te-feMe. pes-week, for the year 1895 at 7 cents per gallon. Delivered at No. 428 N. 64th Street. Empties to be returned at 95 cents each. Sunlight Oil & Gasoline Co., H. Livezey, Mgr. & Treas. Accepted W. E. Tapper.” In the negotiations which resulted in the contract included herein the defendant was represented by its agent employed to sell its gasoline. The paper presented to the plaintiff by the agent of the defendant was not a completed contract, although it was signed by the latter. It was an offer to furnish to the former Ms supply of seventy-five gasoline for a time and on terms specified therein. There were two blank spaces in it, through which spaces and five words in close
The only conclusion deducible from the uncontradicted evidence in the case is that the contract contained herein correctly expresses the agreement and understanding of the parties to it. By it the defendant was bound to furnish the plaintiff with the gasoline he might require in his business during the year 1895, and to pay to him ninety-five cents for each empty barrel returned. On the other hand, the plaintiff was bound to return to the defendant each empty barrel at the price aforesaid, and to pay for the gasoline furnished him at the rate specified in
We have carefully examined and considered all the specifications of error in the case, and are of the opinion that there is nothing in either of them which would justify a reversal of the judgment.
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- William E. Tapper v. Sunlight Oil and Gasoline Company
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Principal and agent—Contract—Alteration of written instrument. An agent of a dealer in gasoline presented to a customer a contract signed by his principal as follows: “We agree to furnish you your supply of 75 gasoline from to bbls. per week, for the year 1895, at 7 cents per gallon.” The customer objected to the contract as it was offered, and the agent then drew a line over the words and spaces “from to bbls. per week.” The customer then signed an acceptance of the contract in duplicate, the agent taking one copy and the customer the other. The principal furnished oil as ordered under the contract, until the price materially increased, when it refused to furnish more than twelve barrels per week, exhibiting a contract in which the words “ one to twelve bbls. per week ” appeared over the erasure, making the contract read to furnish gasoline “from one to twelve bbls. per week.” In a suit by the customer on the contract the defendant did not produce-its copy of the contract, and offered no evidence that the agent had exceeded his authority. Held, (1) that the paper presented by the agent to the customer was not a completed contract; (2) that the contract sued on, and produced by the customer, correctly expressed the agreement, and that the principal was bound by it.