Taylor & McCoy Coal & Coke Co. v. Hartman
Taylor & McCoy Coal & Coke Co. v. Hartman
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
A statement in detail of the facts is essential to a proper understanding of the relation of the parties at the time the bill was filed. In 1887 Dennison and McLanaghan were the owners of a tract of some 600 acres of land underlaid with two
On December 12, 1902, the receipt of this notice was acknowledged by the defendants by letter in which it was stated that the matter would be given consideration at as early a date as possible. On January 12, 1903 the defendants wrote calling attention to the notice of December 9, and the plaintiff’s reply thereto, and notifying it that, unless the terms of the proposed lease were accepted by January 19, the plaintiff’s right to it would be considered forfeited. After January 19, negotiations were resumed with the party who had desired a lease, but were abandoned by him because of information received from the plaintiff that it claimed a right under its option. On November 11, 1903, in reply to a letter from the defendants threatening suit for the plaintiff’s interference to prevent a lease to another party the plaintiff wrote asking the name of the party from whom an offer had been received in order that it might satisfy itself by evidence other than the mere statement of the defendants that a bona fide offer had been made by reliable parties. This information was promptly given. Upon application by the plaintiff to the party named
The bill was dismissed for the reason that it would be inequitable to enjoin the defendants because of the lapse of time ; the change of parties; the practical difficulty of reaching an understanding with a proposed lessee as to the numerous details of a lease and then holding the matter in abeyance until the plaintiff should elect to accept or decline a lease on the same terms ; and the refusal or neglect of the plaintiff to act upon the notice of December 9, 1902, followed by the assertion of its claim to the coal, by which the consummation of a lease to another party had been prevented.
The situation was one that presented many practical difficulties if not met in a spirit of entire fairness by the parties. It was the defendants’ interest to lease the coal and derive an income from it, and it was the plaintiff’s interest to delay any action on its option until the upper vein of coal was ex
The decree is affirmed at the cost of the appellant.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Taylor & McCoy Coal & Coke Company v. Hartman
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Mines and mining — Coal lease — Option to lease — Equity—Discovery. Where the .lessee of an upper vein of coal who has the option to purchase or lease a lower vein “on terms as favorable as may be offered bona fide by any other person or persons,” has defeated the consummation of a lease to another party, whose name with the terms offered had been furnished to him, by setting up a claim for the coal, he cannot thereafter when another offer is made to the owner, and the terms of the offer is communicated to him, compel the owner by bill in equity to reveal the name of the person who made the offer.