Ascue v. C. Aultman & Co.
Ascue v. C. Aultman & Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
§ 497. Conditional sale; contract construed; right of vendor to rescind or enforce contract. Appellees sued appellants upon a written obligation which reads as follows:
“Cleburne, Texas, June 14, 1880
“On or before the 1st day of October, 1881, for value received in one Monitor engine and Sweepstake thresher No.-, I, the undersigned, of precinct No.-, county of Johnson, state of Texas, promise to pay to the order of 0. Aultman & Co., Canton, Ohio, three hundred and fifty-two /o0,, dollars, payable at the office of A. Hinchman, at Waco, Texas, with interest at ten per cent, per annum, from date until maturity, and if not then paid, with interest at twelve per cent, per annum from date until paid. If this note is not paid at maturity, and is placed in the hands of an attorney for collection, or is sued on, I agree to pay ten per cent, of principal and interest as an attorney fee. The express condition of the sale and purchase of the machinery for which this note is given, is such that the title, ownership or right of possession does not pass from thé said C. Aultman & Co. until this note and interest is paid in full. And the said C. Aultman & Co., or their authorized agents, are hereby fully authorized and empowered to proceed to collect the same at any time they may reasonably deem themselves insecure, before the maturity thereof, and may take possession of said machine, sell the same at public sale, with or without notice, and apply the proceeds towards the payment of this note after paying all costs and nec*442 essaiy expenses. Also this note is to become due upon the removal of its maker-from° the county wherein he now resides.
(Signed) “E. Asctje.”
Upon the back of this instrument was the following guaranty:
“ Eor value received I hereby guaranty the payment of the within note, and any renewal of the same, and hereby waive protest, demand and notice of demand and non-payment, and suit against the maker, and consent that the payment of this note may be extended from time to time, without affecting my liability therein.
(Signed) “A. Hinciiman.”
Defendants answered that the instrument sued on was given for machinery, and that simultaneously with the execution of this note, three others were executed, each for the same amount of this note, and containing the same provisions, the purchase price of said machinery being $1,410. That two of these notes had been paid by defendants, this suit being upon the third, and the fourth being still outstanding; that these instruments evidence a conditional sale by appellees to Ascue, with the privilege to appellees to take possession of the machinery, sell the same and apply the proceeds to the payment of the note sued on, and that appellees did take possession of, sell and apply the proceeds of the same, at which time the same was worth $000; that by reason of these facts, said note was “paid off and discharged.” This answer was excepted to, and the exceptions were sustained, and appellees recovered judgment for their 'debt, interest and costs, and ordering the machinery which had been taken under a writ of sequestration issued in the suit, to be sold, and the proceeds applied to the judgment. Appellants assign as error the action of the court in sustaining the exceptions to their answer, and state this proposition: That the instrument sued on evidences a conditional sale and not a mortgage, and as appellees took possession of the property, as they had the right to do under the con
§ 498. Warranty; plea setting up breach of, is a plea of failure of consideration, and must be sworn to. Appellants alleged in their answer that appellees had Warranted the machinery to be of good material and durable, etc.; that it was not such as it was warranted to be, etc. This is evidently a plea of partial failure of consideration, and should have been sworn to as is required by article 1365?i subd. 10, Revised Statutes. It was not error to sustain the exceptions to this plea. [Ante, § 105.]
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.