Arbuckle Bros. v. Everybody's Gin & Mill Co.
Arbuckle Bros. v. Everybody's Gin & Mill Co.
Opinion of the Court
Arbuckle Bros., appellants, are a copartnership composed of John Ar-buckle, William A. Jamison, William V. R. Smith, and James N. Jarvis, who own and conduct a public grain elevator in the city of Dallas, and solicit the public to store grain with them, and who undertake to safe-keep, clean, and preserve same for certain charges. Everybody’s Gin & Mill Company, appellee, is a private foreign corporation incorporated under the laws of the state of Oklahoma and domiciled in the town of Chickasha in said state, and engaged in buying and selling corn and other grain for profit. Appellee sued appellants in the Sixty-Eighth district court of Dallas county and alleged that in December and January 1908-09, it temporarily stored with appellants 46,164 bushels of No. 3 corn which was to be held, cared for, protected, and preserved by appellants in as good condition as it was when received and until redelivered to appellee for distribution to its customers at various points in the state of Texas. Appellee also ’alleged that it was the duty of appellants, and that they undertook and agreed whenever necessary, to dry and clean all corn deposited with them in order to maintain its grade and condition; and also to load and deliver said corn upon railway cars at their elevator in Dallas when directed so to do by appellee. It was claimed by ap-pellee that after the delivery aforesaid, and in due course of its business, it requested appellants to redeliver the corn so stored that it might in turn deliver same to its customers, but that appellants failed to account for and deliver 4,935 bushels thereof at all, and that 25,904 bushels of the corn that they did have on hand for delivery was dirty, unsound, damaged, and unsaleable as a result of the negligence of appellants in improperly caring for the same while in storage. The appellee also alleged that, when it shipped its corn from Chickasha to Dallas for storage with appellants, it made arrangements with the railroad company for what is known as “storage in transit,” or “storage and milling in transit,” rates, which enabled it by reshipping the corn so stored within a period of six months to save large sums of money on freight advanced by it to the railway company, and which would be repaid to ap-pellee if the corn was shipped out again within said six months; but, failing to do so, appellee would lose the right to collect back the freight it had advanced to the railway company, and that appellants had notice of such arrangement. Appellee also charged that, in addition to their failure to account for the 4,935 bushels of corn, appellants, as stated at another place, by ’neglect, so damaged 25,904 bushels thereof that it was unsaleable, for which reason it became necessary, and appellee was compelled to and did, at great loss, continue said corn on storage with appellants until it could be sold. Upon these items appellee recovered a portion of the claimed damages and concerning which there is no issue, and the items are referred to only that the disputed items may be understood. In addition to these items, however, appellee claimed that appellants collected from it $268.38 for storage on the damaged corn left with appellants, which accrued after the six months had elapsed and until a purchaser could be found therefor. These charges appellee sought to recover back on the ground that the negligence of appellants made it necessary to keep the corn in storage for the additional period of time. Appellee also claimed that because of the negligence of appellants in improperly caring for said corn, and the consequent necessity of leaving it in storage longer than the prescribed six months in which the railway company compelled it to reload and ship out, it lost the freight it otherwise would have collected *1138 back, and which amounted to $1,S11.97. Appellants answered by general demurrer and general denial; specially that appellee was a foreign corporation without permit to transact its business in the state; also, that it redelivered to appellee all corn received, and that any loss was due to the damp and dirty condition of the corn when received, the loss, if any, being in the process of cleaning, and that it properly^ eared for and protected the corn and redelivered same to appellee in a better condition than they received it. Ap-pellee, in response to the answer of appellants, averred it was not necessary for it to have a permit to transact business in Texas, since the business transactions set out in its petition were interstate. ' As suggested, other items of damage were in issue in the ease but are not involved in this review. The case was tried before a jury, and on the item of $268.38 for storage the jury awarded $179.20, which included interest. On the item of $1,811.97 lost in freight charg-. es, the jury awarded $156.80, which included interest.
Appellants’ first, second, and third assignments of error are as follows : “(1) The court erred in that part of its charge as follows: It was the duty of the defendants, Arbuckle Bros., to use ordinary care to keep and maintain all corn received by them from plaintiff in good condition if any was so received, and it was their duty to use ordinary care to so care for and handle any corn that they might have received in a' damp, wet, or dirty condition, if any there was, and to put such corn in a good condition. If you find and believe from the testimony that defendants failed to use ordinary care to keep and to maintain the corn so received by them in a good condition, if any was so received, or if they received corn that was damp or wet or not clean and did not use ordinary care to dry, clean, and care for such corn, and if such failure, if any, in either or both of these respects, proximately caused any corn to deteriorate in quality and depreciate in value, then I instruct you that the defendants herein are liable to the plaintiff in damages for the amount of such depreciation in value of such corn, if any. (2) The court erred in that part of its charge to the jury which is as follows: If you find and believe from the testimony that any of the corn was damp, wet, or not clean when received by defendants, and if you believe that by the exercise of ordinary care by defendants said corn would not have been put, kept, or maintained in any better condition than it in fact was iput in and kept and maintained in, or if you find and believe from the testimony that the defendants exercised ordinary care to put and maintain and to keep such com in good condition, then defendants would not be liable in damages for any depreciation in the value of the corn, if any. If you believe from the testimony that the corn redelivered by the defendants to the plaintiff for shipment out had not depreciated in quality while defendants had it in storage, or if defendants had used ordinary care in keeping and maintaining said corn, then as to this feature of the case you will find for the defendants. (3) The court erred in that part of its charge to the jury which is as follows: If under the foregoing instructions you find in favor of the plaintiff, then you will ascertain from the evidence when such corn would have been delivered by defendants to plaintiff, if it had not depreciated, if there was a depreciation; then you will ascertain the market value at Dallas, Tex., of such corn at such delivery date in the condition it would then have been in if it had been handled and kept with ordinary care; then you will ascertain from the testimony the market value at Dallas of the corn in its depreciated condition, if it was in such condition. The difference, if any, in such market value, with 6 per cent, interest per annum calculated thereon from such delivery date, will be the measure of the plaintiff’s damages under this subdivision of this charge.”
Under the three foregoing assignments of error, appellants assert the proposition that any foreign corporation that desires to transact business in this state shall be required to secure a permit for that purpose as provided by article 745, Revised Statutes, failing in which such corporation cannot maintain any suit or action, legal or equitable, in this state. It is also claimed as .part of the proposition that the evidence disclosed that appellee had no such permit and was yet transacting business in the state, and that hence the court should have instructed a vercñet for the appellants. Appellee objects to the consideration of the proposition submitted under the foregoing assignments for the reason that the assignments do not raise the question and because the proposition is not germane to the assignments.
Finding no reversible error in the record, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Arbuckle Bros. v. Everybody's Gin Mill Co. [Fn&8224]
- Cited By
- 5 cases
- Status
- Published