Ross v. Jackson
Ross v. Jackson
Opinion of the Court
Appellant, Virginia Ross, brought suit against appellee, W. R. Jackson; on a certain note, dated April 26, 1913, for the sum of $335, interest and attorney’s fees, and for a foreclosure of a mortgage Ren on a certain well-drilling outfit, given ‘ to secure the payment of said note.
Defendant Jackson answered by general demurrer, special exceptions, general denial, and on cross-action and offset that he had a verbal contract of date about November 15, 1912, whereby he was to drill a well for plaintiff in the northeastern part of Kinney county, at a place to be designated by plaintiff, which said well was to be drilled to a sufficient depth to procure a sufficient amount of water for practical purposes. For such well, it is alleged, she promised to pay him-$1 per foot for the first 200 feet, and $1.50 per foot for the third 100 feet, if defendant succeeded in procuring a sufficient amount of water for practicable purposes; that in compliance with such agreement defendant moved his drilling outfit on the land and made all preparations for boring said well, but plaintiff negligently failed and refused to point out the place where said well was to be drilled for 35 days, during which time he was kept idle, because of the fact that he was compelled to hold himself in readiness to carry out such contract, and claim is made for $12 per day during said 35 days he was kept idle. Claim is made for $420 for the time he was kept idle, and for $402.50 for the drilling of said well, the note sued on being admitted, except that it is alleged that plaintiff knew the sum represented by same was for the purpose of obtaining money to pay the expense of drilling said well, buying materials therefore, etc., and .was given be-" fore the well was finished, and that it was understood between plaintiff and defendant that said note- was to be paid off and discharged with money derived from plaintiff by defendant in boring the well. Prayer is/ on the cross-action, that defendant offset plaintiff’s debt due on the note by the cost price of drilling the well, and that he have judgment for $62-50. In addition thereto he prays for $420 for the 35 days he alleges he was idle and at great expense because plain? *515 tiff failed and refused to point out where the well was to be bored, because be says be would have earned $12 per day during said time.
The plaintiff excepted to the matters set out in the fourth paragraph of defendant’s answer, which is with regard to the 35 days he says he was idle, because the same is an attempt to offset a liquidated demand by an unliqui-dated claim; and that if he had such a claim he was estopped to plead same, because he had waived the same by settling and merging same • into the note and mortgage given April 26, 1913. Plaintiff also denied that he drilled a merchantable well or one that could be used, or that it would supply a sufficient amount of water for practicable purposes.
Defendant excepted to the sufficiency of the plea of estoppel, which plea was by the court sustained, and plaintiff’s exception was overruled.
The cause was tried by a jury and resulted in a verdict in favor of Jackson for $370 for drilling the well and in favor of plaintiff for $378 on the note, which was offset by the cost of the well, leaving $8.60 in favor of plaintiff, and further found $3 per day for the 35 days defendant was kept idle on account of plaintiff failing to point out where the well was to be drilled, and from this the $8.60 was deducted, leaving a net balance of $96.40, for which judgment was rendered against the plaintiff and in favor of defendant. Plaintiff has appealed.
The first assignment of error complains that the court erred in sustaining defendant’s demurrer, to plaintiff’s exception, wherein the point was made that defendant’s counterclaim accrued long before the note and mortgage were executed, and was fictitious and trumped up for the purpose of defeating plaintiff’s just liquidated demand; and the second assignment asserts that the court erred in not sustaining plaintiff’s exception to defendant’s cross-action for 35 days lost, because the suit was on a note dated April 26, 1913, and his cross-action accrued long prior thereto and was waived and merged into the settlement represented by the note. The assignment states that Jackson got $71 mo're at the time he executed the note and then closed the account. But the exception filed does not set forth these matters. The first exception is to the effect that defendant’s claim is unliquidated and cannot be offset against a liquidated demand, and is too remote and speculative. The second exception is to the fourth paragraph of defendant’s answer, wherein he prays for damages at $12 per day for the 35 days lost, and that exception is he is estopped from interposing same for the reason said claim, if any he had, was by him waived, settled, and merged in the settlement of their differences on April 26, 1913, the date he acknowledges that he made, signed, executed, and delivered to plaintiff his promissory note for the sum of $335, etc. The defendant’s pleadings were not subject to the criticism urged in these exceptions. Other than the exceptions filed, the plaintiff did not plead waiver and estoppel nor that the defendant sought to offset a liquidated by an unliquidated demand. When her exceptions were overruled as to these matters, there was no pleading before the court upon which to base a charge on these matters. They were not pleaded as defense to the cross-action; nor did the plaintiff seek to plead same in her trial amendment or otherwise than by the exceptions which the court did not sustain. The cross-action was not subject to the exceptions, because it did not appear therefrom that defendant had waived his claim.
Article 1330 of the Revised Statutes of Texas specially provides that an uncertain claim may be asserted against a. certain demand where they grow out of and form part of the same transaction. According to the defendant’s allegations, this all grew out of the same contractual relations, and the cross-action, as alleged, does not show that prior claims were waived or merged in the note; but, on the contrary, the pleadings show that the note represented an advance to help carry on the work.
If the testimony of the defendant is true, then plaintiff was grossly negligent in refusing to point out where the well was to be bored. She did finally point it out, and, if she had done this at first, there would have been no occasion for damages.
The assignments are all overruled, and the judgment is affirmed.
Reference
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- Ross v. Jackson.
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