Cyclone Steam Snowplow Co. v. Vulcan Iron Works
Cyclone Steam Snowplow Co. v. Vulcan Iron Works
Opinion of the Court
Prom the record in this cause it appears that E. P. Caldwell was the inventor and patentee of a snowplow called the “Cyclone Steam Snowplow;” that a corporation by the name of the Cyclone Steam Snowplow Company was organized under the laws of the state of Minnesota for the purpose of manufacturing and selling plows under the Caldwell patent; that on the 27th of December, 1888, a contract in writing was entered into between said snowplow company and the Vulcan Iron Works, of Chicago, a corporation organized under the laws of the state of Illinois, whereby the latter company agreed to construct a rotary steam snowplow according to the model and data furnished by the snowplow company, it being further agreed that E. P. Caldwell, the patentee, was to represent the snowplow company in the preparation of plans and drawings and in the construction of the plow, for which the iron works company was to be paid the cost, with 10 per cent, added thereto. It was also agreed that the boiler, trucks, and such other parts of the machinery as might be needed to expedite the completion of the work, should be bought of other parties, and be fitted to their places in the plow by the iron works company, it being further agreed “that the said Vulcan Iron Works guaranty the workmanship and materials made up in their own shops, but do not guaranty boiler and other parts bought outside, nor the working of the machine as a whole.”
The iron works company proceeded with the construction of the plow under this contract, and had the same substantially completed on the 11th day of October, 1889, when the snowplow company brought an action of replevin in the United States circuit court in and for the northern district of Illinois against the iron works company, and thereby obtained possession of the plow, which was taken to California, and was subsequently sold to the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. In the affidavit filed in the replevin suit, and in the declaration therein filed, the value of the plow was stated to be $10,000, and a bond in the sum of $20,000 was given by the snowplow company, the statutes of Illinois providing that the plaintiff in the replevin action shall give a bond, with sureties, in a sum double the value of the property sought to be taken upon the writ in the case. On January 24, 1890, the action in replevin being called for trial; the snowplow company dismissed the same, and a judgment for the return of the property was entered in favor of the defendant in that action. The plow was not returned, and thereupon the iron works company commenced this action against the snowplow company and C. P. Jones, one of the sureties on the replevin bond, the same being brought in the United States circuit
It appears from the- evidence that the plow in question was the first one ever manufactured under the Caldwell patent. The Vulcan Iron Works Company did not hold itself out as a manufacturer of snowplows, and it cannot be held that it had agreed to manufacture a plow reasonably fit for the purpose it was intended to be applied to. In fact, the machine to be manufactured was an experimental plow. It is provided in the contract that the iron works company should prepare general and detailed drawings from the model and other data furnished by the snowplow company, the drawings to be approved by the latter company before the work was entered upon. It thus appears that the model and other necessary data were to be furnished by the snowplow 'company, based upon which the iron works company was to prepare the necessary drawings, and submit the same for the approval of the snowplow company. In view of these provisions in the contract, the guaranty therein contained cannot be extended beyond its express terms, for it was evidently placed in the contract so as to limit the liability of the iron works company. It reads as follows: “It is understood that' the said Vulcan Iron Works guaranty the workmanship and materials made up in their own shops, but do not guaranty boiler and other parts bought outside, nor the working.of the machine as a whole.” As the boiler was not made by the iron works company, that company did not guaranty'either the workmanship or materials therein found, and, if, according to the contention of plaintiff in error, the word “workmanship” is to be construed to cast upon the iron works company the duty of furnishing a boiler of capacity enough to meet the demands made upon it in the actual running of the plow, it could be as well claimed that the duty was cast upon the iron works company of furnishing engines of sufficient power to meet the demands upon them, and screws and fans of sufficient relative size, and thus, by mere inference, the iron works company would be held bound to furnish a ma
The next question arising upon the errors assigned, and the one mainly relied on by plaintiff in error, is based upon the ruling made by the trial court, to the effect that the defendants in that court were bound by the valuation placed upon the replevied property in the affidavit, writ, bond, and declaration filed in the replevin action. On behalf of plaintiffs in error it is contended that the statutes of Illinois do not require a plaintiff in replevin to affix a value to the property sought to be recovered, and that the statements found in the affidavit and declaration in the replevin action, as to the value of the property, are to ba deemed to be merely admissions, which are receivable in evidence, but do not estop the parties making the same from proving the property to be of less value than that stated in such affidavit and declaration, and in support of this contention counsel cite the cases of Wood v. May, 3 Cranch, C. C. 172; West v. Caldwell, 23 N. J. Law, 739; Peacock v. Haney, 37 N. J. Law, 181; Gibbs v. Bartlett, 2 Watts & S. 35; Muhling v. Ganeman,. 4 Baxt. 88; Briggs v. Wiswell, 56 N. H. 319; Wright v. Quirk, 105 Mass. 44.
On part of the defendant in error it is contended that in this jurisdiction this question is set at rest by the ruling of the supreme court of the United States in Ice Co. v. Webster, 125 U. S. 426, 8 Sup. Ct. Rep. 947; it being claimed that the supreme court, therein holds that a plaintiff in replevin and the sureties on the replevin bond are conclusively bound by the valuation put upon the property in the writ and bond. In that case the trial court refused to admit evidence, offered on behalf of the plaintiff in replevin and the sureties on the bond, tending to show that the property taken under the writ was less in value than the sum stated in the writ and bond, and the supreme court affirmed the action of the trial court. On part of the plaintiffs in error, it'is argued that, owing to the special facts involved in that cause, it cannot be held that the supreme court intended to declare broadly that under all circumstances a plaintiff in replevin and his sureties are concluded by the statement of the value of the property found in the writ and bond, and that, if the recital of value is to be deemed to be anything more than prima facie evidence, it should not be held to be conclusive in cases wherein it appears that the valuation was fixed by the plaintiff in replevin under a mistake of facts, whereby he was misled in estimating the value of the property sought to be replevied. There is certainly much to be said in support of the proposition that, if the valuation of property in replevin proceedings has been stated in the writ and bond under a mistake as to the actual condition of the property, it should not be held to .be conclusive, against the plaintiff in replevin and his
Furthermore,-in any view that may be taken of the force to be given to recitals of value in the writ or bond, as against the plaintiff in replevin and the sureties on the bond, we hold that, under the peculiar facts of this cause, the ruling of the trial court effectuated justice between the litigants. ■ It is an admitted fact that the plow was manufactured under the Caldwell patent, and was protected thereby. In determining its value at the time it was replevied, not only was its cost an element to be considered, but also the price to be paid to the patentee as a royalty or for a license for the right to use the machine would necessarily enter into the question of value, and the determination of the amount to be added to the cost of manufacture to cover this item was necessarily solely within the control of the snowplow company. Furthermore, when the plow was taken from the possession of the iron works company it was taken by the snowplow company to California, and used upon the lines of railway in that state, and after certain, changes and repairs had been
Reference
- Status
- Published