Hunt v. Martin
Hunt v. Martin
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
From the contract, under which the wood in question was delivered, it appears that the quantity to be delivered, except as limited by a minimum and maximum, is not expressed ; — that the time of delivery, is all the time between the date of the contract and the first day of July after, —and the place of delivery, on Gibbs & Byram’s dock; and the kind and quality of the wood is expressed in the same general terms. The question is, whether there was such a delivery of the wood that was carried off by the flood, as to vest the property in the defendants, and entitle the plaintiff to recover the pay for it ? If the plaintiff has done every thing agreeably to the terms of the contract, there can be no doubt of this, unless the parties have, in some way, varied or enlarged the contract, subsequent to its inception ; and this is not shown to have been done, so far as the simple fact of a delivery is concerned.
It appears from the auditors’ report, that the place of delivery was varied, by mutual consent of the parties, as to a part of the, wood. This is different from a contract to de
The defendants, to some degree, assented to what was done. One of them was present when some of the wood was delivered, and assented to the place of depositing it.
The case of Zagury v. Furnell et al. 2 Camp. 240, is cited by defendants to sustajn their objection, for want of a delivery. The governing principles in the two cases, are not similar. The question of delivery is a question of fact, and must,'of necessity, be governed, in a great measure, by the nature of the transaction, and the nature and circumstances of the property to be delivered. This wood, by the written contract, was to be delivered on Gibbs & Byram’s dock ; but the parties, afterwards, varied this part of the contract, by parol. In other respects, it is evident they intended to be governed by the written contract; and the auditors have found the fact, that the wood was delivered according to that contract.
In the case of the goat skins, in the case referred to, there was no delivery, and nothing that the parties talked about as a delivery. They talked about a sale of the skins ; but the case finds that the usage of trade was to count them over, and the duty of the seller to do so, to see whether the bales contained the number specified in the contract; and before any of the skins had been counted, the whole were destroyed by fire, at the wharf where they lay, at the time of the sale. The buyer had never received them. They had not been moved, after the sale, and were not placed where they were, by any consent or' agreement of the buyer; nor was
The plaintiff applied to the defendants to measure the wood, and they told him that Boardman would measure it; and he called upon Boardman, a number of times, but he neglected to do it, till after the wood was carried off.
We, therefore, think that the plaintiff had done all that he could do, and all he was bound to do, to fulfil his contract.
The judgment of the county court is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Hiram K. Hunt v. Thurman & Martin
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published