Livingston v. Gamble-Robinson Commission Co.
Livingston v. Gamble-Robinson Commission Co.
Opinion of the Court
Action to recover possession of 333 shares of the capital stock of the International Casualty Company, held by the sheriff of Spokane county under a writ of attachment against the property of Thomas Stevenson, issued in an action brought by appellant company against Stevenson et al. The court below sustained the claim of respondent to the ownership of the stock, and the commission company appeals.
Respondent’s claim is based upon her contention '.that she purchased the stock from Stevenson prior to its attachment, paying full cash value therefor. To sustain her claim she testifies that, about a year prior to the time of her purchase, her father made her a gift of $1,000, in bills of various denominations, and that she carried this money continually on her person; that about seven months previous to the trial, she first met Stevenson; that at the time she was living with her parents, but cannot remember where, except that it was at one or the other of two hotels at Spokane; that she was then working attending the cigar stand at the Victoria hotel, at Spokane, for which she received twelve dollars a week; that about August 1 she went to Wenatchee with Stevenson, and entered his employ as a bookkeeper; that during all this time her father, who was at Toronto, was in the habit of writing her about twice a week, and that in about every letter he would inclose a bill which she added to the amount on her person, until she had accumulated, at the time of the purchase of the stock, $2,300, which was the amount paid Stevenson on various days from October 2 to October 21. She does not remember how often the father sent this money or how much he sent at a time, except she recalls one instance when he sent a $100 bill and another
At the time she was negotiating for the purchase of this stock, Stevenson was defendant in an action in the superior court of Spokane county, which ripened into judgment against him for $913 on October 28. The appellant company was also seeking to obtain an adjustment of its claim against him. He was apparently anxious to dispose of this stock, but would consider only cash offers. The stock at the time was held as collateral to his note. He made arrangements with the holder of the note to accept some real estate in payment of the note, and the stock being thus released, directed its transfer to the respondent. As soon as the transfer was made, respondent and Stevenson both left Spokane for British Columbia.
There are many sidelights on this story of respondent’s that give it an appearance of untruth. We cannot refer to all of them. It is evident the relation between respondent and Stevenson was a very friendly one. After the return from Wenatchee, her apartments seem to have been his business headquarters, and she seems not to have been disturbed, or thought it strange, that inquiries should be made for him at her apartments as early as nine o’clock in the morning. Respondent seems to have had a very bad memory of everything except the fact that her father was continually sending her this money. She cannot remember the places in which she lived at various times while she was receiving this money; and when she does remember, her memory sometimes proves faulty. For instance, she testifies she received
In fact, without saying more, the whole story of these various transactions is so improbable that we are not impressed with its truth, and the judgment is reversed.
Ckow, C. J., Main, and Ellis, JJ., concur.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.