Alex Hutchinson & Son v. Riggs-Terrell Lumber Co.

70 So. 324, 138 La. 355, 1915 La. LEXIS 1868
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedNovember 29, 1915
DocketNo. 21547
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 70 So. 324 (Alex Hutchinson & Son v. Riggs-Terrell Lumber Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alex Hutchinson & Son v. Riggs-Terrell Lumber Co., 70 So. 324, 138 La. 355, 1915 La. LEXIS 1868 (La. 1915).

Opinion

SOMMERVILLE, J.

Plaintiffs are holders of a note and mortgage in the sum of $1,200, issued to them by Harold J. H. Richards, in settlement of an account for supplies furnished to him, and bearing upon the property of said Richards 'in the town of Corbin, parish of Livingston. They are suing to enjoin the sale of that property under executory process sued out by the defendant the Riggs-Terrell Lumber Company, holder of the first mortgage or vendor’s lien, for $2,700, reduced to $284, for which smaller amount the writ was issued. They also sue defendant for the cancellation of this first, and a second, mortgage, held by it, the latter for the sum of $10,000, on the ground that the two notes secured by said first and second mortgages have been fully discharged, paid, extinguished, and compensated.

It was admitted on the trial that there was a balance of $284 due on the vendor’s lien note, which was secured by the first mortgage of $2,700; and the court so found in the judgment appealed from, but the writ 'of injunction to restrain the sale of the property was maintained. This was error. The injunction should have been dissolved, at the cost of plaintiffs.

There was further judgment decreeing that the $10,000 note and mortgage referred to, and which was second in rank, had been fully paid, satisfied, and discharged; and the inscription of the same in the mortgage office was ordered canceled and erased, in so far as it affected the rights of the plaintiffs herein.

Defendant the Riggs-Terrell Lumber Company has appealed.

Defendant filed a plea to the jurisdiction of the court, but that was not urged in the district court, and it is not urged in this court.

The record discloses that October 21, 1912, [357]*357Harold J. Richards, the owner of the property involved in this suit, was operating a sawmill on the property, and that he entered into a contract with the Riggs-Terrell Lumber Company, by which he sold to the Riggs Company all of the lumber manufae-' tured in his mill at Corbin, in which act of sale it was stipulated he was to receive 75 per cent, of the purchase price when the lumber was stacked upon the ground, and the balance when the lumber was shipped out.’ Richards required sums in excess of the 75 per cent., and on December 9, 1912, he executed a mortgage to the Riggs Company-in the sum of $10,000, to secure the Riggs Company in any sum which might be due under the , contract of sale, when the same would have terminated.

[1] This is the mortgage which is second in rank, and which plaintiffs ask to have canceled from the records.

December 20, 1913, Richards executed a mortgage in favor of Hutchinson & Son, plaintiffs, in the sum of $1,200, for supplies furnished by said plaintiffs. That mortgage is the third in rank which bears on the property.

In September, 1914, the Riggs Company, having acquired the vendor’s lien note of $2,700, foreclosed upon the mill property, and caused it to be seized and advertised for sale to satisfy the balance due on said vendor’s note of $284, with interest and attorney’s fees. It has been seen that the balance of $284 is admitted to be due on said note and mortgage, or vendor’s lien, and further consideration thereof passes out of the case. The writ under executory process was properly issued for said balance.

Plaintiffs allege in their petition, with reference to the note and mortgage of $10,000 held by the defendant, and bearing upon the property of Richards, that it had been paid and extinguished as a result of the operations under the lumber contract entered into between Richards and defendant.

The lumber contract, of date October 21, 1912, between Richards and defendant, was for one year, and for such extension as might be agreed upon; and it was therein stipulated that the Riggs Company was to buy the full output of the mill at prices fixed therein for different grades.

[2] Plaintiffs objected to evidence going to show that this note and mortgage for $10,-000 were. collateral security. But the evidence was properly admitted, over the objection. Civil Code, art. 1900; Pickersgill v. Brown, 7 La. Ann. 297; D’Meza v. Generes, 22 La. Ann. 285; Morris v. Cain, 39 La. Ann. 712, 1 South. 797, 2 South. 418; Sere v. Darby, 118 La. 619, 43 South. 255.

In support of the allegation of the payment of the said $10,000 n'ote by Richards, plaintiffs offered in evidence a statement of account, made by defendant between itself and H. J. Richards, of date May 31, 1914, showing that Richards owed the Riggs Company $37,822.70; also an estimate of lumber on the yards of Richards, of date June 5, 1914, about the time Richards ceased to operate his sawmill, aggregating 2,060,765 feet of lumber, valued at $38,540.36, whicli lumber was to be loaded- 'out by Richards; and a written acknowledgment of sale of said lumber by Richards to defendant, of date June 5, 1914.

Plaintiffs then argue that the account between Richards and defendant has been fully settled, leaving a balance due Richards; • and it demands the cancellation of the $10,000 note and mortgage given by Richards to the Riggs Company to secure any indebtedness which might be due by Richards to defendant.

But, while the sale of lumber just referred to was a settlement of the account between the parties thereto, up to June 5, 1914, it does not purport to be a full settlement or [359]*359statement between the parties. On the contrary, it is recited by Richards in said act of sale that “this is a supplement” to the original contract for the sale of lumber entered into between him and the Riggs Company. And it is further recited in this supplemental contract that Richards agrees and obligates himself to—

“load the same [lumber] upon the cars for the Riggs-Terrell Lumber Company whenever it is desired to ship same — all as is provided for in the contract of sale of which this is a supplement.”

Reference to the original contract between the parties, of date October 21, 1912, shows that, among the stipulations therein, it was agreed that the lumber was to be graded and stacked on the yards of Richards, and shipped out by him, subject to inspection—

“at time of shipment, and under the rules of the National Hardwood Association, and to he mutual as. is customary under such contracts.”

Further:

“All lumber [was to be] shipped as fast as possible, and to be moved within an average time of four months from the date piled, or such lumber as is not shipped within this time to he paid for in full, less a deduction of one dollar per thousand feet to cover the costs of loading on cars, and the two per cent, cash discount that is customary.”

And again:

“All lumber stacked in yards shall lie there at the risk of party of the second part, and shall be loaded on cars at expense of the party of the first part, and as directed by representatives of the party of the second part.”
“At the expiration of this contract when the last payment is due to he made, the party of the first part agrees to allow the party of the second part to hold out of said payment, sufficient amount to insure the expense of loading what lumber is shipped, the amount deducted is due and payable to the party of the first part.”

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Related

Gonsoulin v. Sparrow
90 So. 528 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1921)

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Bluebook (online)
70 So. 324, 138 La. 355, 1915 La. LEXIS 1868, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alex-hutchinson-son-v-riggs-terrell-lumber-co-la-1915.