Allen-Morrow Co. v. Liquid Carbonic Co.

27 S.W.2d 132, 1930 Tex. App. LEXIS 1501
CourtTexas Commission of Appeals
DecidedApril 30, 1930
DocketNo. 1354—5492
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 27 S.W.2d 132 (Allen-Morrow Co. v. Liquid Carbonic Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Texas Commission of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Allen-Morrow Co. v. Liquid Carbonic Co., 27 S.W.2d 132, 1930 Tex. App. LEXIS 1501 (Tex. Super. Ct. 1930).

Opinion

SHARP, J.

P. C. Allen and C. B. Morrow, Jr., copartners, doing business under the trade name of Alien-Morrow Company, instituted this suit in the district court of McLennan county, against the Liquid Carbonic Company of Texas, and, among other things, alleged substantially that plaintiffs entered into a verbal rental contract with defendants for a building located in Waco, which building was formerly occupied by the Yancey Drug Store, and for which the defendants agreed to pay the sum of $125 per month, which was a reasonable rental value of said building; that under the contract defendants used the building from December 28, 1927, up to and including the -day of May, 1928; that the defendants used the building for the purpose of keeping stored therein a certain soda fountain, fixtures, etc. In the alternative, plaintiffs alleged that if they should be mistaken with reference to the contract aforesaid that plaintiffs alleged they stored, for account of defendants during said time, the soda fountain and fixtures and that defendant promised and agreed to pay plaintiffs for storing said soda, fountain, etc., in the building above described, the sum of $125 per month and that the defendants owe plaintiffs for four months storage thereof at the rate of $125 per month; that the soda fountain and fixtures remained in the building for four months, after which time plaintiffs had same removed and stored upon the account of Liquid Carbonic Company; that plaintiffs were in the automobile storage business and were renting said building temporarily until they were compelled to use the building for their own business.

The defendants answered with a general demurrer, special exceptions, general denial, etc., and further sought by way of cross-action to recover of and from the plaintiffs the possession of the soda fountain property which was held by them. A trial was had before the court without a jury, and the court rendered a judgment in favor of plaintiffs for $220 with a foreclosure of their lien upon the soda fountain and fixtures.

The plaintiffs filed a remittitur of $20 on the amount of the judgment and the Hen foreclosed by the trial court upon the soda fountain and fixtures. The Liquid Carbonic Company appealed the case to the Court of Civil Appeals for the Tenth Supreme Judicial District and that court held that the plaintiffs in the trial court were not entitled -to recover either rental or storage from the defendants, and reversed and rendered the judgment in favor of the defendants. 15 S.W.(2d) 1089. Alien-Morrow Company applied to the Supreme Court for writ of error, which was granted.

The trial court, at the request of the defendants, filed findings of fact and conclusions of law. Those parts of the court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law material to a disposition of this case are copied herein and set out as follows:

“Alien-Morrow Company, plaintiff, is a firm composed of P. ,C. Allen and C. B. Morrow, Jr., who are the owners of a building located at 110 Washington Street, in the City of Waco, Texas. Prior to the 26th day of November 1927, Alien-Morrow Company leased the premises to Yancey Drug Store, a corporation, at a rental of $100.00 per month, and upon that date, it • was duly adjudged a bankrupt by the United States District Court, for the Western District of Texas, at Waco; that prior to the filing of its schedules in bankruptcy, the Yancey Drug Store had [133]*133purchased from The Liquid Carbonic Company of Texas, the following described property: (Here follows a description of the soda fountain, fixtures, etc.)
“And as a part of the purchase price for said property it executed to The Liquid Carbonic Company two notes, payable in installments, dated October 21st, 1926, and at the time the Yancey Drug Store filed its schedules in bankruptcy, it was indebted to The Liquid Carbonic Company of Texas by reason of said transaction in the sum of approximately $1300.00, which was secured by a valid and subsisting mortgage upon the property above described,
“At the first meeting of creditors in the bankruptcy proceedings of the Yancey Drug Store, Tom Conway was duly appointed Trustee of said bankrupt corporation, and an order was made by the Referee in Bankruptcy, directing the Trustee to sell the property, of the Yancey Drug Store, including the above described. property, free of liens, ■ and said sale was duly advertised to be had in the building at 110 Washington Street, on the 2Sth day of December 1927, that at the sale, The Liquid Carbonic Company of Texas was represented by George L McGee, who was duly authorized to do each and every act in b.ehalf of said company, as hereinafter set forth ; that prior to the time of the sale, The Liquid Carbonic Company has presented to T. F. Bryan, Referee, in Bankruptcy, a claim which, by reason of certain defects he returned to it for correction, but that the Trustee agreed with McGee at the time of the sale that the claim.would be duly prepared and filed with the Referee.
“Tom Conway was the duly qualified and acting Trustee of the Yancey Drug Store, and was acting under legal orders of the Referee at the time of making the sale, and the sale ■was duly advertised to be made on the 28th day of December 1927, at public outcry to the highest and best bidder; that the said George I. McGee bid the sum of $1200.00 to be credited upon the secured claim of the Liquid Carbonic Company of Texas for the above described property, and further agreed to pay its proportionate part' of the court costs incident to the sale, and this being the highest and best bid for said property, it was accepted by the Trustee, with the understanding that The Liquid Carbonic Company of Texas would deposit with him its proportionate part of the cost incident to making the sale, at which time the property was to be transferred to it by proper bill of sale; that the Trustee estimated its part of said cost to be the sum of $170.00 and so notified The Liquid Carbonic Company of Texas.
“At the time of making said sale, the Trustee in Bankruptcy notified Mr. McGee, as well as the other purchasers of the property for sale, that the estate had no funds with which to take care of the rents on the building after, the 28th day of December 1927, and that if the properties remained in the building that they would have to make arrangements with the owner of it for such charges as would accrue after that date, to which Mr. McGee, representing The Liquid Carbonic Company of Texas, assented; that immediately thereafter, Mr. McGee and Mr. Allen and Mr. Morrow had the following agreement: That if the property was removed from the building within one week, there would be no charges, but that if it remained there longer than that ■time, The Liquid Carbonic Company of Texas, would pay the rental at the same rate as had been paid by the Yancey Drug Store. On the 29th day of December a representative of The Liquid Carbonic Company of Texas made demand upon Alien-Morrow' Company for the property hereinabove described, but at that time they had not complied with their agreement with the Trustee to deposit with him their pro rata part of the costs incident to the sale, nor had the Trustee transferred the property to it, and acting under the instructions of the Trustee, possession of the property was refused it by the Alien-Morrow Company.”

Upon the request of the defendants the trial court made additional findings of fact, as follows:

“I.further find that at the time of the Trustee’s sale of the soda fountain and fixtures on December 28th A. D.

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Bluebook (online)
27 S.W.2d 132, 1930 Tex. App. LEXIS 1501, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/allen-morrow-co-v-liquid-carbonic-co-texcommnapp-1930.