Ames Portable Silo & Lumber Co. v. Gill

190 S.W. 1130, 1916 Tex. App. LEXIS 1239
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 27, 1916
DocketNo. 1077.
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 190 S.W. 1130 (Ames Portable Silo & Lumber Co. v. Gill) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ames Portable Silo & Lumber Co. v. Gill, 190 S.W. 1130, 1916 Tex. App. LEXIS 1239 (Tex. Ct. App. 1916).

Opinion

HALL, J.

Plaintiff in error sued defendant in error for the purchase price of a silo, alleged to have been sold and delivered upon the written order of defendant in error, dated August 31, 1914, the material provisions of which are as follows: The entire purchase price is .$663, f. o. b. Beaumont, Tex., shipment to be made to defendant in error at Groom, Tex. It was provided that $200 should be paid 30 days after the arrival of the silo at Groom, the balance to be evidenced by two promissory notes; that the bill of lading should be sent to the First State Bank of Groom, where settlement would be made by execution of the notes provided for and a failure on the part of the purchaser to make such settlement within 10 days to mature the entire purchase price at the option of plaintiff. The order, among other provisions, contained the following:

“Contract. It is understood that this order contains the entire contract between the undersigned purchaser and the Ames Portable Silo & Lumber Company, and that either party hereto shall not be bound by any agreement not contained herein.
“Guarantee. The Ames Portable Silo & Lumber Company guarantees the Ames portable silo to be well made, of good material, to be shipped knocked down in such parts as to form a complete structure when properly assembled and erected according to plans furnished by the company for same, and agrees that if any piece or part is found defective and unsuitable to enter the structure when received by purchaser, the company will furnish free to purchaser such parts as are necessary to replace the same within a reasonable time after receipt of proper notice in writing from the purchaser, notice to be given within ten days after delivery of the silo.”

Plaintiff in error alleges that the silo was shipped to Groom and notes sent as provided by contract, but that defendant, without the knowledge or consent of plaintiff, secured the silo and hauled it away .without having executed the notes; the recovery asked being for the amount represented by the notes, and in the alternative, for the purchase price of the silo and interest.

*1131 The answer of the defendant is in substance as follows: That plaintiff’s agents, Hooper & Roach, of Groom, offered to sell the silo to him, making certain representations as to the quality and properties of the silo, stating to him that if he would execute the notes for the purchase price plaintiff would make good all representations, that defendant refused to enter into such contract on such representations, but advised the agents that the representations would have to be reduced to writing and that such guaranty must contain the following:

“That such written guaranty should warrant that such silo would be sáfe and durable for at least five years; that it would not fall down, buckle in, warp, or lean; that it would be air tight, and that it would keep, save, and preserve ensilage properly and in good condition so as to conserve and develop the greatest feed value out of such ensilage placed into the same; and that in case said silo for any reason should fail to meet the terms of such guaranty, then that said trade should be rescinded and defendant’s notes returned to him, together with any moneys paid thereon.”

Defendant further alleged that plaintiff agreed to furnish such writing before defendant would be required to execute any notes or pay any money and before any contract would be binding on the parties; that such agents represented that the order was a Aere formal matter necessary to get the proposition before plaintiff; that the train upon which the agent wanted to send the order to plaintiff, was about due and that such agent said that he wanted to get off on said train; that defendant did not read or know the contents of the order, but relied upon the representations of the agent; and the agreement that said contract between the parties would be embodied in another and different writing thereafter to be executed by plaintiff, and if sufficient accepted by defendant. Then follow allegations that said representations were untrue, and were made for the purpose of inducing this defendant to execute said written order for the purchase of said silo; that defendant was inexperienced and wholly uninformed as to the sufficiency, character, workmanship, construction, or material in said silo, or what was required in a silo of proper construction, and plaintiff well knew that defendant relied upon such representations of plaintiff, and its assurance that the matter of signing the printed order was merely a matter of form and of plaintiff’s agreement later to deliver him a contract covering said agreement made between the parties and embodying plaintiff’s guaranties and warranties of said silo; and that defendant would not have executed such order blank then executed but for his reliance upon plaintiff’s assurance that the same was merely a matter of form, and that the said contract and agreement of the parties would be later embodied in a written contract to be executed and delivered by plaintiff.

' Defendant further says: That when the silo reached Groom no warranty accompanied it. That he called upon plaintiff's general manager, Hume, who told him to take the silo out and that the guaranty would be furnished him. That defendant demanded performance of said contract from plaintiff, and that it failed to comply therewith until October 20, 1914, when it delivered to him, through its agent, Mr. Hooper, the following written guaranty:

“We, the Ames Portable Silo & Lumber Company, guarantee one Ames portable silo, sold to R. E. Gill of Groom, Texas, August 31, 1914, for a period of five years from the date of the above-mentioned order, not to fall down, go to stave, or buckle in, and to make and keep good ensilage when the silo is properly filled and taken care of.
“Dated October 20, 1914.”

That this writing did not contain all the representations made by plaintiff and was not accepted by defendant as a full compliance with plaintiff’s part of the contract. That the silo was filled during the first of October, and that about the 12th of November, plaintiff, on examining it, found that a large portion of the ensilage was spoiled and worthless. That thereupon he notified plaintiff of such fact, advised it that he would not pay any money or execute any notes, tendered it the silo, and demanded rescission of the contract and return to him of his freight money. Then follows a counterclaim against plaintiff for $535.82, alleging that the silo was worthless and praying that the contract be canceled and held for naught.

Plaintiff in error’s second assignment of error is that the court erred in refusing the following special charge:

“You are further chained in reference to defendant’s defense to plaintiff’s action for the purchase price of the silo (not in reference to its cross-action) that if you find that the silo was guaranteed as alleged by defendant, and that said guaranty was breached by plaintiff, and you further find that the silo delivered was of any value, then you will not allow the defendant an abatement of the entire purchase price of the silo, but you will allow him an abatement thereon of such sum as you find is the difference between the value of the silo delivered and the value of such silo as the same was guaranteed to be.”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
190 S.W. 1130, 1916 Tex. App. LEXIS 1239, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ames-portable-silo-lumber-co-v-gill-texapp-1916.