Bank of Iowa & Dakota v. Price

80 N.W. 195, 12 S.D. 184, 1899 S.D. LEXIS 102
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 2, 1899
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 80 N.W. 195 (Bank of Iowa & Dakota v. Price) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bank of Iowa & Dakota v. Price, 80 N.W. 195, 12 S.D. 184, 1899 S.D. LEXIS 102 (S.D. 1899).

Opinion

Corson, P. J.

This is an action commenced by the plaintiffs, as co-partners doing business under the firm name and style of the Bank of Iowa & Dakota, against John Oliver and M. M. Price, as defendants, to foreclose a chattel mortgage given by the said Price to one C. D. Tidrick. In the month of March, 1895, the defendant M. M. Price contracted with the said C. D. Tidrick for 840 head of sheep. Tidrick, to fill his contract with Price, purchased of defendant Oliver 670 head of sheep, and of another man 170 sheep. These "840 sheep Tidrick delivered to Price, taking Price’s notes to the amount of $3,050, secured by a chattel mortgage on all the said sheep. In settling with Oliver for the 670 sheep purchased of him, Tidrick assigned to Oliver three of the Price notes, amounting to $2,325. The balance of the Price notes were assigned by Tidrick to the plaintiffs in this action. Oliver answered the complaint of the plaintiffs, and also filed a cross bill against the defendant Price, in which he also sought to foreclose the mortgage for the amount of the notes due him, and also to recover of Price the expense of feeding, taking care of, and attending to the said fiock of sheep for two years or more. The case was tried by the court without a jury, and findings of fact and judgment were entered in favor of the plaintiffs and said defendant Oliver, and from this judgment the defendant Price has appealed to this court.

[186]*186Respondent Oliver, in his brief, called the attention of this court to the fact that appellant’s abstract fails to show that any notice of motion for a new trial was ever served, that said motion was ever made or argued, or that any order denying said motion was ever made, filed or entered in such action, and moves this court to disregard the evidence contained in the abstract. The appellant thereupon applied to this court for leave to amend his abstract, but as it affirmatively appeared from the papers upon which the application was made that the order denying the motion for a new trial had not been entered at the timo the appeal was taken, this court denied the motion. The opinion upon this application is reported in 78 N. W. 1002. The question as to the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the findings is therefore eliminated from this appeal, and will not be considered by this court. Gade v. Collins, 8 S. D. 322, 66 N. W. 466; Bourne v. Johnson; 10 S. D. 36, 71 N. W. 140; Parrish v. Mahany, 10 S. D. 276, 73 N. W. 97. The only question, therefore, to be considered, is as to whether or not the judgment is supported by the findings.

It is assigned as error that the court erred in not making any finding upon the counterclaim of the defendant Price. It appears from the nineteenth finding of fact that the court found that the defendant Oliver was guilty of negligence in feeding, caring for, and attending to said flock of sheep from the 6th of April, 1895, to the 1st of February, 1896, and as a result of such negligence the said flock of sheep was damaged, in losses of increase, losses of sheep, and deterioration of the flock, in the sum of $850; and this sum is deducted from the amount due Oliver from Price in the judgment. The court further finds that from the 1st of February, 1896, to the time [187]*187the sheep were sold, on the 7th of February, 1898, the defendant Oliver was not guilty of any negligence in feeding, caring for, and attending to the said flock of sheep. It will thus be seen that the court finds a part of the damage claimed by said Price, and such finding is equivalent to a finding that that was all the damage sustained by him. The contention of the appellant, therefore, that the court erred in not making any finding upon the counterclaim of the defendant Price, is not tenable.

It is further assigned as error on the part of the appellant that the court erred in finding as a conclusion of law that the defendant Oliver is entitled to a personal judgment against the defendant Price for the sum of $1,000 for feeding,- caring for, and attending the said flock of sheep from February 1, 1896, to December 30, 1897. It is contended by the appellant that as Oliver retained these sheep in his possession without the express consent of Price, and in violation of the decree or judgment of the court, that said sheep should be returned to said Price, he cannot legally be entitled to any remuneration for the keep and care of them, during the time lie so held them, and for which the court allowed him the sum of $1,000. In order to a more full understanding of appellant’s contention, it will be necessary to give such of the findings of the court as relate to this subject: “(9) On the 6th day of April, 1895, said Oliver took possession of the property mentioned in said chattel mortgage, for the purpose of foreclosure, and, upon the application and at the instigation of the defendant Price, the proceedings of Oliver to foreclose said mortgage was had by action in court, which upon the trial thereof resulted in findings of fact and conclusions of law de[188]*188ciding, in .substance, that Oliver had no right to the possession of the property, or right to foreclose the mortgage, and that. Price was entitled to the possession of the sheep; upon which findings of fact and conclusions of law a judgment and decree was rendered on the 16th day of October, 1897, in substance as follows: That at the time of taking the property the said Oliver had no lawful right or authority to take possession of the same for the purpose of foreclosing the mortgage, or for any other purpose, and that the defendant Price was entitled to recover the possession of the property or its value. (10) Neither the findings of fact nor conclusions of law or judgment last-above mentioned, or notice thereof, was ever served upon said Oliver, and no execution has ever been issued on said judgment. (11) On January 18, 1896, the following notice was deposited in the post office by Oliver, with postage thereon prepaid, directed to the defendant M. M. Price, at Letcher, South Dakota, to-wit: ‘Chamberlain, S. D., Jan. 18th, 1896. Col. M. M. Price, Letcher, S. D. — Dear Sir: I have to-day learned from my attorneys that the sheep I took under the mortgage given by you to C. D. Tidrick, and assigned to me, are awarded to your possession by the decision of the court in the foreclosure suit. I therefore notify you that I am ready at any time to turn the sheep over to your possession in compliance with the decision of the court, and that 1 now hold the sheep subject to your order. Yours respectfully, John Oliver. ’ And defendant Price, in due course of mail, on January 20, 1896, received the said notice; (12) The defendant Price, upon receiving said notice last above mentioned, took no action whatever with reference to the said mortgaged property, but allowed it to remain in the possession of Oliver ever since, without indicating in any [189]*189manner that he would accept possession of the same, and made no orders or directions concerning the same; that ten days was a reasonable time in which Price should have accepted pos session of said sheep, or otherwise taken action concerning the possession and keeping of said property.” “(14) The said mortgaged property has been in the possession, care, custody, and control of the defendant Oliver from the 6th day of April, 1895, until the 7th day of Feburuary, 1898.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Pitts v. Oliver
83 N.W. 591 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 1900)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
80 N.W. 195, 12 S.D. 184, 1899 S.D. LEXIS 102, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bank-of-iowa-dakota-v-price-sd-1899.