Barnett & Record Co. v. Fall

131 S.W. 644, 62 Tex. Civ. App. 391, 1910 Tex. App. LEXIS 233
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 22, 1910
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 131 S.W. 644 (Barnett & Record Co. v. Fall) 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
Barnett & Record Co. v. Fall, 131 S.W. 644, 62 Tex. Civ. App. 391, 1910 Tex. App. LEXIS 233 (Tex. Ct. App. 1910).

Opinion

PLEASANTS, Chief Justice.

In a suit brought by H. B. Fall against W. E. Fall in the District Court of Jefferson County to recover the sum of $4575, plaintiff sued out a writ of garnishment which was served upon the appellant herein on October 10, 1903. The answer of the garnishee, which was filed on December 7, 1903, admitted its indebtedness to the defendant, W. E. Fall, in the sum of $1575.19 under a contract between said Fall and appellant by which the former had agreed and undertaken to furnish appellant with all the piling required by appellant in carrying out a contract theretofore made by it for the construction of certain improvements for the Texas City Company, at Texas City, Galveston County, Texas.. The contract between appellant and W. E. Fall, and between appellant and the Texas City Company, are both set out in the answer. It is further averred that one, R. D. Chapman, was asserting a material man’s lien upon all of the piling theretofore received by appellant under its contract with said W. E. Fall to secure the sum of $3591.52 claimed to be due him by said W. E. Fall.

The garnishee prayed that Chapman and the Texas City Company “and all parties claiming any interest in said sum of $1575.19 be required to intervene in this cause and that the rights of all parties in and to said funds be settled in this suit.”

By an amendment .subsequently filed the garnishee admitted an indebtedness to W. E. Fall of $1871.64.

The Texas City Company and R. D. Chapman intervened and filed answers, but as the questions growing out of the Chapman claim were eliminated by agreement during the progress of the trial it is unnecessary to disclose the nature of these answers.

On September 25, 1905, H. B. Fall filed his controverting affidavit to garnishee’s answer, in which he states that W. E. Fall had, on or prior to the 10th of October, 1903, the day upon which the writ of garnishment was served, delivered to garnishee by delivery to and acceptance by its *394 duly authorized agent for that purpose, towit, the International Creosoting & Construction Company, certain enumerated pieces of piling of the approximate value under the contract of $4000. That in addition to the material delivered to the creosoting works, garnishee had in its possession at Texas City certain other piling which had been shipped to it which had not been stopped over at the creosoting works and for which garnishee did not account in its answer, and for which W. E. Fall was entitled to credit and payment at the time said garnishment was served.

On February 17, 1909, appellee filed an amended controverting affidavit in which it is alleged, in substance, that in addition to the sum admitted by the garnishee to be due the defendant W. E. Fall it was further indebted to the said Fall in the sum of $750 for piling received by it at Texas City prior to the service of the writ of garnishment, under its contract with said Fall; and the further sum of $4000 due for piling delivered by Fall under said contract to appellant’s agent, the International Creosoting Company at Beaumont, Texas, prior to the service of the writ of garnishment.

It is further alleged that the contract between W. E. Fall and appellant was not a contract for delivery at Texas City, but, if affiant is mistaken in this, then that said contract as originally made was changed and modified by agreement and the acts of the parties so as to provide that delivery to the Creosoting Company at Beaumont should be considered delivery to the garnishee and render it liable to W. E. Fall for the value of said piling.

The last paragraph of this affidavit is as -follows: “Plaintiff is informed and believes that garnishee failed to answer for the $4000 worth of piling described in paragraph 2 above, and the $750 worth described in paragraph 3, upon the theory that the same was transferred by W. E. Fall to W. H. Lloyd, Jr., before it was delivered at Texas City, Texas. In this regard plaintiff shows to the court that if there was any such conveyance or transfer, same was made by W. E. Fall when insolvent for the purpose of delaying, hindering and defrauding this plaintiff in the collection of his debt as herein set out, and was without consideration, and that this purpose and intent was shared by W. H. Lloyd, Jr., and the garnishee which participated with the other parties in planning and executing such fraudulent scheme, and had actual and constructive notice thereof and of the fact that same conferred no title on Lloyd to the property as against this plaintiff, and consequently Lloyd conferred none upon the garnishee, and that said property, if it was not in the actual possession of the garnishee at the date of the service of the writ of garnishment, thereafterwards came into the possession of the garnishee prior to the time of the filing of its answer and should have been answered for by it, and, the same having been converted by the garnishee, it should be held for the reasonable -market value thereof.

“Wherefore, from the matters and facts above set out, it appears that said garnishee was indebted to W. E. Fall at the time of the filing of its answer in garnishment, and consequently by the service of said writ of *395 garnishment became obligated and liable to this plaintiff in the following sums, towit:

Piling unaccounted for..................$4750.00

Amount admitted due................... 1871.64

$6681.64

"Wherefore, affiant prays that he be given judgment against the garnishee, Barnett & Record- Company, for his debt against W. E. Fall, together with interest and costs of court, and for all other relief, both general and special, legal or equitable.”

The cause was tried in the court below on May 89, 1909, without a jury, and judgment was rendered in favor of appellee for the sum of $4348.83.

We deduce from the record the following conclusions of fact: The contract hy which W. E. Fall undertook to furnish piling for the work being carried on by the appellant for the Texas City Company under a-contract with said company, had its inception in the following letter written by W. E. Fall to C. L. Crandall, who was at that time superintendent of the Texas City Company and in charge of the improvements being made for said company by the appellant and was also the duly authorized agent of appellant for the purchase of material to be used in the construction of said improvements:

"Dear Sir:—I will furnish, as wanted by you, the following loblolly piling, f. o. b. the cars at Texas City; the prices named to include R. R. charges, i. e., freight and stop-over at Beaumont for purpose of creosoting as per weights noted opposite each item. Charges of creosoting to be paid by you. Prices are expressed in cents per linear foot. All piling to be not less than 8-inch top unless otherwise specified.” Then follows a list of piling with prices.

This offer was accepted by appellant, and a considerable quantity of piling had been received by it at Texas City under said contract prior to the service of the writ of garnishment. A large portion of the piling purchased under this contract had to be treated with creosote, and for that purpose was stopped in transit- at the plant of the International Creosoting Company at Beaumont, Texas. W. E. Fall purchased the piling in controversy from R. D.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
131 S.W. 644, 62 Tex. Civ. App. 391, 1910 Tex. App. LEXIS 233, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barnett-record-co-v-fall-texapp-1910.