Beit Bros. v. Irving Tanning Co.

53 N.E.2d 702, 315 Mass. 561, 1944 Mass. LEXIS 637
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court·Decided February 29, 1944·Published·Cited by 17 cases

Opinion

Wilkins, J.

This is an action of contract arising out of the nonacceptance of a carload of hides. There was a verdict for the plaintiff, and the only question presented is the correctness of the refusal of the trial judge to direct a verdict for the defendant.

The following facts were not in question: On December 14, 1939, by a written contract entered into through one Isaacson, a hide broker representing both parties, the plaintiff agreed to sell, and the defendant agreed to buy, “One carload, estimated about 8/900 allweight hides. . . . All-weights, average, estimated about 44/45 lbs., all new standard trimmed, and all fresh current receipts.” “About 8/900” meant about eight to nine hundred. “All new standard trimmed” called for hides with the ears, snouts, and tails removed. “All fresh current receipts” referred to fresh hides. The price was “ 13ji per lb. flat for the Number ones and twos, any Number threes or Bulls, one third less.” Shipment was to be “after Jan. 1st, 1940, to The Irving Tanning Co., Hartland, Maine,” and the terms were “Invoice, Order Bill of Lading attached to Sight Draft, drawn on The Irving Tanning Co., through the Warren National Bank, at Peabody, Mass.” Isaacson, according to trade practice, was to receive a commission, in this instance one per cent of the total invoice, from the seller, and also a commission, in this case seven cents per hide, from the buyer, for receiving, which included seeing that the skins were banked overnight to secure dry weight and being present when they were shaken free of salt, weighed, and loaded in the freight car. On January 16, 1940, the plaintiff shipped from Norwich, Connecticut, to Hartland, Maine, a carload consisting of seven hundred thirty-four trimmed and two hundred seventeen untrimmed hides. The bill of lading was filled out “Consigned to order of Beit Bros. Inc. Destination Hartland . . . Notify Irving Tanning Co.” and had attached to it the original invoice and a [563] sight draft dated January 8, 1940, drawn on the defendant in the sum of $5,559.40. These were forwarded through a Norwich bank to the defendant’s bank in Peabody. A copy of the original invoice dated January 6 was sent to and received by the defendant’s office in Boston. This showed in some detail the number, weight, description, and prices, the untrimmed hides being billed at a slightly lower price per pound than the trimmed hides. The car remained unloaded on the tracks at Hartland from January 20 until April 27, when the hides were resold by the plaintiff, without notice to the defendant, at the prevailing market price through the same broker to another buyer.

The ad damnum of the writ was $3,000, and the one count remaining in the declaration when the case was submitted to the jury was for $5,559.40 for goods sold and delivered. The verdict was for $2,030.54. This was the sum which the judge in his charge instructed the jury should be the damages in the event they should find for the plaintiff, and was based upon the difference between the contract price and the resale price, plus freight, demurrage charges, and interest. No question was raised about this amount.

The defendant’s motion for a directed verdict was not based specifically upon the pleadings. Consequently, an exception will not be sustained to a denial of the motion if the evidence justifies a finding for the plaintiff in any amount. Weiner v. D. A. Schulte, Inc. 275 Mass. 379, 385. Earle C. Dodds Inc. v. Boston Casualty Co. 308 Mass. 124, 127. Botti v. Venice Grocery Co. 309 Mass. 450, 458.

The shipment palpably did not comply with the terms of the written contract. If matters rested there, the plaintiff could not recover. See Rommel v. Wingate, 103 Mass. 327; Agoos Kid Co. Inc. v. Blumenthal Import Corp. 282 Mass. 1, 7; Ryder & Brown Co. v. E. Lissberger Co. 300 Mass. 438, 444; G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 106, § 16.

On the evidence most favorable to the plaintiff, however, it could have been found that after the defendant learned the details as to the contents of the car, including the respective prices of the various kinds of trimmed and untrimmed hides, it made a new agreement to take them.

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Beit Bros. v. Irving Tanning Co., 53 N.E.2d 702, 315 Mass. 561, 1944 Mass. LEXIS 637 (Mass. 1944).

53 N.E.2d 702 (Beit Bros. v. Irving Tanning Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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