Blydenstein v. New York Security & Trust Co.

67 F. 469, 15 C.C.A. 14, 1895 U.S. App. LEXIS 2769
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedApril 16, 1895
DocketNo. 95
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 67 F. 469 (Blydenstein v. New York Security & Trust Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Blydenstein v. New York Security & Trust Co., 67 F. 469, 15 C.C.A. 14, 1895 U.S. App. LEXIS 2769 (2d Cir. 1895).

Opinion

LACOMBE, Circuit Judge.

The facts in the case are complicated, and a complete presentation of them is necessary to a proper understanding of the legal points involved. The plaintiffs are bankers doing business in London, England. Lipman & Co. were manufacturers and importers of merchandise doing business in Dundee, Scotland, and having a branch office in New York under the control of one Gutman as their general agent. Wishing to obtain advances upon shipments to this country, Lipman & Co., on October 14, 1891, applied in writing to Blydenstein & Co., proffering a general stipulation or agreement as to the future conduct of any such business to be carried on between them, which proposed agreement proved acceptable to the plaintiffs. It reads as follows:

“Dundee, Oct. 14, 3893.
“To Mess. B. W. Blydenstein & Co.—Dear Sirs: In consideration of such advances as you may from time to time make to us, by your acceptance of drafts drawn by us on you against goods shipped by us to Lipman & Co., New York, for sale by our house there, we beg to state the understanding and agreement between us in regard to all such transactions, which is as follows: The complete set of the bills of lading of the goods as shipped are to be delivered by us to you, the goods being by such bills of lading made deliverable to you or to your order, and until full repayment of your advance such bills to be treated, and considered as your property, and as simply consigned by you to our New York house for sale on your account, and the net proceeds of such sale as and when received are to be specially remitted by them to you direct in the first-class bills on London. As such you will kindly, from time to time, transmit the bills of lading as received by you from us to our house at New York, with the needed instructions to deal with the goods. We undertake that remittances from New York to meet the amount of your acceptances shall be in your hands not later than two days prior to the maturity thereof, and failing such remittances, or to the extent, to which the same shall be insufficient to cover your advance, with interest, commission, and charges, we engage to pay you the amount in cash in London prior to the maturity of the bills, or any renewal thereof; the intention being that you are at all times to be kept by us out of cash advance, which we hereby undertake to do accordingly.
“Yours, truly, Lipman & Co.”

Subsequently, and down to the time of the failure of Lipman & Co., in December, 1892, plaintiffs accepted drafts against shipments of merchandise by Lipman & Co. The 38 hales in controversy consist of two lots, 22 of them having come over in September, and 16 of them in December, 1892. A statement of the transactions as to a single lot will be sufficient, since in each case, mutatis mutandis, [472]*472the course of events was the same. On September 5, 1892, Lipman & Co. mailed to the plaintiffs in London a copy of an invoice of 50 bales of burlaps (including said 22 bales) shipped per steamer Aberdeen to London, and thence per steamship of the A. T. Line to New York, for £1,094.4s. 3d., and another for 40 bbls. of glue, shipped by Britannia, for £174. 3s. 8d., together with two bills of lading for each shipment, indorsed in blank by Lipman & Co. They drew against the same upon plaintiffs for £1,268. 7s. lid., which draft was accepted, discounted in the open market, and at maturity paid by Blydenstein & Co. Except for the small shipment by Britannia, the amount thus paid on this acceptance has not been received by plaintiffs from Lipman & Co. At or about the same time Lipman •& Co. sent the third bill of lading indorsed in blank, with the two. consular invoices, containing the affidavit of one of the. partners of Lipman & Co. to the effect that he was one of the owners of the merchandise, to the general correspondents of Blydenstein & Co. in New York, the banking firm of Knauth.,’Nachod & Kuhne. On September 7, 1892, plaintiffs forwarded to this last-named firm the invoice and the two bills of lading received from Lipman & Co., and also a letter from Blydenstein & Co. to Lipman & Co., and an unsigned letter of reply thereto (called a “trust receipt”), with a request that Knauth, Nachod & Kuhne would hand plaintiffs such trust receipt and the proceeds in due course. The letter to Lipman & Co. is as follows:

“London, Sept 5, 1892.
“Messrs. Lipman & Co., New York—Dear Sirs: Inclosed we beg to band you bills of lading of 50 bales jute goods and 40 barrels glue shipped to New York per Aberdeen and Britannia to your consignment. These documents have been received by us from your Dundee house, to whom we have made an advance against the same, the shipping documents and goods represented thereby being our security for the repayment of our advance. As such you must please treat them as our property, and as simply consigned by us to you for sale on our account, and the full net proceeds thereof, as and when received, are to be specially remitted by you to us direct in first-class bills on London, and meanwhile you must keep any such proceeds separate and distinct from all your other fund's, and as simply in your hands held for us, and as our special property. To carry out and give effect to this’ arrangement, please sign the inclosed letter of acknowledgment, and return the same to us, duly dated, by the first mail.
“Yours, truly, Blydenstein & Co.”

On September 15, 1892, Knauth, Nachod & Kuhne turned over to Gutman, as general agent for Lipman & Co., all the bills of lading, consular certificates, and invoices, together with the letter last above set forth. Thus the goods, which had gone out of the possession of Lipman & Co. when they transferred the bills of lading to the plaintiffs and plaintiffs’ correspondent, came again into the possession and control of that firm, since they now held all the shipping and customhouse documents necessary to obtain manual delivery. Upon receipt of these documents Lipman & Co. dated and signed the following letter, or so-called “trust receipt”:

“New York, Sept. 15th, 1892.
“Dear Sirs: We beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, copy óf which is annexed, covering bills of lading of 50 bales jute and 40 barrels [473]*473glue per Aberdeen and Britannia, consigned to us by you for sale on your account, and which, as also the said goods on their arrival, and the proceeds thereof when sold, we hereby engage specially to hold In trust for you accordingly in terms of your said letter, and as and when the goods are sold to remit to you direct, in first-class bills on London, the full net proceeds thereof, or to pay the same to your correspondents, Knauth, Naohod & Kuhne, of this city.
“Yours, truly, u pp. Lipman & Co.,
“Ludwig Gutman.
“Messrs. Blydenstein & Co., London.”

This trust receipt was at once sent to plaintiffs by Knauth, Nachod & Kuhne. The course of proceedings above described was pursued with all the shipments of Lipman & Co. against which plaintiffs accepted drafts from October, 1891, down to the latter part of 1892.

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Related

Bush v. Export Storage Co.
136 F. 918 (U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Eastern Tennessee, 1904)
New York Security & Trust Co. v. Lipman
36 N.Y.S. 355 (New York Supreme Court, 1895)

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Bluebook (online)
67 F. 469, 15 C.C.A. 14, 1895 U.S. App. LEXIS 2769, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/blydenstein-v-new-york-security-trust-co-ca2-1895.