Carnegie Bros. v. Lancaster & Hamden Railway Co.

1 Ohio N.P. 300
CourtPickaway County Court of Common Pleas
DecidedApril 24, 1894
StatusPublished

This text of 1 Ohio N.P. 300 (Carnegie Bros. v. Lancaster & Hamden Railway Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pickaway County Court of Common Pleas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carnegie Bros. v. Lancaster & Hamden Railway Co., 1 Ohio N.P. 300 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1894).

Opinion

Abernethy, J.

This action was brought to enforce a mechanics’ lien. The facts as agreed upon between the parties were that on the 27th day of March, 1890, the plaintiffs entered into a written agreement with E.P. Buell & Co., who had contracted with the defendant railroad company for the construction of a railroad for the defendant between certain points in this state, by the terms of which the plaintiffs were to furnish and deliver to said Buell & Co. at Bessemer, Pennsylvania, 7,000 tons of steel rails at the price of §35.00 per gross ton.

The agreement stipulated (omitting immaterial provisions) that said rails were to be delivered as follows : “550 tons during the month of April, and the remainder in quantities of about 1,000 tons per month thereafter until contract is completed and tobe paid for in cash, on presentation of sight drafts with bills of lading covering shipment of each $500 tons, at First National Bank, Circleville, Ohio.” The agreement contained the further stipulation “ that the terms of payment so far as relates to the first shipment of five hundred and fifty tons, is to be waived, and the following substituted : payment for the first five hundred and fifty tons to be made in cash within thirty (30) days from date of shipment, said parties of the second part to give the party of the first part an order on O. Ballard, trustee, for the amount subscribed by the town of Tarlton, Ohio, some, $15,000, as additional security for the payment of the above five hundred and fifty tons of rails.”

Rails were furnished by the plamtiffs as follows: 626 tons during the month of April — the last shipment being on the 30th, and fifteen tons on the 30th of June. Buell & Co. failed to comply with this agreement by paying for the rails, and no more were shipped.

On July 24, 1890, plaintiffs filed with the recorders of the proper counties, statements of their account of the above materials, with the necessary affidavit as required by the statute, in order to perfect their lien.

The defendants claim:

1. The contract is severable, and that as to the 626 tons furnished in April the plaintiffs are not entitled to a lien, because it was not perfected within forty days from the date of the last shipment in April, and that at most, they are only entitled to a lien as to the fifteen tons furnished in June.

They further claim that the plaintiffs, by their agreement to extend [301]*301the time of payment for thirty days on the first shipment, by Buell & Co. giving additional security, waived their right to a lien, and also that it had the effect to make the contract severable, if it was not so already; and

2. That the plaintiffs are not entitled to a lien, because by the terms of the contract, the rails were to be furnished and delivered, and were furnished and delivered outside of the state of Ohio.

As to whether the contract is severable. No precise rule can be laid down for the solution of the question whether a contract is entire or sever-able, but it must be solved by considering both the language and the subject matter of the contract. A contract may be entire for one purpose, and severable for other purposes.0 It may be entire as to the amount of materials to be furnished, and severable as to the times of payment. It depends upon the intention of the parties, to be gathered from all the circumstances surrounding the agreement, and from the face of the contract, if in writing. State v, Davis, 20 Atl. Rep. 1080, (N. J.) ; Moore v. Bennett, 40 Cal. 251.

The rule as stated in Parsons on Contracts, is that if the part to be performed by one party, is expressed by several and distinct items, and the price to be paid for them, is apportioned to each item to be performed, or is left to be implied by law, such a contract will generally be held severable. 2 Parsons on Cont.'29, 31; Sickles v. Pattison, 14 Wend. 257; Oil Co. v. Brewer, 66 Penn. St. 351; Morgan v. McKee, 77 Penn. St. 228; Scott v. Coal Co., 89 Penn. St. 231; Johnson v. Allen, 56 Am. Rep. 34 (Ala).

It is not the multiplicity of items in a contract which determines its severable or non-severable character, but its object. 2.Parsons on Cont. 517.

In the case of Gomer v. McPhee, 31 Pac. Rep. 119, (cited by counsel for defendant), the plaintiff was to furnish defendants 1,500,000 feet of lumber, delivered on cars, and in case defendants did not want the lumber shipped, it was to be piled and received monthly, and all lumber so piled and shipped in the month previous, was to be paid for on the 10th of the succeeding month. It was held that the contract was severable, and a failure to deliver all the lumber specified in the contract, did not preclude a recovery for the amount actually delivered.

Some of-the cases cited by counsel for defendant, would seem to sustain their claim that the severability of the contract is to be determined solely by the test as to the right of the plaintiffs to have brought their action for the rails which were delivered in April, or upon the shipment of the first 500 tons; and if this were the only test, I think it would be decisive of the question, for there seems to be no doubt but that the plaintiffs might have maintained an action against Buell & Co., upon the shipment' of the first 500 tons, according to the terms of the contract; but the weight of authority is opposed to this view, especially as to the right to obtain a lien upon each shipment. The statute under which the lien in this case was taken, does not seem to contemplate that a contractor, or subcontractor, shall, from time to time, as the work progresses, file successive liens for labor performed and materials furnished, under an entire contract ; but he is entitled to acquire only one lien for this purpose; his claim must be filed “within forty days from the date that such person ceased performing labor or furnishing materials.” The case of Smith Bridge Co. v. Bowman, 4L Ohio St. 37, sustains this view. It was there held that where the contract with the railroad company, bound the contractor to build and complete certain bridges on the line of its road, and the times of payment were to commence from the completion of each bridge, for the purpose of obtaining the lien, provided by the statute, such a contract was an entirety.

The court, on page-55, (Nash, J.), say “When the bridge company made this agreement in writing, and agreed to its terms, it undoubtedly [302]*302was influenced by the fact, that it was securing one job of work consisting of several bridges.”

In Steamboat, etc. v Geisse, B Ohio St. 333, it is held that where the apparent intention of the parties to a contract, is to have new machinery made and old machinery repaired and put in running order, for a single purpose, of which work a part is not to be done without the whole, and all parts bear a necessary relation to each other, and where the provision for payment indicates that the parties themselves regard the argreement as an entirety, their intention prevails over any technical rules of construction, and the contract is to be taken as an entirity.

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

Related

Birmingham Iron Foundry v. Glen Cove Starch Manufacturing Co.
78 N.Y. 30 (New York Court of Appeals, 1879)
Fagan & Osgood v. Boyle Ice Machine Co.
65 Tex. 324 (Texas Supreme Court, 1886)
More v. Bonnet
6 Am. Rep. 621 (California Supreme Court, 1870)
Cox v. Western Pacific Railroad
47 Cal. 87 (California Supreme Court, 1873)
Sickels v. Pattison
28 Am. Dec. 527 (New York Supreme Court, 1835)
Thurman v. Kyle
71 Ga. 628 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1884)
Brock v. Milligan
10 Ohio St. 121 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1840)
Gaty v. Casey
15 Ill. 189 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1853)
Atkins v. Little
17 Minn. 342 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1871)
Bromberg v. Minnesota Fire Ass'n
47 N.W. 975 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1891)
Bersch v. Sander
37 Mo. 104 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1865)
Mallory v. La Crosse Abattoir Co.
49 N.W. 1071 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1891)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1 Ohio N.P. 300, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carnegie-bros-v-lancaster-hamden-railway-co-ohctcomplpickaw-1894.