Crane Co. v. Columbus Const. Co.

73 F. 984, 20 C.C.A. 233, 1896 U.S. App. LEXIS 1867
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedMay 4, 1896
DocketNo. 268
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 73 F. 984 (Crane Co. v. Columbus Const. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Crane Co. v. Columbus Const. Co., 73 F. 984, 20 C.C.A. 233, 1896 U.S. App. LEXIS 1867 (7th Cir. 1896).

Opinion

WOODS, Circuit Judge.

For the entire contract between the parties (o this appeal, and for the construction put upon it by this court when the case was first here, reference is made to the opinion in Columbus Const. Co. v. Crane Co., 3 C. C. A. 216, 52 Fed. 635, and 9 U. S. App. 46. After the case had been remanded, further counts, special and common, were added to the declaration; but, while the breaches of warranty relied upon and the damages claimed were stated more specifically and fully, the character of the action was not changed.

The defendant in error, the Columbus Construction Company, a corporation of New Jersey, on the 5th day of June, 1890, entered into a contract with the Indiana Natural Gas & Oil Company (which was incorporated under the laws of Indiana for the purpose of owning and operating a pipe line for the transportation of natural gas from the gas fields of Indiana to Chicago), whereby the Columbus Company undertook to construct the proposed line; and to that end, on June 20, 1890, it made with the Crane Company (the plaintiff in error) the contract in suit, whereby the latter company undertook to purchase, and to cause to be delivered to the former, the various quantities and sizes of pipe necessary for the completion of the line, including 260 miles of 8-inch pipe concerning which this controversy has arisen. The substance of the contract, in so far as it need be stated here, is that the pipe shall he “8-inch wrought-iron standard line pipe, to weigh not less than 27.48 pounds per lineal foot,” “made from soft iron, free from blisters and other imperfections, and guarantied to stand a working line pressure of one thousand pounds to [986]*986the square inch when proved and tested in lines”; that each spliced joint shall weigh the weight of the collar in addition to its own required weight; that each joint of pipe shall have eight threads to the inch, and at least two inches of thread on each end, with a full uniform taper to the threads both on the pipe and in the collar; and that the vendor shall pay to the vendee all damages and expenses sustained by reason, of defects in the pipe delivered, up to and including the time when the pipe should be tested by the vendee under working pressure, not in excess of one thousand pounds to the square inch, and proved tight in line, which working test should be made with reasonable promptness. Deliveries were to be made at such places as should be designated by the Columbus Company, at the earliest practicable dates, in July, August, and September, and of the 8-inch pipe not less than 37 miles in July, 123 miles in August, and the- remainder in September, 1890, “barring strikes and causes beyond control.” The Columbus Company, upon the delivery of each invoice at the point by it designated, was to pay “spot cash” therefor, including a commission of 2£ per cent, over the amount of the manufacturer’s invoice. Shipments were to be by car loads, not exceeding five spliced joints, the Crane Company paying freight and other charges of transportation from the mills to the points of destination; and it was agreed finally that the pipe should not be construed to be accepted, by reason of any payments made therefor, so as to relieve the Crane Company from liability on account of its defective character, until the same had been laid and tested in line, and proved.

In pursuance of this contract, the Crane Company made contracts with different companies for the manufacture and shipment of the required pipe, and reported the same for approval to the Columbus Company. The first shipment, amounting to about 12 miles, was delivered, by order of the Columbus Company, to the Consumers’ Gas Company, at Chicago, but was not used until two years later, when it was shipped to Indiana, and laid in line. In addition, by November 3,1890, 8-inch pipe had been delivered at different stations along the line, to the amount of 95.14 miles, of which 5.7 miles were laid in or across the Tolleston Marsh, 1 mile was laid at the Kankakee Marsh, and 12.65 miles, in double lines of half that length, were laid at Deep River. Further deliveries- were then suspended by agreement or mutual consent, until more adequate appliances for testing the pipe in line could be obtained; the tests made in September, 1890, at Deep River, with an air pump of a capacity of 110 pounds to the square inch, having developed serious leaking at as many as 10 per cent, of the joints, and “more at the mill end than at the field end.” Besides conflicting view's of the contract liabilities of the parties, which were settled only by the decision of this court referred to, the agents of the parties who were present at the tests differed in respect to the nature and cause of the defects in the joints; it being claimed on behalf of the plaintiff in error that the pipe was all tested at the mills, and, without leaking, stood a pressure of 1,000 pounds to the inch, and that the defects developed [987]*987in line were attributable to rough and careless handling and unskillful laying of the pipe. On the contrary, the representatives of flie defendant in error asserted a careful and skillful manipulation and laying of the pipe, and, in the first instance, attributed the defects to the light weight of the collars, by reason of which they expanded under pressure, but the subsequent employment of heavier collars did not cure the defects; and the later conclusion seems to have been reached that the threads on the ends of the pipe and in the collars did not have a full and uniform taper, the fault being in ¡lie thread of the collar. During- the ensuing October, efforts were made, by caulking and otherwise, to tighten the defective joints, and, up to a pressure of 200 pounds, were perhaps substantially successful; but, about the 28th of that month, high pressure pumps were brought into use, which, at a pressure of 400 pounds, reopened some of the old leaks, and disclosed many new ones. Further attempts were then made, by caulking and other means, to remedy the defects, but with unsatisfactory results, until November loth, when winter set in, and work was stopped.

On the other hand, while there had been delays in the delivery of pipe, the Columbus Company had not paid in full for the pipe delivered; and on September 29th the shortage had risen to $139,900, but by later payments, ¡he last of which, in the sum of $15,000, was made November 26th, the deficiency was reduced to $73,800. These shortages were the subject of correspondence, and of complaint by the Crane Company, in behalf of which it. is claimed that, while various excuses were offered, it was never assigned ‘‘as the reason for not paying spot cash that the pipe was not satisfactory”; that complaint was once made by Mr. Yerkes, who, in October, had succeeded Mr. Hoquembourg as the representative of the Columbus Company in the transaction, that some of the pipe shipped b,v the Beading Company had been forwarded in a damaged condition, but that, it having been found on investigation that some of the threads had been jammed in transit, The Crane Company offered to have all damaged pipe put in order, and returned to the place of use, at its own expense, and (hat nothing was said at any time about a deficiency in the weight of the collars, or about any defect other than jammed threads; that on December 31, 1890, Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
73 F. 984, 20 C.C.A. 233, 1896 U.S. App. LEXIS 1867, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crane-co-v-columbus-const-co-ca7-1896.