Dinkins v. Crunden-Martin Woodenware Co.

73 S.W. 246, 99 Mo. App. 310
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 3, 1903
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 73 S.W. 246 (Dinkins v. Crunden-Martin Woodenware Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dinkins v. Crunden-Martin Woodenware Co., 73 S.W. 246, 99 Mo. App. 310 (Mo. Ct. App. 1903).

Opinion

GOODE, J.

-At the February term, 1900, of the St. Louis Circuit Court, Lynn H. Dinkins recovered judgment against Frank E. Gottselig for the sum of $1,686.40 and the costs of the 'action. Since that time Dinkins has been endeavoring to collect the judgment by garnishment proceedings against the appellant, the Crunden-Martin Woodenware Company, by which Gottselig, the judgment debtor, has been employed as a salaried salesman.

Other, phases of the contest have been presented and decided by this court on two former appeals. Dinkins v. Crunden-Martin Woodenware Co., 90 Mo. App. 639; Id., 91 Mo. App. 209.

The present controversy is the same one considered on the first appeal and arose from the citing of the appellant as garnishee on June 7, 1900, the execution by virtue of which it was summoned being returnable the first Monday of the following December.

Interrogatories were exhibited by the respondent December 5th when, on the garnishee’s motion, the whole proceeding was quashed on the ground that it was void because the garnishee was summoned to appear at the second term of court after service instead of the first one.

An"appeal was taken to this court, which reversed the judgment and remanded the cause with the direction that it be proceeded with in the usual course. Pending that appeal, it seems another writ of garnishment was sued out, which was the one involved in the second appeal.

After this cause was remanded the garnishee filed an answer to respondent’s interrogatories February 25, 1902, and thereupon respondent filed a motion in the nature of a demurrer to the answer, for judgment on the pleadings, which motion was sustained and judgment entered by the court below on April 28, 1902. [315]*315The court found that at the date the answer was filed the appellant had in its possession $2,300 belonging to the. defendant Gottselig and ordered that within ten days from the date of the judgment it pay said sum into court, or so much thereof as might be necessary to satisfy the judgment, interest and costs. From that order the garnishee took this appeal.

The interrogatories exhibited were in substance these:

1. Did the garnishee at the date of the service of the writ have in its possession, custody or charge, any goods, chattels, money or effects belonging to Gottselig?

2. Was it, at the service of the writ or at the time of the answer, indebted to Gottselig? •

3. Was it at either time bound in a contract to pay Gottselig money which was not yet due?

4. Was not Gottselig in appellant’s employ when it was served and has he not since continued in its employ?

The first two interrogatories were answered in the negative, but to the last two a conditional affirmative answer was given, setting out the nature of the contract between Gottselig and appellant.

This answer stated that when the garnishee was notified, Gottselig was in its employ under a verbal contract, the terms of which were that he should be paid one hundred dollars a month at the end of each month in the State of Mississippi, where he resided as agent of appellant, or in Louisiana, those two States being the territory in which he traveled as salesman. The answer further stated that Gottselig was authorized by the contract to draw on appellant at all times for such' money as he needed to expend in promoting* appellant’s business and for no other purpose; but that at the end of each month he had the right to take out of the funds remitted to him the sum of one hundred dollars, or the amount of his salary for that month. Gottselig deducted one hundred dollars each month [316]*316from June to December, both inclusive for salary; but during all of said months he is alleged to have been largely indebted to the appellant on account of money remitted to him beyond the sum of his actual expenses and salary, so that during.no month was the appellant in his debt, but during all of them Gottselig was in appellant’s debt. In other words, as we understand the answer, Gottselig continually overdrew.

The answer states that on the first day of January, 1901, the contract was changed by raising Gottselig ’s salary to $125 per month, payable at the end ol each month as before, in the State of Mississippi of which he was a resident, or in Louisiana. In other respects the contract continued as before.

The answer avers that thereafter during each month the money which Gottselig drew and which was remitted to him for expenses and salary largely exceeded those items, and that at no time was appellant in his debt but he was in appellant’s debt, and when appellant answered, he owed it $629.49 on a balance of accounts and the further sum of $105 on account of a judgment against appellant as garnishee in favor of Dinkins, which it had satisfied; also for $20 attorney’s fee allowed appellant for answering.

The answer further states .that appellant allowed Gottselig to retain and convert out of the money remitted to him his monthly salary each month because it knew Gottselig was the head of a family, wholly insolvent and therefore entitled to an exemption against Dinkins’ judgment to the amount of $300 under the statutes of the Státe of Missouri; that appellant credited Gottselig with his salary on its account with him, knowing the salary was exempt from garnishment and pleads the exemption in defense of this proceeding.

It is-further stated that all money remitted to Gottselig after service of garnishment was in response to drafts made by him on the Crunden-Martin Wooden-ware Company on account of his anticipated expendi[317]*317tures as agent and salesman, and that none of said remittances became the property of Gottselig.

It is alleged that appellant was not at any time indebted to Gottselig from the service of the garnishment to the date of answering except as above stated; wherefore appellant prays it be discharged.

The one hundred and five dollars and the attorney fee for which credit is claiméd in the answer, pertained to the second garnishment proceeding, which was the cause disposed of in 91 Mo. App. 209.

The motion filed by the respondent for judgment avers- that the answer of the garnishee, the substance of which has been quoted, shows Gottselig earned a salary under his contract with the garnishee to the amount of $2,300, and that said sum was paid to him by the garnishee between the date of service and the filing of the answer.

1. Jurisdiction of this garnishment proceeding to attach a debt due to a non-resident of the'State from a resident of it, is properly entertained by a court of this State. Wyeth Mfg. Co. v. Lang, 127 Mo. 242.

2. It was unnecessary to introduce in evidence the judgment in favor of respondent against Gottselig in order to show respondent was a creditor of the latter and had duly established-his demand, because, as this garnishment is on final process, it is a mere aid to the collection of said judgment, of which the court took judicial notice. Spengler v. Kauffman, 43 Mo. App. (St. L.) 5. If the appellant wished to question the judgment on appeal for any reason, it should have put it> in evidence.

3. A computation of the salary earned by Gottselig between the service and the filing of the answer will show the judgment was not excessive; for his earnings amounted to more than the amount appellant was ordered to pay, after allowing the credit which the latter asked on account of the sum paid on the second garnishment.

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Bluebook (online)
73 S.W. 246, 99 Mo. App. 310, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dinkins-v-crunden-martin-woodenware-co-moctapp-1903.