Emshwiler v. Tyner

52 N.E. 459, 21 Ind. App. 347, 1899 Ind. App. LEXIS 101
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 4, 1899
DocketNo. 2,719
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 52 N.E. 459 (Emshwiler v. Tyner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Emshwiler v. Tyner, 52 N.E. 459, 21 Ind. App. 347, 1899 Ind. App. LEXIS 101 (Ind. Ct. App. 1899).

Opinion

Wiley, J.

The only question for review in this appeal is the action of the court in overruling appellant’s demurrer to appellee’s second paragraph of answer. The decedent in his lifetime commenced the action, but while it was pending he died, and his administrator was substituted as plaintiff below. The complaint was originally in one paragraph, but after decedent’s death, and the substitution of his administrator, an additional paragraph of complaint was filed. The two paragraphs are founded upon a written contract between appellee and the decedent, which contract is made an exhibit. It is not necessary to set out the complaint in detail, but that the pertinency of the facts averred in the third paragraph of answer may clearly appear, it is important that we show the material matters embraced in the contract. The contract sued upon is signed by the decedent as party of the first part, and appellee and others, parties of the second part, and by its terms the decedent agreed to locate a canning factory [349]*349upon certain real estate in Blackford county, Indiana. That said factory. was to have a capacity of 20,000 cans per day, and was to employ 150 persons. That it was to be completed and ready for operation for the canning season of 1895, and decedent was to organize a company for conducting the business to be known as the “Blackford Canning Company.” By the terms of the contract the decedent was to plat into seventy-four lots, a certain tract of land, each lot to be fifty feet wide and 120 feet long. That each of the persons signing said contract agreed by its terms to take one of said lots, and three shares of paid-up “unassessable” stock of said company of the par value of $25 each, and to pay for one of said lots and the three shares of stock $150. The contract further provided that the manner of the distribution of the lots should be determined by the purchasers, and that decedent would convey to such purchasers their respective lots, when distributed, by a deed, with covenants of warranty, and furnish each of said purchasers with an abstract of title, and issue to each of them three shares of said stock. The contract also provided that the said $150 should be, paid in six equal payments of $25, each subscriber to execute his several notes for the amount, payable in three, six, nine, fifteen, and eighteen months, at six per cent, interest, said notes to be given when said company was duly organized. The complaint avers in detail all the conditions of the contract, and that decedent complied with all the conditions and stipulations to be performed by him.

The third paragraph of answer avers that in December, 1895, various subscribers to said contract and enterprise, and said decedent, met together for the purpose of determining how and in what manner the said seventy-four lots were to be awarded and dis[350]*350tributed; that the decedent at said meeting directed that said lots be awarded and distributed by placing the numbers of the lots severally upon slips of paper, and placing said slips in a hat, and then by placing the names of the various subscribers severally upon slips of paper, and then placing them in another hat; that thereupon one of the subscribers present was to be blindfolded, and while thus blindfolded he was to draw simultaneously from the two hats a name and a number of a lot, until all the names and numbers were drawn; that ¿in each instance the lot whose number was drawn when a name was drawn was to be awarded to the subscriber whose name was so drawn, and was to constitute the selection of the lot to be conveyed to him; that said lots were so awarded to each subscriber; that appellee was not notified to meet; that he was not present at such drawing and awarding, either in person or by agent; that he did not in any manner exercise his choice, will, or judgment in the selection of a lot, and did not participate in said drawing or in awarding said lots; that said seventy-four lots were of unequal values; that a large portion of the land so platted had been used for a brickyard; that dirt had been excavated therefrom; that huge excavations four or five feet in depth were made therein, so that said lots were mudholes, ravines, and lagoons, and were thereby rendered worthless and of no value. That some of the said lots were on high ground and worth $150, while lot number seven so awarded to appellee was of no value. The answer then avers that by reason of the facts therein stated, “said lots were of unequal value, and the manner in which said lots were distributed, including the one awarded this defendant, and by reason of the facts aforesaid, the said contract and the manner of its attempted execution was and is a [351]*351scheme of chance, and a lottery, is fraudulent and against public policy and void.” It is apparent from this paragraph of answer that the' pleader proceeded upon the theory that the contract, in the first instance, is void, because it is tainted with the scheme of a lottery, or chance. This court has recently passed upon this exact question, in Washington Glass Co. v. Mosbaugh, 19 Ind. App. 105, where it was held that a contract of similar tenor was not void on the ground urged, and we still adhere to such holding. But the facts in that case and those charged in the third paragraph of appellee’s a.nswer in the case now before us, are not at all similar. The contract sued upon here does not contain any provision .relating to the awarding and distribution of the lots by lottery or chance, but like the case of Washington Glass Co. v. Mosbaugh, supra, leaves the manner of such distribution to be determined and agreed upon by the subscribers; and hence, under the authority of that case, the contract, in the first instance, and on its face, is enforceable. If, then, the contract as originally entered into was not subject to the objection urged by appellee, the question for us now to determine is, do the averments of the answer, descriptive of the plan and the manner of the distribution of the lots, render the enforcement of the contract against appellee void? The answer avers that various subscribers and decedent met for the purpose of determining how and in what manner the lots were to be awarded, and that the decedent, at said meeting, directed the manner of the distribution. We need not repeat the allegations of the answer, but it is sufficient to say that the plan devised by the decedent, participated in by him and the subscribers present, was a scheme tainted with the vice of lottery; in other words, it was a scheme of chance, where the will [352]*352and judgment, both of the decedent and subscribers was in no sense exercised. Appellee did not participate in the distribution, and was not present. In Washington Glass Co. v. Mosbaugh, supra, appellant was not a party to the distribution, and in the complaint in that case, it was alleged: “That in making said selection of lots by said drawing, plaintiff neither participated therein, nor counseled or advised the same.” In that case, also, appellee was a party to the agreement between the subscribers, was present at and participated in the drawing of lots, and took possession of the lot apportioned to him. So that it is clear that the question to be here decided rests upon very different facts than the case to which we have just referred. The fact that appellant directed and participated in the drawing and distributing of the lots in this case, brings it, we think, within the rule announced in Lynch v. Rosenthal, 144 Ind. 86. There the contract was, in its essential features, similar to the contract here sued on.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
52 N.E. 459, 21 Ind. App. 347, 1899 Ind. App. LEXIS 101, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/emshwiler-v-tyner-indctapp-1899.