French Market Ice Manufacturing Co. v. Landauer

4 Teiss. 80, 1906 La. App. LEXIS 126
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 18, 1906
DocketNo. 3962
StatusPublished

This text of 4 Teiss. 80 (French Market Ice Manufacturing Co. v. Landauer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
French Market Ice Manufacturing Co. v. Landauer, 4 Teiss. 80, 1906 La. App. LEXIS 126 (La. Ct. App. 1906).

Opinions

ESTOPINAL, J.

Plaintiff prays for judgment against the defendant to recover on a bond on which defendant became surety, Plaintiff’s action is based upon the allegation “that on or about the 25th day of October, 1902, it entered into a contract with the [81]*81Schaeffer-Gaiennie Company, Limited, for.the construction óf a pipe from plaintiff’s ice plant on Chartres street to the Mississippi River, for the price and sum of two thousand, five hundred dollars ($2,500.00), and that one of the clauses of the contract was to the effect that they guaranteed that the pipe would remain tight for a period of one year from the completion of the work; that the defendant became the surety for the faithful performance of all the stipulations and agreements made by the Schaeffer-Gaienne Company, Limited, under their contract with plain ■ tiff.

Plaintiff avers that before the work under the contract was completed, the Schaeffer-Gaiennie Company, Limited, was placed in the hands of a Receiver, and that said Receiver completed the work and received the balance of the contract price agreed to be paid the Schaeffer-Gaiennie Company, Limited.

Plaintiff then avers that the work, as performed by the Schaef-fer-Gaiennie Company, Limited, and the Receiver of said company, Elias Landauer, was not done according to the contract under which they were bound; that their agreement to keep the pipes tight for a period of one year was not complied with; that the Receiver informed the Court, which appointed him, of this undisputed fact, and secured an order of Court authorizing him to make the necessary repairs, so as to conform to the contract with plaintiff, but that the said repairs by the Receiver were unskillfully done, and that the pipes continued to leak, causing great loss and damage to it; that ¿daintiff took legal proceedings to compel the Receiver to carry out his contract, and that the Court ordered it to advertise for bids- to have the work done in accordance with the original contract; that it accordingly advertised for bids, and entered into a contract with John S. Kiely, the lowest bidder, to do the work for the price and sum of one thousand, five hundred dollars ( $1,500.00) ; that the work was done by said Kiely, for which he has been paid, and that plaintiff should recover from defendant and Landauer, the Receiver.

The latter first filed an exception of vagueness, and. then answered, pleading the general issue.

Defendant, the Fidelity and Deposit Company of Marjdand, by way of answer, filed a general denial, admitting, however, that [82]*82on the 25th of October, 1902, it signed as surety the bond of Schaeffer-Gaiennie Company, Limited, for one thousand dollars ($1000.00), conditioned for the carrying out of certain work undertaken according to prescribed specifications; that the bond was subject to special warranties made conditions precedent to any right of action on the part of plaintiff; that after the perfection and signing of the contract and bond, plaintiff, without the knowledge or consent of respondent, changed and altered the contract made with Schaeffer-Gaiennie Company, Limited,, and made other specifications for the work required, which action on the part of plaintiff vitiated its bond; that the original contract, which it became surety for, was to have been completed in ninety days, and that the work was so completed ninety days.

Defendant in his answer further avers, that Schaeffer-Gaiennie Company, Limited, went into the hands of a Receiver, and "that the work was completed by the Receiver and accepted by the plaintiff, and that without the consent and knowledge .of defendant, plaintiff paid to the receiver the balance of the cofitract price; that it was not, under the contract bond, liable for one year’s guarantee, its obligation being for the completion of the work within ninety days and according to the original specifications.

Defendant avers that plaintiff, having discovered defects in the work after the payment to the Receiver of one thousand, five hundred dollars ($1,500.00), balance of contract price, should have taken steps to have said fund retained in the hands of the Receiver until the latter had completed the contract according to its terms.

Defendant makes the further averment that the plaintiff arbitrarily advertised the contract for the repair of the original work and made “different and other specifications from the original contract; that the work subsequu fly done and for which it is attempted to hold defendant liable, was done according to new and different specifications from the original contract, which prevents plaintiff from having any lega' cause of action against defendant,” and lastly, defendant pleads the prescription of six months under the conditions of the bond on which it became surety.

Judgment below was for plaintiff and against defendant, con-[83]*83detuning the latter to pay one thousand dollars ($1000.00), from which judgment it prosecutes this appeal.

At the outset we might lay down the proposition that the bond and the contract must be construed together, in other words, that the bond, as we find it here, is not intended to cover certain conditions in the contract and to be inoperative and without force as to certain other conditions, notwithstanding the, broad and far reaching terms of the bond.

Again, before discussing the real issues in the cause it may be well to eliminate what to us, appears to be untenable defenses set up by the defendant company. We do not think there is any merit in the defense to the effect that “plaintiff should have taken steps, upon discovering defects in the contract work and after paying the balance on the contract price to the Receiver, to have had the same retained in the hands of the Receiver.” We do not think that plaintiff’s rights were at all prejudiced by its failure to assert a claim against the Receiver for the balance paid the latter by it.

' The Surety Company, defendant herein, had been made familiar with .the condition of the pipes, and the very unsatisfactory condition of the job as turned over to plaintiff, the latter having written the Fidelity and Deposit Company on January 12th, to this effect:

“We are informed by our engineer that the pipes are leaking from levee to factory, and, therefore, we now call on you to repair same forthwith as per your guarantee.”

The letter further recites that this notice is given in accordance with the terms of the bond given.

The record discloses that not only did the Fidelity Company remain silent and inactive, taking no steps to protect itself while there were yet funds in the hands of the Receiver, paid the latter by plaintiff, but the defendant Surety Company made no reply to plaintiff’s letter of notification until some time in the month of March (12th, 1904).

The Surety Company then wrote (March 12th, 1904), to plaintiff, saying:

“They (Receiver et als) claim that all satisfactory repairs were made upon your (Surety Company’s) former request.”

[84]*84This would indicate that though the defendant Surety Company had not acknowledged receipt of letters and notices from plaintiff, it had, nevertheless, been active in its efforts to get the Receiver to put the pipes in the condition stipulated under the contract.

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4 Teiss. 80, 1906 La. App. LEXIS 126, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/french-market-ice-manufacturing-co-v-landauer-lactapp-1906.