Gibson Oil Co. v. Hayes Equipment Manufacturing Co.

1933 OK 142, 21 P.2d 17, 163 Okla. 134, 88 A.L.R. 104, 1933 Okla. LEXIS 651
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedFebruary 28, 1933
Docket20383
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 1933 OK 142 (Gibson Oil Co. v. Hayes Equipment Manufacturing Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gibson Oil Co. v. Hayes Equipment Manufacturing Co., 1933 OK 142, 21 P.2d 17, 163 Okla. 134, 88 A.L.R. 104, 1933 Okla. LEXIS 651 (Okla. 1933).

Opinion

BUSBX, J.

This is a replevin action wherein the Hayes Equipment Manufacturing Company seeks to recover from the Gibson Oil Company eight gasoline pumps. These pumps were sold by the Hayes Equipment Manufacturing Company to one S. L. Martin, under a conditional contract executed on August 24,'1927, by the terms of which title was retained in the vendor until the purchase price should be paid in full. Two hundred- and twenty dollars was paid on the purchase price, and the unpaid portion thereon at the time of trial was approximately $754.84, plus interest. On the same date Martin agreed to transfer these pumps to the Gibson Oil Company for a consideration of $960, $2168 in cash, and the balance in credit on a pre-existing indebtedness owing by Martin to the Gibson Oil Company. Warehouse receipts were issued bearing date of August 25, 1927, and the pump's were delivered to the Gibson Oil Company directly from the warehouse. The conditional sales contract executed by Martin was not recorded until September 7, 1927. Other facts pertinent to the issues herein will be mentioned hereafter. A jury was waived and the cause was tried to the court. After hearing evidence of both parties, the court rendered judgment for the plaintiff for the possession of the property, or in lien thereof its value, and fixed the value at $900. From this alternative judgment, the defendant appeals. The parties will be re- *135 ¡erred to as they appeared in the court below.

The defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the judgment. Its several contentions may be grouped under four heads, and they are as follows:

(1) That there is no evidence tending to establish that the defendant ever received the particular pumps for the possession of which the plaintiff brought this action.

(2) ' That there is no evidence of the' value of the pumps upon which the court could base its alternative judgment for $900.

(3) That the record supports the view that the defendant was a purchaser for value without notice, actual or constructive, of the existence of the conditional sales contract, and that any contrary finding by the trial court is contrary to the weight of the evidence.

14) That the defendant consented to the transfer and thereby waived its rights under the conditional sales contract.

We will consider these contentions in the order stated. The issue of whether or not the defendant received the pumps which were mentioned in the plaintiff’s petition was not closely tried. The plaintiff offered in evidence warehouse receipts describing these particular pumps, on the bottom of which receipts purporting to be signed by the defendant acknowledged the delivery thereof to the defendant. These warehouse receipts were first objected to by the defendant and then this objection was withdrawn and they were permitted to be introduced in evidence without objections. They show upon their face the delivery of the pumps to the defendant. No evidence was offered by the defendant to contradict this evidence on the part of the plaintiff, or to dispute the receipt of the pumps. It appears too, in the testimony of S. L. Martin. who was the vendee under the conditional sales contract and who was a party to both of the contracts, that the pumps purchased from the Hayes Equipment Manufacturing Company are the same pumps as those delivered to the Gibson Oil Company. The following question and answer appear as a part of his examination:

“Q. Now, about the proposition about turning these pumps that they came there for. tell the court about that. A. I asked Mr. Phillips if it would be possible to buy some more pumps on credit to balance that account and turn them over to the Gibson Oil Company, and that, was agreeable to both Mr. Phillips and the representative of the Gibson Oil Company, so we made out the contracts and they proceeded to deliver the equipment to the Gibson Oil Company.”

In view of the warehouse receipts introduced in evidence and the above testimony quoted from the record, and in view of the absence of any testimony in conflict therewith, we hold that the contention of the defendant that there was no evidence to support the finding that defendant received the particular pumps concerned in this action is without merit.

The second contention of the defendant that there is no evidence of value is also without merit for the reason that it appears from 'the record that the answer of the defendant admits receipt of eight gasoline pumps from S. L. Martin “of the value of $909.” It being established that these pumps were the same pumps claimed by the plaintiff, and their value being admitted by the pleadings, there was no issue thereon which would require the introduction of evidence. It also appears from the record that counsel for the defendant at the close of the evidence in a statement to the court used the following language:

“Mr. Wallace: I just made that suggestion to the court. Another suggestion I want to make is this: Now, the value of these pumps is admitted.”

The balance due plaintiff under the conditional sales contract was $754.84, plus interest.. However, the question of whether the indebtedness due plaintiff is a limitation on the amount of the alternative judgment is not raised by the briefs of the defendant, and is therefore not considered herein.

The next question that presents itself is whether or not the defendant was a purchaser for value without notice, actual or constructive, of the existence of the conditional sales contract. At the time the defendant purchased the gasoline pump from Martin, the conditional sales contract was not of record and it was therefore not charged with constructive knowledge thereof. The plaintiff urges in support of the judgment of the trial court that the defendant had actual knowledge of the existence of the conditional sales, contract imputed to. it through one of its agents, a Mr. Heath-ridge. If this is true, the recording of the contract was immaterial. Security Nat. Bank of Oklahoma City v. Truscon Steel Co., 92 Okla. 81, 218 P. 665.

There is a sharp conflict in the testimony-concerning this point. It appears from the evidence that Mr. Heathridge was the agent of the defendant in charge of its Tulsa business, and had been endeavoring for some time before the sale of these pumps *136 to collect a bill owing to the defendant by S. L. Martin for something over $600. This indebtedness became a part of the purchase price of the pumps. The witness S. L. Martin testified that at the time the conditional sales contract was executed by himself to the plaintiff, Mr. Deathridge was present in his office, both ■ while the negotiations were going on for the purchase of the pumps from the plaintiff by Mr. Martin and when the conditional sales contract was finally signed. Further, that Deathridge had ample opportunity to know exactly what was going- on. Mr. Deathridge did not appear as a witness. It appears from the testimony also that the agent, Deathridge, assisted and acted in conjunction with a Mr. Hultsman, the vice president of the defendant company, in making the deal to purchase the same from Martin. It is a generally recognized rule of law that the knowledge of the agent is imputed to the principal in connection with any transaction conducted by, or participated in, by the agent in behalf of the principal.

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

Related

CITY OF STILLWATER v. BLOCK 40 SOUTH
2021 OK CIV APP 29 (Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, 2021)
State ex rel. Fisher v. Heritage National Insurance Co.
2006 OK CIV APP 119 (Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, 2006)
Will v. Jones
1969 OK CIV APP 16 (Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, 1969)
Dobson & Johnson, Inc. v. Waldron
336 S.W.2d 313 (Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 1960)
Smith v. Benson
1953 OK 298 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1953)
Newsom v. Watson
1946 OK 16 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1946)
Gibson Oil Co. v. Hayes Equipment Mfg. Co.
1937 OK 124 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1937)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1933 OK 142, 21 P.2d 17, 163 Okla. 134, 88 A.L.R. 104, 1933 Okla. LEXIS 651, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gibson-oil-co-v-hayes-equipment-manufacturing-co-okla-1933.