Glanzer v. J. K. Armsby Co.

100 Misc. 476
Appellate Terms of the Supreme Court of New York·Decided July 15, 1917·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

Lehman, J.

The plaintiffs and the defendant on August 17, 1915, entered into a contract whereby the defendant sold or agreed to sell and the plaintiffs bought or agreed to buy 1,600 packages of “ Fava Beans, price $1.75 per cwt. F. O. B. Cars Sunset Gulf Shipping Point.” On the twenty-seventh day of [478] August the defendant shipped to the plaintiffs beans in attempted compliance with this contract. The bill of lading shows that the beans were “ consigned to Order of the J. K. Armsby Company. Destination, New York, State of New York. Notify Glanzer Brothers at New York, N. Y. Route Via Sunset Gulf. ’ ’ The bill of lading further contained a clause that: “ The surrender of this Original Order Bill of Lading properly indorsed shall be required before the delivery of the property. Inspection of property covered by this bill of lading will not be permitted unless provided by law or unless permission is indorsed on this original bill of lading or given in writing by the shipper.” The contract of sale contained a clause “ Terms: F. O. B. common shipping point California. Draft and Bill of Lading or Order attached. Net cash on arrival and examination at destination. Draft payable in New York, Chicago or San Francisco.” The bill of lading contained a clause “ Permit inspection.” The plaintiffs, however, did not want to pay for the goods till the presentation of a draft with bill of lading attached and till after inspection of the goods. On the day when the goods were shipped they delivered to the defendant the following draft:

“The J. K. Armsby Co. $1697.68
“ San Francisco, Cal., August 27th, 1915.
“At sight pay to the order of Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank of San Francisco Sixteen hundred ninety-seven and 68/100 Dollars, value received, charge to account of
“ Glanzer Brothers
“ by Glanzer Brothers.
“ To Glanzer Brothers
“ 92 East 4th Street
New York City.”

[479] The bill of lading indorsed in blank was apparently attached to this draft and the draft was presented to the plaintiffs on September seventh and paid by them. The beans covered by the bill of lading never arrived in New York but were seized and destroyed by Federal inspectors owing to the fact that they were “buggy.” The plaintiffs have now brought this action to recover the sum of $1,697.68, claiming that since the draft was given in payment for beans and they have never received any beans there has been an entire failure of consideration and they are entitled to recover the amount paid on the draft. At the trial the documents in the case were introduced in evidence by the plaintiffs and the facts stated above practically conceded. The plaintiffs thereupon rested and the defendant moved to. dismiss the complaint. Thereafter the defendant unsuccessfully attempted to introduce evidence to establish certain affirmative defenses and at the close of the case the trial justice directed a verdict in favor of the plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs made no attempt to prove that the beans delivered to the carrier were not in accordance with the contract of sale or even that they were destroyed by reason of conditions which existed at the time of the shipment. The plaintiffs can, therefore, recover only if under the contract of sale title was to pass only after delivery and inspection in New York and the right to payment was therefore contingent upon such arrival.

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Glanzer v. J. K. Armsby Co., 100 Misc. 476 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1917).

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