Goodwin Manufacturing Co. v. Fritsch Foundry & Machine Co.

89 S.W. 911, 115 Mo. App. 382, 1905 Mo. App. LEXIS 421
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 31, 1905
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 89 S.W. 911 (Goodwin Manufacturing Co. v. Fritsch Foundry & Machine 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
Goodwin Manufacturing Co. v. Fritsch Foundry & Machine Co., 89 S.W. 911, 115 Mo. App. 382, 1905 Mo. App. LEXIS 421 (Mo. Ct. App. 1905).

Opinion

GOODE, J.

— The parties to this action are both incorporated companies, doing business in the city of St. Louis. The plaintiff manufactures mining candles and the defendant machinery of different kinds. In May, 1899, the plaintiff gave the defendant an order to manufacture ten candle machines, to be used in making candles. Each of the machines was to mold 360 candles at a time. The plaintiff had been using machines which were manufactured by a concern in Cincinnati, Ohio. They contained molds for 96 candles, or about one-fourth of the capacity of the machines ordered of the defendant. Tt appears tlie Cincinnati machine was patented, but the defendant said it could manufacture machines like it by making some slight alterations, which would prevent an infringement of the patents. Eight of the machines were manufactured and delivered to the plaintiff and paid for in due course of business. The cost of the eight was $2,280, or $285 each. The testimony for the plaintiff is that these machines, instead of being according to contract, were so defective in construction as to be useless and worthless. The petition says defendant agreed to furnish machines which would manufacture candles weighing six to the pound, and that this would require a longer mold than the machines plaintiff was using; that [387]*387the new machines were to he so constructed that the candles molded in them could he cooled by water; whereas the candles in the old machines were cooled by air. The alleged faults of the machines furnished by the defendant are these: First, the molds at the bottom were so constructed, in respect of having larger holes in them than the old machines had, and lacking flanges such as were on the old ones, that water seeped in and wet the candlewicks; second, the molds broke in expanding and contracting, owing to the necessity, entailed by their faulty construction, of screwing them very tight to keep the water out; third, the molds were of shorter diameter than those in the old machines so that the candles did not run six to the pound as it was agreed they should; fourth, the sides of the pans on the tops of the molds were one-quarter of an inch lower than the sides of the pans on the machines in use by the plaintiff and, in consequence, permitted the ends of the candles to cool so rapidly that the ends were not smooth but had airholes in them; fifth, the racks above the machines would not hold the candles in proper position for cooling. The testimony for the plaintiff conduced to prove the machines furnished by the defendant had each of those faults and because of them were worthless, as marketable candles could not be molded in them. The eight machines were delivered to the plaintiff at different times from August 31 to November 27, 1899. A few months afterwards the molds were connected with the motor machinery in the factory and an unsuccessful attempt made to manufacture candles with them. Defendant’s officers were notified of their defects and, from time to time, employees of the defendant worked on the molds in an effort to remedy their faults. The evidence for the plaintiff goes to show that Arthur Fritsch, president of the defendant company, repeatedly promised to put the molds in working order. Plaintiff’s officers had purchased other machinery of defendant which at first did not operate satisfactorily, but had been made to by de[388]*388fendant, and therefore, reliance was placed on defendant’s promises in this instance. There was an account current between the parties for different pieces of machinery plaintiff had purchased, on which account payments were made from time to time, and the effect of these payments was to cover the price of the eight machines in controversy. Now, one defense to the action is that the plaintiff accepted, paid for and used the machines, instead of offering to return them and demanding repayment of their price within a reasonable time— in other words, that plaintiff did not seek to rescind the contract promptly after obtaining knowledge of the faults of the machines. The demand for the return of the money and the tender of the machines to the defendant occurred November 13,1901, and was refused by the defendant on the following day on the ground that it had fully complied with its contract.

The instructions requested by the defendant on this phase of the case, except a peremptory one for a verdict in its favor, were given, and we think were fair. The jury were advised that plaintiff by receiving, using and paying for the machines, created a presumption that it accepted them and thereby precluded itself from recovering in the present action. We understand that charge to mean there was, from the facts stated, a rebuttable legal presumption of acceptance, which threw the burden of proof on the plaintiff to establish that it had not in fact accepted the machines. This is apparent from the concluding paragraph of the charge, wherein the jury were informed that the burden of proving non-acceptance was on the plaintiff. The jury were further told that it was plaintiff’s duty to examine the machines within a reasonable time after they were delivered to ascertain if they conformed to the contract, and if found not to conform, to notify the defendant; and unless plaintiff inspected the machines and rejected the same for non-compliance with the contract within a reasonable time, considering the nature and character of the [389]*389machines, the defects complained of, and the facilities and opportunities plaintiff had for making an inspection, it was not entitled to recover. When a chattel is delivered to a buyer, he must reject it within a reasonable time thereafter, if it is not in accordance with the contract of sale, or he will be denied the right to rescind. [World Pub. Co. v. Hill, 81 Mo. App. 277.] According to the testimony in behalf of the plaintiff, there never was a thought of accepting the machines in controversy as in compliance with the contract. Constant protests were addressed to the defendant concerning the imperfections, with requests that the molds be made to conform to the agreement and put in good working order. These requests were received in good part by defendant, efforts made to adjust the machines and promises given to make them work well. We overrule the respondent’s contention that the jury should have been directed to return a verdict in its favor on the ground that the evidence conclusively proved plaintiff accepted the machines as they were.

Respondent raised the point that the court erred in receiving parol testimony to supplement the written contract between the parties regarding the machines. The contract, so far as it was written, was in two letters. In one, dated May 3, 1899, the defendant stated that it confirmed its verbal quotations of $285 for the machines intended to mold 360 candles at one setting, and $250 for the smaller machines of the same capacity; workmanship and material to be first-class in every respect. The other letter was addressed to the defendant by the plaintiff May 5, 1899, and in it plaintiff agreed to what was said in defendant’s letter of May 3d, with the qualification that the price of the larger machines was to be $265, if defendant could make them for that price. There was no answer to this letter, although one was requested. The letters do not purport to be a complete expression of the terms of the contract. They con[390]*390tain no specifications regarding what kind of molds were meant, but simply give tbe prices of tbe two sizes; and are indefinite even as to tbe price of tbe larger machines. Oral testimony was competent to prove terms not mentioned and consistent with those which were mentioned. [Minnesota Co. v. Hardware Co., 81 Mo. App.

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Bluebook (online)
89 S.W. 911, 115 Mo. App. 382, 1905 Mo. App. LEXIS 421, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/goodwin-manufacturing-co-v-fritsch-foundry-machine-co-moctapp-1905.