Guyandotte Coal Co. v. Virginian Electric & Machine Works

118 S.E. 512, 94 W. Va. 300, 1923 W. Va. LEXIS 141
CourtWest Virginia Supreme Court
DecidedJune 19, 1923
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 118 S.E. 512 (Guyandotte Coal Co. v. Virginian Electric & Machine Works) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering West Virginia Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Guyandotte Coal Co. v. Virginian Electric & Machine Works, 118 S.E. 512, 94 W. Va. 300, 1923 W. Va. LEXIS 141 (W. Va. 1923).

Opinion

McGinnis, Judge:

This suit is an action of trespass on the case in assumpsit.

The declaration contains a common count in assumpsit and also a special count, setting up that on the.day of July, 1920, the plaintiff purchased from the defendant for imme-miate use, a certain mining machine of the Goodman type, described as a 12AA Goodman machine, which was represented to the plaintiff by said defendant to be in good condition and working order and practically as good as a new machine of the same kind and make, and to have been used for a less time than one year, at the price of $3500.00 to be delivered by - the defendant to the plaintiff in a reasonable time from the date of purchase f. o. b. Birmingham, Alabama, freight allowed to Kitchen, W. Va., sight draft attached to bill of lading, and to be paid by the defendant on the arrival thereof at Kitchen, West* Virginia.

“And the plaintiff further avers that 'the said Goodman Machine so sold to it as aforesaid by the defendant was, by the defendant at the time of sale, represented to be equipped with trucks of the gauge of.inches, whereas the tracks in the plaintiff’s mine on which said trucks would run were and are of the gauge of 48 inches, and it was further represented by the defendant to the plaintiff that, when the trucks of said machine should be changed to the gauge of 48 inches, the said machine would be in condition for immediate use by said plaintiff. At the time when plaintiff purchased said machine it became and was necessary for the plaintiff in order to use said mining machine to purchase from the manufacturer of said machine the parts needed to change the gauge of its said trucks from the then existing gauge’thereof to the gauge of 48 inches, all of which the defendant then and there had notice-. And in consideration thereof and that.the said plaintiff at the like instance and request of the said defendant, did then and there undertake and faithfully promise the said- defendant to accept and receive the said Goodman 12AA mining machine and to pay for the same at the price aforesaid, the- said defendant, undertook and then and .there faithfully promised [303]*303the said plaintiff to deliver the said machine to the said plaintiff as aforesaid.
The said plaintiff avers that immediately upon the making of the aforesaid contract between the parties as aforesaid it proceeded to purchase, and did purchase, from the manufacturer of said machine the necessary parts to change the gauge of the trucks of said machine from the then existing gauge to the gauge of 48 inches, and which said parts were of the value of, to-wit: $500.00, in order that said parts might he received by the plaintiff and be available for use immediately upon the arrival of said machine at Kitchen, W. Va., of all which the defendant had notice. And the plaintiff avers that on the. day of Sept., 1920, the said defendant delivered to the said plaintiff f. o. b. Birmingham, Alabama, freight allowed to Kitchen, W. Va., sight draft attached to bill of lading, a Goodman 12AA mining machine representing the same to be the mining machine sold to the plaintiff by the defendant, and the plaintiff then and there paid to the defendant upon the arrival of - said machine, at Kitchen, West Virginia, the sum of $3500.00 as and for the price of the said machine so sold to it by said defendant; that the said Goodman Mining Machine so delivered as aforesaid was not merchantable and was not of good and suitable material, had been used for a greater time than one year and was not in practically as good condition as a new mining machine of the same kind and make would be in, but was badly out of repair and not in working order and had many of its parts broken and totally worthless to said plaintiff; that the said plaintiff immediately upon discovery that the said mining machine was unsuitable, and unfit for use and totally worthless to' the said plaintiff, to-wit, on the...... day of Sept., 1920, notified the said defendant that said mining machine was not according to the contract between the pai’ties, and the same was held at the defendant’s risk and subject to its order.”

On July 16, 1920, the plaintiff was engaged in the coal business at Kitchen, Logan County, O. G. Callihan.was its Superintendent, R. C. Scott was its Assistant Superintendent and G. W. Hill was its Mine Foreman. The defendant, [304]*304the Virginian Electric & Machine Works, was engaged in selling electrical and other mine supplies, with its place of business in the City of Charleston; E. M. Keatley was its President, William Crichton its General Manager, and H. C. Harker was, at the time, its traveling salesman and traveled in the Logan and N. & W. Coal Fields, with headquarters at Huntington, W. Va. His duties were to call on the mines and sell mine supplies. On the 15th day of July, 1920, Har-ber had a conversation with the plaintiff’s mine foreman at Kitchen, in which Harker told the mine foreman about a Goodman 12AA machine which Harker said was at the time owned by the defendant, his employer, that the machine was in good condition and had only been used a few months, by the Empire Coal Co. at Birmingham, Alabama; that on the same day Mr. Callihan, Superintendent of the plaintiff’s works, called him over the telephone and asked about this machine, about which he, Harker, had described to the mine ■foreman and asked if his company still had those machines, he told him yes, and Callihan requested him to come to Kitchen the next day, that his company wanted one of the machines in a hurry. Harker called on Callihan at Kitchen on the next day, July 16th, 1920, and represented the machine to Callihan as it had been represented to him, that the machine was supposed to be in first class condition, that it had only been run a very short time, and it was too high for the coal where it had been used, and the reason the company where they had been using it desired to get rid of it, was that they were replacing it with a low vein machine,. and the Guyandotte Coal Company could have immediate delivery of the machine, and that they closed the deal for the machine at $3500.00.

Harker also testifies that he obtained his information as to the description and condition of the machine from Mr. Crichton, general manager, of the defendant. The question as to whether this sale made by Harker was a completed transaction or was subject to the ratification or rejection of the defendant is raised in this case. Harker was a traveling salesman. There seems to be no attempt to show that Harker [305]*305was authorized to make this sale binding upon his employer, the defendant. Since there is no evidence showing said authority, we do not think that he had such power. The case of Bauman v. McManus et al, 10 L. R. A., N. S., 138, held that:

“Since in the absence of evidence to the contrary the presumption is that on order for goods taken by a commercial traveler is subject to approval by the house which he represents and no contract results until such order is accepted, etc. ****”

The authority of Harker to warrant the condition of the machine is specifically denied. The written order signed by Callihan, contains no express warranty of this machine. It is addressed to the defendant at Charleston. The only description given is, “1 — 12AA Goodman Machine Second Hand”. Can the plaintiff engraft a warranty upon this written order to conform to the statements of salesman Har-ker as to the condition of the machine ? We think not. This machine had not been seen by the defendant or examined by the plaintiff.

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Bluebook (online)
118 S.E. 512, 94 W. Va. 300, 1923 W. Va. LEXIS 141, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/guyandotte-coal-co-v-virginian-electric-machine-works-wva-1923.