Hallidie Machinery Co. v. Whidbey Island Sand & Gravel Co.

131 P. 1156, 73 Wash. 403, 1913 Wash. LEXIS 1613
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedMay 6, 1913
DocketNo. 10773
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 131 P. 1156 (Hallidie Machinery Co. v. Whidbey Island Sand & Gravel Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hallidie Machinery Co. v. Whidbey Island Sand & Gravel Co., 131 P. 1156, 73 Wash. 403, 1913 Wash. LEXIS 1613 (Wash. 1913).

Opinion

Parker, J.

The plaintiff, Hallidie Machinery Company, seeks recovery from the defendants, Whidbey Island Sand & Gravel Company, as principal, and United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company, as surety, upon a redelivery bond executed by them in an action prosecuted by the machinery company against the sand and gravel company under the claim and delivery statutes. The plaintiff rests its right to recover upon the alleged failure of the sand and gravel company to return the property to the plaintiff in compliance with the conditions of the redelivery bond and judgment rendered in that action in its favor. A trial before the court and a jury resulted in a judgment and verdict in favor of the plaintiff in the sum of $2,296.30 damages, from which the defendants have appealed.

Prior to February 19, 1909, respondent commenced an action in the superior court for Whatcom county against appellant Sand and Gravel Company to recover possession of certain machinery, and caused the seizure thereof by the sheriff upon the execution of the usual bond and affidavit required by the claim and delivery statute, Rem. & Bal. Code, §§ 708, 709. On that day, appellant Sand and Gravel Company, as principal, and the guaranty company, as surety, executed in that action the redelivery bond here sued upon, conditioned as required by Rem. & Bal. Code, § 711, and thereby secured the return of the property to appellant Sand and Gravel Company. That action proceeded to trial before the court without a jury, resulting in judgment in usual [405]*405form in the alternative in favor of the respondent, awarding to it the property, and if delivery thereof could not be had, that respondent recover of appellant Sand and Gravel Company the value of the property, which was determined and fixed by the court in that judgment. Upon appeal from that judgment, it was affirmed by this court, our decision being reported in Hallidie Mach. Co. v. Whidbey Island Sand & Gravel Co., 62 Wash. 604, 114 Pac. 457, where a more detailed history of the case may be found. On June 7, 1911, which was very soon after the filing of the remittitur from our decision in the superior court, appellant tendered to respondent the machinery, claiming such tender to be in compliance with the redelivery bond executed by it in the claim and delivery action. Respondent refused to accept that tender, and seeks to justify its refusal upon the ground that the machinery was, at the time of the tender, not in substantially the same condition in which it was when redelivered to the appellant Sand and Gravel Company under the redelivery bond, but was, at the time of the tender, in a greatly depreciated condition and practically worthless, by reason of its use by appellant Sand and Gravel Company and its exposure to the elements during the period from its redelivery to appellant Sand and Gravel Company on February 11, 1909, until its tender to respondent on June 7, 1911. On July 12, 1911, this action was commenced against appellants upon the redelivery bond, seeking recovery of damages measured by the value of the property as fixed by the court in the judgment in the claim and delivery action.

It is contended by counsel for appellants that the evidence introduced was not sufficient to warrant the jury in concluding, as it manifestly did, that the machinery was not in substantially as good condition at the time of the tender as when it was reclaimed by appellant Sand and Gravel Company under the redelivery bond. We think it sufficient to say, in answer to this contention, that we find ample evidence, if believed by the jury, to warrant them in concluding that the [406]*406machinery was in fact very much depreciated in value, and not near in such good condition as it was when appellant Sand and Gravel Company reclaimed it under the redelivery bond. There was a period of some twenty-seven months elapsed from the date of reclaiming the property under the redelivery bond until return thereof, was offered to be made, during which period the machinery was used to a large extent by appellant Sand and Gravel Company in its plant, and during which period it was also to a considerable extent exposed to the elements, causing depreciation by rust and the usual results of such exposure. There was also competent testimony tending to show that portions of the machinery was very much worn, and that all of it was in some degree worn. We conclude that we cannot disturb the judgment because of want of evidence to support the jury’s conclusion upon this question.

Counsel for appellants contend that respondent was bound to accept return of the property when tendered, even though it may not have been in substantially as good condition as when it was reclaimed by appellant Sand and Gravel Company under the redelivery bond, and that respondent’s only remedy was an action for damages measured by the difference, if any, between the value of the property when reclaimed by appellant Sand and Gravel Company and when tendered to respondent. The trial court gave to the jury, among other instructions, the following:

“If. you find from the evidence that the property when tendered by the defendant, Whidbey Island Sand & Gravel Company, on or about June 6, 1911, was substantially in the same condition that it was when possession of the same passed to the defendant Whidbey Island Sand & Gravel Company on or about February 19, 1909, under and by virtue of the redelivery bond mentioned, then it becomes the legal duty of the plaintiff to accept the property, and in such case you should find for the defendant.
“If you find from the evidence by a fair preponderance thereof that the property when so tendered was so worn from [407]*407use and the operation of the same by the defendant after the execution of the redelivery bond, and was damaged after that time by the action of the rains, winds and salt water, or in either of these ways, so that the same was not in substantially the same condition it was when received by the defendant Whidbey Island Sand & Gravel Company under the bond, then and in such case, you are instructed that the plaintiff was under no legal obligation to receive the property, and in such case, you should find for the plaintiff.”

These instructions were in accordance with the theory upon which counsel for respondent rested its right to refuse the tender of the property and recover the full value thereof as determined by the judgment in the claim and delivery case, The giving of these instructions, and other rulings of the trial court in keeping therewith, are the principal claimed errors relied upon by counsel for appellants for reversal. The obligation resting upon the party holding the property, after giving a bond for its delivery to the other party, is stated in Shinn on Replevin, § 679, as follows:

“The plaintiff in replevin against whom a judgment for a return has been entered, is bound to restore the goods to the. defendant in the like good order and condition as when taken. The mere restoration of the goods in a damaged condition will not be in compliance with the conditions of his bond. This may be required by express terms of the statute, but if the statute does not expressly require it, it does so by implication.
“After a judgment for a return has been entered against the plaintiff, he can only satisfy it by a return of the identical property which was taken from the defendant under the writ. The defendant is not bound to accept any other.”

See, also, Fair v. Citizens’ State Bank of Arlington, 69 Kan.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
131 P. 1156, 73 Wash. 403, 1913 Wash. LEXIS 1613, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hallidie-machinery-co-v-whidbey-island-sand-gravel-co-wash-1913.