Hemenway, Inc. v. Roach

175 So. 892, 1937 La. App. LEXIS 320
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 30, 1937
DocketNo. 5500.
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 175 So. 892 (Hemenway, Inc. v. Roach) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hemenway, Inc. v. Roach, 175 So. 892, 1937 La. App. LEXIS 320 (La. Ct. App. 1937).

Opinions

TALIAFERRO, Judge.

Plaintiff sold to defendant a milk-cooling unit, consisting of a Fairbanks-Morse three-horsepower engine, with pump and pulley, a Frigidaire compressor, a 24-can storage box, and accessory equipment. The sale was closed on October 28, 1935, by the execution of note and chattel mortgage. It was preceded by considerable discussion between defendant and plaintiff’s salesman. A concomitant of the sale was the obligation on plaintiff’s part to service the unit for one year without charge. The equipment was delivered and installed several days following the signing of the papers. The total of the note, including carrying charges is $1,023.32, payable in 35 monthly installments of $28.44 each; the first falling due December 15th. No part of the price has been paid. This suit to foreclose the mortgage via ordinaria was filed on May 25, 1936.

Defendant resists the suit and seeks to be absolved from liability on the note on several grounds, the substance of which is that the unit’s operation did not fulfill the guaranties made by plaintiff’s representative at the time of and prior to sale, and, inferentiaily, was useless for the purposes for which purchased. The specific defects in the unit parts and the guaranties made and breached are alleged to be as follows:

1. That the engine designed to furnish the motor power necessary to function the compressor was of inadequate horsepower.

2. That defendant was promised a solid steel storage box, built in the city of Dallas, Tex., but an inferior one with wooden bot *893 tom, built in the city of Shreveport, was imposed upon him; that it had no drain and'developed leaks soon after installation.

3. That plaintiff’s representátive guaranteed that the unit would cool milk in quantities of 200. to 225 gallons in 40 minutes, whereas it requires from three to four hours to do so.

4. That at the time the sale was closed, he was promised that an aeriator would be furnished and installed free of cost to him, which was not done.

He avers that he is not an expert on milk-cooling machinery and relied upon the representations and guaranties of plaintiff’s salesman regarding the ability of said unit to fulfill the purposes for which purchased; that after being installed, it did not give the service expected or guaranteed; that it was wholly incapable of cooling milk ■to the degree necessary to preserve it for market; and fqr. all these reasons and causes, he pleads that he should be relieved from any obligation on the note and mortgage. He tendered return of the entire unit in his answer.

Defendant prevailed in the lower court and plaintiff brings this appeal. Defendant moves us to dismiss the appeal.

It is set up in this motion that no verbal motion for appeal was made in open court, but, on the contrary, the appeal was asked for and granted upon a written application wherein it was not prayed that appellee be cited and that no such citation in fact issued. The motion to dismiss does not declare that the written motion for the appeal was not presented in open court or that the order of appeal was not signed while the court was open. However, it is so stated in appellee’s brief. Appellant’s counsel take issue with this statement, and attach to their brief a letter from the clerk of the lower court advising of the rendition of judgment in the case and that the court would again open on March 8th at 9:30 a. m. The minute entry of this date indicates that the court was open. It reads:

“Motion for appeal filed by counsel for plaintiff and order signed.”

If the court was then in session and the written petition for the appeal was then and there presented and the order signed, this is sufficient. The right of appeal is an important one. It should not be denied except for good cause. Doubts are and should be resolved in favor of maintaining an appeal.

We do not think the motion to dismiss well founded. It is denied.

The case of Frankel v. Morse Timber Company, 140 La. 448, 73 So. 263, is directly in point.

Defendant’s home is in the north end of De Soto parish, a short hour’s drive by truck to the city of Shreveport. He owns and operates a farm and maintains thereon a herd of dairy cattle. The milk from these cows is sold daily to creameries in Shreveport. Prior to the purchase of the cooling unit, ice was exclusively used to reduce the milk’s temperature to the degree necessary to meet inspection tests after being trucked to the creamery. From 250 pounds to 600 pounds daily, dependent upon the season, were required to acquire and maintain the needed temperature. High-power electric current was not available to him. Prior and subsequent to the date of the sale to defendant, plaintiff, through its agents and salesmen, made special efforts to induce the dairymen in defendant’s section of the country, situated as was he, to purchase and install milk-cooling units of the same character as he purchased. I-Ialf a dozen or more sales were made. The advantages of the successful operation of such machinery are obvious. The item of operating expense is of the first importance, second to which was the elimination of the indispensable inconvenience and trouble attending daily buying, hauling, and handling of ice. Influenced by these considerations, defendant’s wife and two sons, who really conduct the dairy end of his business, induced defendant to become interested in purchasing the cooling unit. He was not very enthusiastic over the venture. He was assured by plaintiff’s agent that this unit would reduce the temperature of 200 or 225 gallons of milk in 10-gallon cans in the cooling box to 38 degrees or about within 45 minutes, with a daily fuel cost of approximately one-third the amount he was paying for ice. He was also assured that a boy or negro man of ordinary intelligence could operate it. To be accepted at the creamery, milk must be of not more than 50 degrees Fahrenheit. This is required by the Board of Health. As a rule five degrees will be lost on the trip to the creamery. Therefore, the milk’s temperature should not be above 45 degrees when it leaves the dairy. We *894 are convinced that for a goodly part of the time, perhaps half, this unit would not and did not cool the milk to this point. Frequently ice had to be put in the box to supplement the unit’s refrigeration to sufficiently cool the milk to warrant carrying it to the creamery. We are also convinced that much difficulty was experienced in getting the engine to run, although defendant’s sons have had some experience in operating motor vehicles. It goes without saying that for a milk-cooling plant to serve the purpose for which desired, it must be of as dependable character as the skill of man can produce. To meet the requirements of the health authorities, milk, after drawn from the cows, must 'be immediately cooled to the required degree and kept at that temperature until promptly delivered to the creamery. Any failure along this line marks the milk for rejection, followed by penalties to the producer. No one can afford to rely upon such a cooler if it should be out of commission for one-fourth, one-third, or half the time.

The testimony in this case is not unlike that in nearly all others of same character. It is quite conflicting on the main issues.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
175 So. 892, 1937 La. App. LEXIS 320, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hemenway-inc-v-roach-lactapp-1937.