J. Thompson Manufacturing Co. v. Gunderson

49 L.R.A. 859, 82 N.W. 299, 106 Wis. 449, 1900 Wisc. LEXIS 60
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedApril 6, 1900
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 49 L.R.A. 859 (J. Thompson Manufacturing Co. v. Gunderson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
J. Thompson Manufacturing Co. v. Gunderson, 49 L.R.A. 859, 82 N.W. 299, 106 Wis. 449, 1900 Wisc. LEXIS 60 (Wis. 1900).

Opinion

BaRdebn, J.

The facts in this case are involved in a great deal of doubt and uncertainty. Indeed, the confusion is so great that the labors of the court have been greatly increased in endeavoring to arrive at the ultimate rights of the parties. The contract regarding which the main controversy has arisen is as follows:

“Beloit, Wis., May 18th, 1892.
,. “ G. 8. Gunderson, Beloit, Wis.: We will make and furnish and complete fifty tobacco transp. machines, built like your model planter, except we will furnish steel shoes instead of cast-iron, for the sum of forty dollars ($40.00) each. We are not to guaranty working of machines. You assume all risk, and will sell, set up, and start all machines, and get settlement for same. You to pay us six hundred dollars ($600.00) cash now, and the balance tó be settled by cash or good notes within ninety days. Respectfully,
“ J. Thompson & Sons Meg. Co.
•“Accepted. G. S. Gundeeson.”

Under this contract the plaintiff claims to have manufactured fifty machines, thirty-nine of which were delivered, and the remainder were held in the shop subject to defendant’s order. It appears that the defendant was the inventor of'the machine. It had been tested to a limited extent during the years prior to 1892 by a crude model made under defendant’s directions. In the early part of 1892 defendant caused a complete model to be made, which was the one taken to plaintiff’s shops, and was the one referred to in the contract. This model had a cast-iron instead of a steel shoe. Whether the gatherers, concerning which a great deal of [452]*452controversy has arisen, were attached to the model, or were simply delivered at the shops, is a matter of very much doubt. It is practically agreed, however, that the machines sent out in 1892 had no gatherers upon them, and that the defendant set up and attempted to operate his machines without them. These gatherers were made of a narrow;, strip of steel, polished on one side, and designed to run in the ground and press the earth up to the plant after it had been set. In order for them to do good work it was necessary that they scour. Their cost was about fifty cents for each machine.

It will be observed that the contract calls for a steel instead of a cast-iron shoe. The evidence shows that a large number of these machines (just how many no one can tell from the evidence) were sent out with cast-iron shoes,— whether with defendant’s consent and approval, or not, the evidence is equally uncertain. These facts, however, do appear : Prior to the date of the contract, plaintiff had manufactured a number of these machines,— just how many, no one appears to know. On May 14th one of the machines was sent to Spaulding, at Broadhead, and another to Wag-ley, at Orfordsville. On May 21st another was shipped to Perrigo, and on the 25th one to Poltz, at Clinton Junction,— each with a cast-iron shoe and without gatherers. On June 10th twenty more were sent to Spaulding. The defendant saw this consignment and knew that they had no gatherers and had the cast shoe. It is reasonably certain that the first four machines sent out had been made before the contract was drawn. It is equally certain that they were considered and treated as machines made under the contract. No one seems to be able to explain why the machines sent to Spaulding on June 10th had the cast-iron instead of the steel shoe, or why gatherers were not sent. The defendant knew of these facts before they were sent, and went out and set up and attempted to operate the machines, [453]*453without the least objection. The machines worked unsatisfactorily At defendant’s request, steel shoes were sent out, but for how many machines the evidence fails to give any light. The steel shoes failed to work because they would not scour. Only one of the machines sent out worked satisfactorily, and this was paid for. At some time before the opening of the season of 1893 the defendant bargained with plaintiff to remodel these machines according to his directions, for which he agreed to pay $5 each. Changes were made, but in how many no one seems to know. The machine was again tested in 1893, and failed to work because the shoes and gatherers would not scour.

The defendant claims that, if the machines had been made according to the contract, he could have sold the entire lot the first season and realized a handsome profit on each one. The case was submitted to the jury on that basis, with the added qualification, stated in the charge of the court, that the law implied a further condition to the contract,— that the steel to be used in shoes and gatherers should be of such quality as would scour in the soils of this country, and if they did not meet this requirement it was not a compliance with the contract.

' We do not think the case was fairly submitted to the jury. In the. first place, if the machines sent out the first year with the cast-iron shoes and without gatherers were sent with the knowledge and consent of defendant, he cannot hold the plaintiff responsible in damages for their failure to work. Or if, with full opportunity for examination and knowledge on his part of the variance between the machines contracted for and the ones furnished, he took them and failed to give the plaintiff timely notice that he did not accept them as being in compliance with the contract, the defects will be deemed waived. Such is the law of this state. Locke v. Williamson, 40 Wis. 377; Morehouse v. Comstock, 42 Wis. 626; McClure v. Jefferson, 85 Wis. 208. The [454]*454fact that the machines were to be made like tbe model furnished does not alter the rule, so long as the defects complained of are obvious and conspicuous, as they were in this case. There was evidence in the case from which the jury might have inferred that the cast-iron shoes were put on by defendant’s consent, and that he likewise acquiesced in sending out the machines without the gatherers. The evidence as to notice given defendant is vague and indefinite, and somewhat in dispute. Under the charge of the court, no' such fact was presented to the jury; and, being fairly in the case, it was error not to so submit it. The jury might well have found a waiver of the exact conditions of the contract, under the circumstances in proof.

An important question arises as to the true construction to be given to the contract in suit. The defendant seeks to apply the rule that when a manufacturer contracts to supply an article which he produces, to be applied to a particular purpose, so that the buyer necessarily trusts to the judgment and skill of the manufacturer, there is an implied warranty that it shall be reasonably fit for the purpose for which it is to be applied. This is the rule adopted by the court when he instructed the jury that the law implied an obligation on the part of plaintiff to use a quality of steel that would scour in the soils of this country. No such engagement appears on the face of the contract. The contract is to make a given number of machines according to the model, except that the shoes were to be steel instead of cast-iron. It is nothing more nor less than an executory contract to manufacture goods. The obligation imposed by the law, as stated by some of the authorities, is that the machines shall be free from any latent defect growing out of the process of manufacture. Durbrow & H. Mfg. Co. v. Cuming, 35 App. Div. 316; Cosgrove v. Bennett, 32 Minn. 371; Goulds v. Brophy, 42 Minn. 109; Carleton v Lombard, A. & Co.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Erickson v. Westfield Milling & Electric Light Co.
58 N.W.2d 437 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1953)
Dunck Tank Works, Inc. v. Sutherland
294 N.W. 510 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1940)
Richmond Pressed Metal Works v. Haley
154 S.E. 412 (Supreme Court of South Carolina, 1930)
Spokane County v. Pacific Bridge Co.
213 P. 151 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1923)
Seaside, City of v. Randles
180 P. 319 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1919)
Remsberg v. Hackney Manufacturing Co.
164 P. 792 (California Supreme Court, 1917)
Fort Wayne Printing Co. v. Hurley-Reilly Co.
157 N.W. 773 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1916)
Pennsylvania Rubber Co. v. Detroit Shipbuilding Co.
152 N.W. 1071 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1915)
Ross v. Northrup, King & Co.
144 N.W. 1124 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1914)
Kelsey v. J. W. Ringrose Net Co.
140 N.W. 66 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1913)
Archer v. Milwaukee Auto Engine & Supply Co.
129 N.W. 598 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1911)
La Crosse Plow Co. v. Brooks
126 N.W. 3 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1910)
Northfield National, Bank v. Arndt
112 N.W. 451 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1907)
Logeman Bros. v. R. J. Preuss Co.
111 N.W. 64 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1907)
Bostwick v. Mutual Life Insurance Co.
89 N.W. 538 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1903)
J. I. Case Plow Works v. Niles & Scott Co.
82 N.W. 568 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1900)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
49 L.R.A. 859, 82 N.W. 299, 106 Wis. 449, 1900 Wisc. LEXIS 60, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/j-thompson-manufacturing-co-v-gunderson-wis-1900.