Keene v. Newark Watch Case Material Co.

112 A.D. 7, 98 N.Y.S. 68, 1906 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 590
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York·Decided March 16, 1906·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

Ingraham, J.:

At the end of the testimony.counsel for the defendant moved for the direction of a verdict", and asked, if that motion was denied, that the defendant he permitted .to go to the jury. That motion was denied, and counsel for the plaintiff moved for the direction of a verdict for the plaintiff, which was granted. The.' defendant made no request to submit arty specific ’ question to- the jury.

. The action was based upon a contract, a. copy of which was annexed'to the answer of the defendant, and a bond given by the" defendant-to secure the performance of that contract, a copy of which was annexed to the complaint.

The contract was made between the plaintiff, of the first part, and , the Camrh Watch-Case Company, of the. second part. By it the plaintiff agreed to “ place into the possession of the party of the second part, for the purpose hereinafter mentioned, bars or quantities, of gold of customary weight and fineness, to.the value of four thousand ($1,000) dollars, currency of the United States "of America that the Camm Watch Case Company would use said gold so to be furnished in the. construction and manufacture of watch cases of the character thereinafter mentioned; that the plaintiff would continue to supply bars or. quantities of gold in accordance with the needs and demands of "the said company, such needs' and demands to arise solely by reason of and to' be limited to • the provisions and terms of the contract set forth, and in accordance with the needs of the business engaged in by the parties, to the agreement; that the said company would furnish the labor, machinery, alloy and all other constituent features incident to ,the production and making of the perfect, complete watch case pursuant to and, in accordance with the. terms of the -contract, the said company to construct and have ready for the market a sufficient number of watch cases to satisfy the demands and needs of the.business of, and in accordance with the orders given by the plaintiff, . and to deliver reasonably promptly to the plaintiff all the watch cases. manufactured by the said company pursuant to the agreement; the title to'all the gold supplied by the plaintiff to remain in the plaintiff [9] from the delivery of the same to the said, company throughout the manufacture of the watch cases constructed in accordance with the terms of the agreement and the return thereof to the party of the first part in watch-case form.; that the said company would render an account to the plaintiff at the termination of the contract of all the gold it will have received during the existence of the agreement and render an account at any and all reasonable times of the gold it had received upon the request of the party of the first part, during the existence of the contract; that the account so made should be a basis for determining the status of the parties as to the value and amount 'of gold furnished by the party of the first part to the party of the second part, and delivered, actually or constructively, by said party of the second part to the party of the first part in 'watch-case form. The party of the second part to be answerable in damages to the party of the first part for any loss in gold furnished under the provisions of the contract. The party of the second part to deliver at the office or place of -business of .the party of the first part, in the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, all the gold in gross remaining in the factory of the party of the second part, at the termination of the contract, for the purpose of finally settling accounts between the parties.

To secure the performance of this contract by the Camm Watch Case Company, the bond was given by which the Camm Watch Case Company as principal and the defendant as surety were held and firmly bound unto the plaintiff in the sum of $10,000, the condition being that if the principal “ shall well and truly discharge, at the termination of the said contract referred to herein, the obligations arising as hereinbefore set forth, that then these presents shall be and become null and void.” It was further understood, covenanted and agreed “that The New York* Watch Case Material Company * * * shall only be liable to the said Charles A. Keene, the obligee herein, for any loss of gold in an amount in excess of one-half of one percentum of all the gold furnished under the contract referred to herein.”

The complaint alleges that, in accordance with the agreement between the plaintiff and the Camm Watch Case Company, the [10] plaintiff furnished to the Camm Watch Case Company gold bars and materials of the value' of $49,000 from the 8th day of May, 1901, until the 1st day of September, 1901, and received from the said company gold watch cases in returnthat on the lash mentioned day the plaintiff demanded an accounting of the gold received by the Camm Watch Case Company, and upon an inventory being .made of the "plaintiff’s gold in the factory of the said company, a shortage was disclosed in the gold furnished by the plaintiff of the value of about $5,600.15 ; that the plaintiff thereupon demanded that the said Camm Watch Case Company make good the loss of gold by delivering to him. gold sufficient to balance the gold account, or give a cash equivalent therefor, with which demands the said company had not complied, and, therefore, there was á loss of $5,600.15, the value of the said gold.

The defendant demurred to this complaint; the demurrer Was overruled at the Special Term (39 Misc. Rep. 6) and that judgment was affirmed. by this court (81 App. Div. 48). Upon the trial the only question to be determined was as to the damage that the plaintiff sustained by reason of the loss of gold which had been furnished by the plaintiff to the Camm Watch Case Company, and whether the said company had satisfied all claims and obligations arising because of any loss in said gold so furnished, At the time the contract was executed there was gold in the Camm Watch Case factory of the value of $4,000, for which the plaintiff' paid to the Camm Company that amount. The plaintiff then continued to furnish gold as called-for by the Camm Watch Case Company until September, 1901. Some time ‘between the 9th and 23d of September, 1901, the plaintiff demanded an accounting from the Camm Company under the 9th clause of the contract. A detailed statement of the amount of gold furnished by the plaintiff was. made up, containing the dates- and amounts of the delivery of gold, which aggregated - $48,012.T4. There was a meeting at the office of the Cannn Company between the plaintiff and one of his employees, Mr. E. W. Camm, the president of the Camm Company, and a Mr. Arthur, the secretary of the defendant. These parties appear to have all taken part in this accounting. Each had a statement of the amount of gold furnished, and they all tallied and the amounts were checked up and balanced.. At the foot of this agreement the [11] president of the Camm Watch Case Company marked O. K., E. W. Camm.” This statement was received in evidence over the objection and exception of the defendant, and this exception is relied upon by the defendant on this appeal.

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Keene v. Newark Watch Case Material Co., 112 A.D. 7, 98 N.Y.S. 68, 1906 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 590 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1906).

112 A.D. 7 (Keene v. Newark Watch Case Material Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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