Kelvin Lumber & Supply Co. v. Copper State Mining Co.

232 S.W. 858, 1921 Tex. App. LEXIS 515
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 9, 1921
DocketNo. 810.
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 232 S.W. 858 (Kelvin Lumber & Supply Co. v. Copper State Mining Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kelvin Lumber & Supply Co. v. Copper State Mining Co., 232 S.W. 858, 1921 Tex. App. LEXIS 515 (Tex. Ct. App. 1921).

Opinion

HARPER, C. J.

At a former term this court rendered its opinion affirming this case, and thereafter granted a motion for rehearing, and held that the trial court was without jurisdiction. 203 S. W. 68⅛ The .Supreme Court of Texas granted a writ of error, and upon hearing held that the trial court had jurisdiction, and reversed and remanded the cause to this court “for disposition upon the other assignments.” 227 S. W. 938.

Upon return of the mandate, both appellants and appellees have filed motions for judgment. We have concluded that it would serve no good purpose to comment upon the points urged in support thereof, so have reviewed the case again, and are of the opinion that the following opinion being the first one agreed upon, expresses fully our opinions as to the law of the case, it is therefore rendered as of this date:

Opinion.

The Copper State Mining Company brought this suit in El Paso county, Tex., against the Kelvin Lumber Company and H. E. Kidder and E. Burns for certain ore, or the sum of $2,500, the alleged value of said ore, taken from a mining claim in the state of Arizona by said Kidder and Burns, and sued out a writ of garnishment against the Consolidated Kansas City Smelting & Refining Company, of El Paso, Tex., and the latter answered that it owed the appellant $1,710. For cause of action plaintiff alleged:

“That it is the owner of the Rough -.Rider mining claim in Arizona; that defendants Kidder and Burns, without its knowledge or consent, entered upon the claim and extracted ores therefrom, and delivered same to the Kelvin Lumber Company, to be' shipped to the smelter at El Paso; that neither of the parties named owned or had any right, title, or interest in or to the claim or the ores”

—and prayed judgment for the ore or its value. .

Kidder and Burns answered by general demurrer and general denial. The Kelvin Lumber Company, appellant, answered by general demurrer and general denial, and specially that about October 1, 1916, Kidder i and Burns sold said ore to it for value; that it shipped it to the Smelter Company, by reason of which said Smelter Company became indebted to it for the value thereof; that by reason of the garnishment it was prevented from collecting its value, to wit, $1,710, and was deprived of the use of same, to its damage in.the sum of $57; that it had purchased the ore in good faith, without notice of any claim or right of plaintiff thereto; that plaintiff had no right to it; that Kidder and Burns were in peaceable possession of the ore, and in actual possession, of the mining claim, and plaintiff made no objection to the ore being taken out, and being sold and delivered to it; it therefore is estopped from making any claim thereto.

Trial before the court without jury, and 'judgment entered for $1,493, from which this appeal.

*860 The trial court filed the following findings of fact and conclusions of law:

“The court finds that the plaintiff company, the Copper State Mining Company, and its grantors, had located in due form of law a mining claim known as the Rough Rider mining claim, situated in the Bunker Hill mining district, Graham county, state of Arizona, and that the plaintiff company in the form of law performed the annual assessment work upon the said daim, for the year 1915.
“II. That the defendants H. E. Kidder and E. Burns attempted to relocate the said Rough Rider mining claim in August, 1916; that the ore in question was taken from the Rough Rider claim by said Kidder and Bums after their attempted relocation of said daim.
“III. That the defendant Kelvin Eumber & Supply Company in good faith advanced money and credits to said Kidder and Burns for prosecuting development work on their attempted relocation, and for the purpose of assisting them in the extraction of ores therefrom.
“IV. That the ore in question is of the value of $1,493.
“Condusions of Law.
“And the court finds as his conclusions of law:
“I. That the attempted relocation of the said H. E. Kidder and E. Burns was void and of no effect, and that they were trespassers upon said property.
“II. That the better right to said mining property, the Rough Rider, is in plaintiff.
“HI. That the ore in question is the property of plaintiff, and plaintiff is entitled to the recovery of the same, or its value to the amount of $1,493.”

[1] The first and second assignments are that the plaintiff’s petition is subject to the general demurrer, because it is nowhere alleged therein that the appellee, or those tinder whom it claims, had any right or title to the mining claim from which the ore was taken, at the time it was taken, or at any time prior to the filing of the suit. The allegations in the petition quoted above were sufficient upon general demurrer to be the basis of cause of action .for conversion of personal property. Rains v. Herring, 68 Tex. 472, 5 S. W. 369; Tillman v. Fletcher, 78 Tex. 675, 15 S. W. 161; Towne’s Texas Pleading, pp. 3S9, 390; Chapman v. Witherspoon, 192 S. W. 281.

[2] The statement that plaintiff is the owner is quite meager, and, if it ha'd been especially excepted to, it should have been sustained, and plaintiff then required to amend, etc. Booth v. Pickett, 53 Tex. 439.

[3] By the sixth it is asserted that, because the court-rendered judgment for $1,493, instead of $1,710, the total amount due from the smelter, and refused to render judgment for defendant upon its cross-action for damages, for the difference, with interest thereon from the date the same was garnisheed, the judgment is not final. In Trammell v. Rosen, 106 Tex. 132, 157 S. W. 1161, the Supreme Court holds:

“There is no doubt that, if a set-off is presented by defendant in his pleadings, and attempted to be supported, * * * it will, whether allowed or disallowed, become res ad-judicata. It is settled by the judgment as conclusively, when it does not appear to have been allowed, as though there were an express finding against it.”

There are many cases in this state holding to the contrary, but this is the latest expression from the Supreme Court, and is therefore conclusive upon the question.

[4] It is suggested upon argument, not specifically by assignment in the brief, that because by plaintiff’s petition and proof it conclusively appears that its right to recover is dependent upon proof of title to the land from which the ore was taken in Arizona, this is not a transitory -cause of action which may be brought in this state, but that the state in which the land lies has exclusive jurisdiction.

The petition contains the averment that plaintiff is the owner of the mine, but the facts show that judgment was asked not for the trespass upon the lands, but for the ore, or its value. The ore, after it was extracted, became personal property. Hodges v. Hunter, 61 Fla. 280, 54 South. 811, 34 L. R. A. (N. S.) 994. See, also, note 26 L. R. A. (N. S.) 940; Missouri P. Ry. Co. v. Cullers, 81 Tex. 382, 17 S. W.

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

Related

Dahlstrom Corp. v. Martin
582 S.W.2d 159 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1979)
Nortex Oil & Gas Corp. v. Harbor Insurance Co.
456 S.W.2d 489 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1970)
Martin v. Darcy
357 S.W.2d 457 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1962)
Maddox v. Cummer-Graham Co.
277 S.W.2d 774 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1955)
Cage Brothers v. Whiteman
163 S.W.2d 638 (Texas Supreme Court, 1942)
Choice v. Texas Co.
2 F. Supp. 160 (N.D. Texas, 1933)
Ray v. Foutch
50 S.W.2d 380 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1932)
Stroud v. Guffey
3 S.W.2d 592 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1927)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
232 S.W. 858, 1921 Tex. App. LEXIS 515, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kelvin-lumber-supply-co-v-copper-state-mining-co-texapp-1921.