L. Wemple Co. v. Felger Lumber Co.

125 So. 781, 12 La. App. 612, 1930 La. App. LEXIS 67
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 31, 1930
DocketNo. 3674
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 125 So. 781 (L. Wemple Co. v. Felger Lumber Co.) 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
L. Wemple Co. v. Felger Lumber Co., 125 So. 781, 12 La. App. 612, 1930 La. App. LEXIS 67 (La. Ct. App. 1930).

Opinion

WEBB, J.

This action was brought to recover judgment for $729.06, a balance alleged to be due on the price of timber alleged to have been cut and removed by defendant from'.lands belonging to plaintiff, and plaintiff appeals from a judgment rejecting its demands.

Plaintiff owned timbered lands and defendant operated a sawmill, and they had dealt with each other for some time with reference to the timber. From about July, 1925, to August, 1926, defendant cut and removed timber from the lands, and thereafter, from August, 1926, until November, 1927, the timber was cut by plaintiff and the logs delivered to defendant.

During the period that defendant cut and removed the timber, there was taken from the lands approximately 490,840 feet of cypress, ash, and other hardwood logs, for which defendant paid at the rate of $12.50 per 1,000 feet for the cypress and ash and $7 per 1,000 feet for the oak and other hardwoods, and the record shows that during the period plaintiff cut the timber and delivered the logs to defendant, from August, 1926, to November, 1927, there was approximately 830,103 feet accepted by defendant, and during the period the logs were delivered by plaintiff, defendant, at short intervals, rendered statements to plaintiff, showing the species, quality, and quantity of logs accepted and credits for same, and remitted the amount due, as shown by the statements.

The statements rendered from August, 1926, to June, 1927, show that there was approximately 578,830 feet of cypress, ash, [613]*613oak, and other hardwood logs accepted, of which 667 feet of the cypress and 3,545 feet of the ash was classed as No. 2, for which credit was given at the rate of $3 per 1,000 feet, and for the balance credit was given at the rate of $12.50 per 1,000 feet for the cypress and' ash and $7 per 1,000 feet for the oak and other hardwoods, and additional credits were allowed for hauling, etc., at the rate of $12.50 per 1;000 feet for the cypress and ash and $11.50 for 1,000 feet for the oak and other hardwoods, and the statements rendered from June, 1927, to November, 1927, show that there was 251,253 feet accepted, and that 74,913 feet of the cypress and ash and 4,089 feet of the oak and other hardwoods was classed as No. 2, and credits allowed as above.

There is not any amount claimed to be due on the timber cut or logs removed from the lands by defendant during the period from July, 1925, to August, 1926, or for the logs delivered by plaintiff during the period from August, 1926, to June, 1927, during which latter period the president of plaintiff company was in actual charge of its affairs and handled the statements rendered and remittances made by defendant.

The president of plaintiff company, however, became ill in June, 1927, and thereafter, until about November 1, 1927, the timber was cut and logs delivered by employees of plaintiff, and the Statements and remittances were handled by the secretary of plaintiff company, and when the president of plaintiff company recovered from his illness and resumed charge of plaintiff’s affairs he complained and protested against the right of defendant to have classified the logs and to pay for those classed as No. 2 at the rate of $3 per 1,000 feet, contending that under the agreement of the parties defendant was bound to pay for all logs accepted by it at the rate of $12.50 per 1,000 feet for cypress and ash and $7 per 1,000 feet for oak and other hardwoods, and the amount claimed here is the difference between the amount paid by defendant for the logs classed as No. 2 and the amount which plaintiff contends should have been paid under the agreement of the parties.

There were, however, as indicated, several agreements between the parties. First, there was a written agreement, of date March 27, 1925, which purports to have been a contract for the sale of the merchantable ash and cypress timber on sections 8 and 9 at the price of $12.50 per 1.000 feet, log scale, to be paid at the end of each month, as the timber was cut and the logs scaled; and, second, there was a verbal agreement, which was made in February, 1926, relative to the oak and other hardwoods on sections 8 and 9, and also relative to the cypress, ash, oak, and other hardwoods on sections 6 and 7 and other lands, under which it is conceded defendant cut and removed timber from the lands until August, 1926, paying for the logs at the rate of $12.50 for cypress and ash and $7 for oak, etc.

In August, 1926, there was another verbal agreement, under which plaintiff began cutting the timber from the lands and delivering the logs, and about the time plaintiff began delivering the logs, in August or September, 1926, there was another verbal agreement relative to grading the logs, and thereafter the statements rendered by defendant show that of the logs accepted by defendant in September,*October, November, and December, 1926, and January, 1927, there was, as previously stated, 667 feet of cypress and 3,545 feet of ash classed as No. 2 and paid for at the rate of $3 per 1.000 feet, and of the logs accepted after June, 1927, or in July, August, September, [614]*614October, and November, 1927, there was, as stated, 74,913 feet of cypress and ash and 4,089 feet of oak and other hardwoods classed as No. 2, and paid for at the rate of - $3 per 1,000 feet, and the question presented is whether or not, under the agreement • made by the parties in August or September, 1925, after plaintiff began to cut the timber and deliver the logs, defendant was given the right to classify the logs and to take those classed as No. 2 at $3 per 1.000 feet.

The president of plaintiff company and one of the representatives of defendant company were the only witnesses who had any knowledge of the various agreements of the parties; and while they apparently disagree in some respects as to all of the agreements, their version of the agreement made in August or September, 1927, after plaintiff began to cut the timber and deliver the logs to defendant, is especially conflicting.

Relative to the last agreement, the president of plaintiff company states that, after it began to deliver the logs, the representative of defendant company complained of the ash logs cut from sections 6 and 7, and as we gather from his statement, it was agreed that as to the ash logs taken from those sections defendant could take those classed as No. 2 at the rate of $3 per 1.000 feet until such time as the right should be withdrawn, which the president of plaintiff company states was withdrawn in January, 1927, but the representative of defendant company states that the agreement related to all'of the logs delivered by plaintiff, and he refers to the statements rendered by defendant company in September, October, November, and December, 1926, and January, 1927, which showed that cypress logs as well as ash were classified, and those classified as No. 2 paid for at the rate of $3 per 1,000 feet, as corroborating his version of the agreement.

The- president of plaintiff company states, however, that he had protested against the classification of the cypress logs, but that, as the amount involved was small, he had acquiesced and accepted payment on the basis of $3 per 1,000 feet, although, as we gather from his evidence, the persistent action of defendant company in classifying the cypress logs was one of the reasons for withdrawing the right to classify the ash logs. However, the representative of defendant company denies that there was any protest whatsoever made.

There was not any evidence introduced tending to show that the logs classed by defendant company as No.

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Bluebook (online)
125 So. 781, 12 La. App. 612, 1930 La. App. LEXIS 67, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/l-wemple-co-v-felger-lumber-co-lactapp-1930.