Lacey Plywood Co. v. Wienker

258 P.2d 477, 42 Wash. 2d 719, 1953 Wash. LEXIS 504
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedJune 16, 1953
Docket32184
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 258 P.2d 477 (Lacey Plywood Co. v. Wienker) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lacey Plywood Co. v. Wienker, 258 P.2d 477, 42 Wash. 2d 719, 1953 Wash. LEXIS 504 (Wash. 1953).

Opinions

Finley, J.

This is an action to recover a down payment of four thousand dollars. It is based upon plaintiff’s claimed rescission of a contract for the purchase of machinery adaptable for manufacturing plywood.

Lacey Plywood Co., Inc., a Washington corporation (hereinafter referred to as Plywood) agreed to purchase, and H. C. Wienker, d/b/a Wienker Machinery Company (hereinafter referred to as Wienker) agreed to sell a used Baldwin Southwark steam plate press. The press, located at Binghamton, New York, was to be used by Plywood in its plant at Lacey, Washington. Neither of the parties inspected the press prior to their agreement of sale. Wienker had exhibited a photograph of a used steam plate press to representatives of Plywood. There is some dispute as to whether there was an understanding that the photograph showed the identical press that was the subject of the agreement or [720]*720another press of similar make, model, and design. Subsequently, Wienker actually inspected the press at Binghamton, and had it shipped to Seattle.

Advised of its arrival, two representatives of Plywood went to Seattle to inspect the press. The steam plates and, apparently, other parts of the press were heavily coated with dirt and grease or some other foreign substance to such an extent that an adequate inspection was difficult. It was mutually agreed that the machinery would be shipped to Plywood’s plant at Lacey, where a more thorough inspection could be made. The shipping charges from Seattle to Lacey were paid by Plywood.

Upon further inspection at Lacey, it was discovered that the steam plates were badly dented or pitted. Plywood officials also became convinced that other parts of the press were defective. It appeared that the piston or hydraulic ram was scored and gouged. Seemingly, it was thought that turning down the ram on a lathe would cause the clearance between it and the pressure cylinder or chamber to be so great that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve sufficient compression to operate the press. The plates and ram were removed from the press, and Wienker arranged to have them reconditioned in Seattle at his own expense. They were shipped back to Seattle by Plywood.

The press previously had been operated by a central pumping or pressure system. An individual pumping system had to be provided for its operation at Lacey. Wienker testified that he had ordered such a system and that it could have been obtained within a reasonable time; however, no pumping system was delivered to Plywood.

After the plates and ram were resurfaced in Seattle, they were returned to Plywood’s plant at Lacey. On the same day the plates and ram arrived at the Lacey plant, Plywood wrote a letter to Wienker, rescinding the sale. This letter read;

“After conferring with our legal counsel, we, as an officer of, and in behalf of, Lacey Plywood Company Inc., hereby declare that your firm has not delivered the small hot press ordered by us on June 9,1950, in conformance with the con[721]*721ditions of such purchase order and the conditions of your confirmation of June 12, 1950, and that you are in default because of nonperformance.

“Because of the foregoing conditions, we hereby notify you that we are now requesting a refund of the deposit of $4,000 made by us with the order, and we are herewith cancelling and revoking our order for the press, because of nonperformance on your part. We shall hold the parts of the press which have been delivered to our plant, shall not take delivery of additional parts for the press from this date, and will await your reply to this demand. You will note on our order that we required it, complete and in good working order within 30 days from June 9, 1950. [Signed Lacey Plywood Company Inc., J. E. Robertson Sec.-Treas.,]” (Italics ours.)

We gather from the above-quoted letter that Plywood was attempting to rescind because of alleged noncompliance by Wienker with (a) the condition contained in the purchase order requiring delivery within thirty days, and (b) the condition contained in the letter of June 12, 1950, which read “press in good working order.”

After writing the above-quoted letter, Plywood’s attorneys made a further demand for the return of the down payment of four thousand dollars. When Wienker refused to refund, a lawsuit was instituted to recover the four thousand dollars.

In its amended complaint, Plywood set up two alternative causes of action: (a) that Wienker had failed to deliver the press within thirty days, as allegedly agreed upon; (b) that the press “which was ordered; was not, in fact, delivered, since the press delivered did not meet the specifications on which the order was made,” and “it was represented by the seller that the press was in good working order and the press would develop a pressure of 200 pounds per square inch . . . that in fact the press was not in good working order, the same was neither complete nor would it have been in good working order had the same been complete, since the parts delivered were in serious need of a complete overhauling and considerable machining before the press could have been used for any purpose.”

[722]*722At the trial, there was considerable dispute as to whether the agreement between the parties was to be based upon a purchase order from Plywood, dated June 9, 1950, as well as upon Wienker’s so-called letter of confirmation, dated June 12, 1950. Plywood’s purchase order contained a provision indicating delivery in thirty days. Wienker’s letter contained no such specific provision relative to delivery, but did contain a provision which read: “Press in good working order,” and among other things, a provision reading: “Delivery: subject to prior sale, fire, strikes, or contingencies beyond seller’s control.” Mr. Wendell J. Sala testified that he was president and general manager of Plywood on or about June 9, 1950, and that he delivered the purchase order and a check for four thousand' dollars to H. C. Wienker at his office in Seattle on June 12, 1950. Mr. Sala testified:

“The purchase order, the original purchase order made out by Lacey Plywood, was given to him, and he in turn prepared this letter. Which I have just looked at. And I was told at the time that the letter was a confirmation of the purchase order. Consequently, I signed the letter. He agreed at that time that if he couldn’t make delivery on the press, that we would just simply cancel the order. That was the discussion I had with him. Because if we couldn’t receive it, it would be valueless.”

The trial court rejected Plywood’s theory that the contract was based on both the purchase order and the letter referred to heretofore. The position was taken that the contractual relationships of the parties would have to be determined solely on the basis of the letter. From a practical standpoint, this eliminated Plywood’s theory regarding the requirement for delivery in thirty days. As a result, considerable testimony offered by Plywood, relating to the requirement for delivery within thirty days, was kept out of the case.

After rejecting the theory that Wienker had agreed to deliver in thirty days, the court held that Plywood was justified in rescinding the sale for breach of a warranty that the press was in good working order. On this particular [723]

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

Related

Lacey Plywood Co. v. Wienker
258 P.2d 477 (Washington Supreme Court, 1953)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
258 P.2d 477, 42 Wash. 2d 719, 1953 Wash. LEXIS 504, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lacey-plywood-co-v-wienker-wash-1953.