Lathers v. Wyman

45 N.W. 669, 76 Wis. 616, 1890 Wisc. LEXIS 152
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedApril 29, 1890
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 45 N.W. 669 (Lathers v. Wyman) 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
Lathers v. Wyman, 45 N.W. 669, 76 Wis. 616, 1890 Wisc. LEXIS 152 (Wis. 1890).

Opinion

Cassoday, J.

The principal controversies of fact in this case were as to whether the fifty plows, or rather the parts of the fifty plows, taken by the defendant on writs of attachment and execution against the property of E. L. Wagner and another, w'ere, at the time so taken, in fact the property of Wagner or the property of the plaintiff; and if they were the property of the plaintiff, then whether the plaintiff had said or done anything to estop him from recovering in this action. Both of these questions were submitted to the jury, and both resolved by them in favor of the plaintiff.

Upon the question of such ownership there was evidence tending to show, in effect, that the plaintiff resided at Shopiere in the town of Turtle, and wTas the son-in-law of E. L. Wagner; that Wagner was a blacksmith, and had worked at that business for many years, and, among other [618]*618places, in the west; that a short time prior to November, 1887, Wagner was indebted to the plaintiff for money borrowed a long time before, in the sum of $500 and interest; that it was then agreed between them that the plaintiff should furnish the shop and all the materials, and that Wagner should manufacture for the plaintiff 100 plows for breaking new prairie, of the description given, in time to be sold in Nebraska during the season of 1888,— that is to say, between April 1 and July 4, 1888; that the plaintiff was to pay him for such services at the rate of seven dollars for each plow so manufactured; that such services in making the first eighty or eighty-one of said plows should be applied on said indebtedness and in satisfaction thereof; that, in pursuance of such agreement, the plaintiff rented a shop in Turtleville in said town, to be used for such manufacture and until the plows should all be manufactured, and bought coal to run the shop, and purchased iron, steel, wood, handles, beams, clevises, material, and stock out of which to manufacture the plows; and that on November 20, 1887, Wagner commenced such manufacture, and continued the same until March 6, 1888, when the parts of the fifty plows were taken by the defendant; that at that time such fifty plows were fully completed, except it would have required about seventeen days’ additional work, worth two dollars per day, to complete the same; that ten of them were fully completed and set up. There is plenty of evidence that the plaintiff demanded possession of the property, and requested its return, soon after it was first taken; and that such demand and request was repeated as often as one attachment wTent down for defects in the proceedings, and the property seized on another.

Exception is taken because the court charged the jury upon the ownership of the property, in effect, that, if the plows in question belonged to the plaintiff,— if his claim to them was supported by the evidence,— then he was en[619]*619titled to recover; and, on the other hand, if they belonged to Wagner, then he was not entitled to recover. The objection to such charge is that it ignored that branch of the defense based upon estoppel. Manifestly the jury could not have been misled in that particular, since the court subsequently very fully and fairly charged the jury on the subject of estoppel. There is no repugnancy, nor inconsistency in the two portions of the charge, and they should be considered together. Besides, the evidence on the part of the defendant, on the subject of estoppel, is so weak as to generate much doubt as to whether the defendant wras entitled to have that question submitted to the jury.

The defendant requested two instructions on the subject of estoppel. The first was to the effect that if the property was so taken by the officer and the defendant “ in good faith,” then that the plaintiff was bound to notify the defendant or the officer in the manner therein stated. The evidence is substantially conclusive that such notification was given, or at least such demand and claim of the property on the part of the plaintiff was made, as to dissipate any pretense of good faith on the part of the defendant, and hence to render such instruction inappropriate to the evidence. The second of such instructions is to the effect that if the plaintiff in bad faith intentionally neglected to give such full and sufficient notice, and thus permitted such retention and sale of the property, and the defendant took and sold the same in good faith, then the plaintiff could not recover. This, as a whole, is inapplicable to the facts, and besides, so far as applicable, is covered by the general charge. It follows that the several exceptions taken to the charge and rulings of the court as to the ownership of the property and the subject of estoppel, must be overruled.

The principal questions of law involved relate to the damages recoverable and recovered. On the question of [620]*620damages, there is, in addition to the evidence mentioned, testimony on the part of the plaintiff to the effect that the plow was known in the western country as “ the grasshopper plow;” that Wagner had manufactured them in the western country during most of the ten years next preceding the trial; that there was a cutter, a standard, and a lay to it; that in place of the mould-board there were iron rods to turn over the sod; that the plows were made with a bottom; that the lay was bolted to it, and the cutter was bolted on the side of the plow and a standard; that the length of the rods taken together was about ten feet for a sixteen-inch plow, and eleven feet for an eighteen-inch plow; that there were other little irons to hold the handles and such things; that the lay, the land-side and the standard, without the rods, weighed from forty-three to forty-five pounds; that the rods weighed about one pound for each foot of the iron; that the lay and point of the plow were all steel; that the land-side and standard were all iron; that there were six eighteen-inch plows and forty-four sixteen-inch plows; that they were made for the western country, where there were no stones and only heavy sod; that there was substantially no market for them where made; that the material on each plow cost about -^3.75; that the iron-work on ten of the plows was completed, and the plows were set up at the time they were taken; that it required about seventeen days’ work to complete the parts of the other forty that were taken; that the complete cost of manufacturing the iron-work by Wagner out of the material so furnished by the plaintiff was $1 for each plow, without counting the coal or shop-rent; that the wood-work for the fifty plows which were not taken by the defendant was of the value of $45; that the plaintiff had an agreement with his brother-in-law residing at Hoard, Neb., for setting up the plows when they should arrive there, and putting one coat of paint on them, and selling them at a [621]*621commission of $1.50 each; that the cost of transportation was about seventy-five cents each; that the selling value of such plows at Hoard, Neb., was $14 each for the sixteen-inch plows, and $15 each for the eighteen-inch plows.

If such evidence was competent and reliable, then it is manifest that, had the fifty plows been completed, shipped, and sold as contemplated, there would have been realized on the sale over $700, and nearly $600 over and above the cost of transportation and commissions; and that the cost of such plows at the place of manufacture would have been $537.50, besides coal and shop rent.

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Related

Gregory v. Rosenkrans
47 N.W. 832 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1891)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
45 N.W. 669, 76 Wis. 616, 1890 Wisc. LEXIS 152, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lathers-v-wyman-wis-1890.