Lesassier v. Calogne & Sargent

3 Teiss. 62, 1905 La. App. LEXIS 114
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 11, 1905
DocketNo. 3769
StatusPublished

This text of 3 Teiss. 62 (Lesassier v. Calogne & Sargent) 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
Lesassier v. Calogne & Sargent, 3 Teiss. 62, 1905 La. App. LEXIS 114 (La. Ct. App. 1905).

Opinion

ESTOPINAL, J.

Plaintiff avers that he entered into a verbal contract with the defendant wherein they obligated themselves to buy from him 1344 cubic yards of cinders which he could have delivered to them at a profit of 55 cents per cubic yard, and that [63]*63defendants refusal to carry out their contract with him has caused him damages in the sum of $672.00, for which he now sues.

The facts briefly stated, as we find.them, are these: The contracting firm of Cook & Laurie, having secured the contract for the building of the Cold storage plant of the New Orleans Cold Storage and Warehouse Company, entered into a verbal contract with plaintiff, agreeing to buy from him all the cinders needed for the construction of certain portion of the plant, agreeing to pay plaintiff at the rate of $1.00 per cubic yard of cinders.

Subsequently Cook & Laurie, sub-let to the firm of Calogne & Sargent, defendants herein, the contract for that part of the work requiring the use of cinders, informing their sub-contractors that they (Cook & Laurie), had previously entered into a contract with the 'plaintiff for the cinders to be used in the Construction, and had agreed to pay $1.00 per cubic yard for same, and advised defendants to take over that contract with plaintiff. Accordingly, Cook, acting for his firm, and Colonge for his, by appointment, met paintiff to discuss the subject matter of the cinders, at which interview Colonge agreed to buy cinders from Plaintiff at the contract price originally made with Cook & Laurie, to-wit: $1.00 per cubic yard.

Defendants deny their liability to plaintiff, claiming that no contract was perfected between them and plaintiff, admitting, however, there was a promise to buy, deferentiating between that and what, in their conception, consitutes a contract.

Our learned Brother of the District Court who enjoyed the advantage of seeing and hearing witnesses, concluded that a perfect and binding contract was made by the parties, and our examination of the testimony satisfies us that he has made no error.

Mr. Cook, of Cook & Laurie, testifies, touching this interview, as follows:

Q. What did you say, if anything, to Colonge & Sargent, and with which member of the firm did you have any talk?
A. Well, I had my talk with Mr. Calonge.
Q. Well, did you mention the fact that you had already accepted the Lesassier offer of the cinders?
A. Well, after Mr. Calonge came and made a bid on this work [64]*64I told him I had already bought the cinders and the sand from Mr. Lesassier. Then we got to talking, and he asked me what price, and I told him a dollar a yard for the cinders. Well, before I closed up this contract I called him and Lesassier together, that is the best of my recollection, it has been some time; and they agreed that they would assume my contract with Lesassier.
Q Well, now, you say you had a talk with Mr. Calonge. Did you ever have a talk with Mr. Sargent ?
A. I don’t recollect that I ever did.
Q. Did Mr. Calonge express himself in any way in regard to this suggestion ?
A. Well, when he and Mr. Lesassier- came together. That is what I said before.
Q. Was_ he satisfied, or was he not satisfied?
A. Yes sir, is was satisfactory. That was the understanding.
By The Court.
Q. Were you present at the interview?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Between Mr. Calonge and Mr. Lesassier?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Can you tell what Mr. Lesassier said, and what Mr. Ca-longe said at that interview, the substance of the conversation ?
A. I have told you what was said.

In reply to a request by Counsel, the witness said: “Mr. Ca-longe agreed to accept my verbal contract that I had made with Mr. Lesassier with regard to cinders and sand. Of course, there was some little discussion in the matter, but finally it was agreed that Mr. Calonge would accept it.

Cook then testifies that he would not sub-let the contract to defendants if they had not agreed to take over his firm’s verbal contract with Lesassier.

Lesassier, the plaintiff, testifies, as follows:

Q. Mr. Lesassier, you have heard the testimony just given by Mr. Cook on the witness stand. Do you recall an occasion when Mr. Cook, Mr. Calonge and yourself had a conference in regard to the supplying of cinders to this warehouse company contract?
A. I do.
Q. What was that conversation, as you remember it?
[65]*65A. Why, Mr. Cook, by appointment between Mr. Calonge, Mr. Cook and myself, we met at Mr. Cook’s office, which was then on Baronne near St. Joseph street, right in the rear of the Aarons & Ott building, which he was just then building; and we three met there by appointment. Mr. Cook had previously told me that he had made arrangements with Messrs. Calonge & Sargent to do the concreting in the floor there, and to use the cinders and sand that he had contracted with me for, and we met and discussed the same thoroughly; we discussed it in all its phrases. I don’t suppose there could be any doubt about the agreement at all, and Mr. Calonge, who represented Calonge & Sargent, at the meeting, assumed Mr. Cook’s contract with me.
Q. Did you then proceed to deliver cinders?
A. I did.

It appears that a portion of the cinders furnished by plaintiff were rejected by the- Superintendent in charge of the building, which fact is not unusual, we are informed in the record, whereupon defendants, notwithstanding the assurance by the plaintiff that he was both willing and able to deliver the cinders, demanded of him a written contract and a bond. To this plaintiff answered: “If you wanted a bond you should have asked me in the conversatipn at the time we three met at Mr. Cook’s office.”

Calonge then put the direct question to plainiff “Can you deliver, me the cinders?” Plaintiff replying that he was ready to start the next day. He was met with the answer that he could not start until he had furnished a bond, to which paintiff demurred, saying that this was not in the agreement.

Mr. Cook, upon being recalled, was asked:

Q. Was there a general conversation, participated in between yourself, Mr. Calonge and Mr. Lesassier on this whole subject matter ?
A. I said before there was a conversation; yes sir.
Q. Well, now, as a witness to that conversation, was the understanding completed at that time, or was there to be some subsequent arrangement made between Calonge and Sargent and Lesassier, in order to complete it?
A. I didn’t undertsand it in that way.
Q. How did you understand it?
[66]*66A. I understood that they settled the contract.
Q.

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Bluebook (online)
3 Teiss. 62, 1905 La. App. LEXIS 114, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lesassier-v-calogne-sargent-lactapp-1905.