Louisville Silo & Tank Co. v. Thweatt

295 S.W. 710, 174 Ark. 437, 1927 Ark. LEXIS 385
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedJune 20, 1927
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 295 S.W. 710 (Louisville Silo & Tank Co. v. Thweatt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Louisville Silo & Tank Co. v. Thweatt, 295 S.W. 710, 174 Ark. 437, 1927 Ark. LEXIS 385 (Ark. 1927).

Opinion

Smith, J.

Appellee filed a complaint on February 9, Í925, against appellant, which contained the following allegations:

That, on or about September 3Ó, 1918, he purchased from the defendant a steel granary, to be used by him in storing his rice crop. Said granary was warranted to be fit and suitable for the purpose for which it was sold and to be so constructed as to keep rice stored therein perfectly dry and prevent any damage on account of excessive moisture. The granary was installed in the fall of 1918, and, in October of that year, plaintiff stored Ms 1918 rice crop therein, where it remained until the early part of 1919,' and, upon removing the rice from the granary, it was found that said granary had permitted such a large inflow of water that 250 bushels of the rice were destroyed. The defendant, upon being notified, attempted to repair the granary, and assured plaintiff that it had been repaired and would not leak, and that rice could be stored therein without loss or damage. Belying on this representation, and believing that the granary would no longer leak, plaintiff stored his 1919 rice crop in the granary in the fall of that year, but, upon removing it in January, 1920, it was found that 300 bushels of the .rice had been totally destroyed and was unfit for market by reason of having become wet. The defendant was notified of this damage, and again undertook to repair the granary and to put it in such condition that it would prevent the inflow of water, and, after making such repairs, again informed plaintiff that rice could be stored in said granary safely and without any fear of loss or damage on account of leakage. Belying On defendant’s assurance that such granary was in such condition that rice could be stored therein with safety, plaintiff stored his 1920 crop therein in the fall of that year, Tout, when removed in tlie following spring, it was found that 300 bushels of the rice had been totally destroyed. Said granary was purchased for the price of $769, of which $300 was paid upon its installation. The balance of $469- was evidenced by a promissory negotiable note, which had passed into the hands of an innocent purchaser for value before maturity, and plaintiff was required to pay it. Said granary was wholly unfit for the purpose for which it was sold, and is entirely without valúe, and plaintiff offered to return it, and made tender thereof. "Wherefore plaintiff prayed judgment for the purchase price of the granary, and for damages to his crops of rice.

To each of these causes of action the defendant interposed a demurrer upon the ground that it affirmatively and necessarily appeared from the face of the complaint that each cause of action was barred by the statute of limitations.

The court overruled the demurrer to the paragraph of the complaint" in which judgment for the purchase price of the granary was asked, but sustained the demurrer to the three paragraphs praying damages for the loss of the rice. The defendant stood upon its demurrer, and declined to plead further, and judgment was rendered against it for the purchase price of the granary, and the complaint was dismissed as to the claims for damages to the rice. From this judgment the defendant has appealed, and the plaintiff has prosecuted a cross-appeal.

Appellant insists that all the causes of action sued upon are barred, and that the court erred in not so' holding, while appellee insists that none are barred except the action for the damage to the rice stored in the granary in the fall of' 1918.

Section 6955, C. & M. Digest, reads as follows: “Actions on promissory notes, and other instruments in writing, not under rseal, shall be commenced within five years after the cause of action shall accrue, and not afterward.” ' ■ ' :

The granary was sold under a written contract, and the applicable statute of limitations to the action for damages for its breach is the statute quoted. Sims v. Miller, 151 Ark. 377, 236 S. W. 828.

Appellant insists, however, that, as more than five years expired between the installation of the granary and the institution of this suit, the cause of action to recover-for the breach of the warranty is barred.

Ordinarily a cause of action for breach of warranty in the sale of personal property accrues upon the delivery of the property, the warranty being- broken when made, and the. statute of limitations runs'from the date of delivery. This is true because the commencement of the limitation is contemporaneous with the origin of the cause of action. Woodland Oil Co. v. Byers & Co., 132 Am. St. Rep. 737, 223 Pa. 241, 72 A. 518.

A well-considered case, which supports appellant’s contention, is that of Fairbanks, Morse & Co. v. Smith, 99 S. W. 705, which was affirmed by the Supreme Court of Texas in 102 S. W. 908, 101 Tex. 24. The syllabus in that case reads as follows:

“Where there was a breach of a warranty that a gasoline engine would develop 34 horsepower-and would be suitable for pumping water to irrigate a crop of rice, the statute commenced to run against the buyer’s right of action and counterclaim for damages when the engine was installed, and not subsequently, when consequential damages arose in the loss of his crop, without regard to when he discovered the breach, and though the seller, after installing the engine, undertook to render it effective.”

The authorities, however, are divided on this question. The case of P. H. Sheehy Co. v. Eastern Importing & Mfg. Co., 44 App. D. C. 107, is extensively annotated in L. R. A. 1916F, 810. The syllabus in that case reads as follows: ’

“The statute of limitations upon an action for breach of warranty upon a sale of canned goods to a wholesaler for resale does not begin to run until the breach is discovered, or should have been discovered, by t.he retailers, where it was not practicable for the wholesaler to open the cans for inspection. ”

In the annotator’s note to the case last cited a number of cases in harmony with it are reviewed. Among other cases reviewed is that of Felt v. Reynolds Rotary Fruit Evaporating Co., 52 Mich. 602, 18 N. W. 378, in which the opinion was written by Cooley, C. J. ■ In that case a fruit evaporator had been sold under a warranty, which was broken, and the manufacturer made an effort to fix the machine so as to make it comply with the warranty, but the attempt failed. . After keeping the evaporator for some months the purchaser tendered it back and demanded the return of the cash payment made and the surrender of notes given for the balance of the purchase money. When the offer was declined, suit was brought, and the statute of limitations was pleaded, it being insisted there, as it is here, that the statute of limitations against the action for the breach of the warranty began to run from the date of the 'delivery and installation of the machine.

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Bluebook (online)
295 S.W. 710, 174 Ark. 437, 1927 Ark. LEXIS 385, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/louisville-silo-tank-co-v-thweatt-ark-1927.