Monroe v. Hickox, Mull & Hill Co.

107 N.W. 719, 144 Mich. 30, 1906 Mich. LEXIS 993
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedApril 30, 1906
DocketDocket No. 210
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 107 N.W. 719 (Monroe v. Hickox, Mull & Hill Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Monroe v. Hickox, Mull & Hill Co., 107 N.W. 719, 144 Mich. 30, 1906 Mich. LEXIS 993 (Mich. 1906).

Opinion

Blaib, J.

In February, 1904, the plaintiffs, copartners under the name of the “ Traverse City Sprayer Company,” entered into an agreement with the defendant, a 'Corporation, for the manufacture by it of 100 spraying machines. The contract contained, among other clauses, the following:

“We hereby propose to enter your order for 100 of your spraying machines complete, which includes attachments for both fruit trees and potatoes, as per sample submitted, at a price of thirty-two dollars ($32.00) each, net cash 30 ■days after date of shipment, it being understood that we, will make any changes without additional charge where •such changes do not increase our cost of manufacture. You, however, to pay us an additional price where any changes made by you will increase our cost of manufacture. * * * We agree to manufacture all machines like sample submitted, or as may be changed hereafter, according to clause 1 above, all to be done in a workmanshiplike manner, we to make good any defects in workmanship or material when called upon during the first •season.”

Plaintiff proposed an amendment to this contract before it was accepted and signed, as follows:

“It being specially agreed upon and understood that all machines manufactured under this contract shall work equally as well as the machine submitted as a sample.”

Defendant refused to accept this clause, saying in its letter:

“We cannot accept a condition that throws upon us the responsibility of all of the machines working equally as well as the sample submitted, as we will not have anything to do with the operation of the machines. As manufacturers, the only thing that we can agree to do is to build the machine like the sample you submitted and apply in the construction of the machines good workmanship and materials, being perfectly willing to stand the responsibility of any defects in that particular on our part. It, therefore, would only be necessary to use the clause in the contract that we had in the other one covering this jpoint.”

[32]*32Upon receipt of this letter, plaintiffs signed the contract in its final form cóntaining the clause originally proposed by defendant.

The plaintiff copartnership was composed of the following persons, viz.: John Monroe, contractor, dock builder, etc.; Lawrence Doerr, inventor and patentee of spraying machine; Harold S. Kneeland, mechanical engineer; William Loudon, machinist and manufacturer of wagons, carriages, and sleighs; Benjamin Thirlby, William Thirlby, and William Calkins, all competent machinists, doing business under the name of Traverse City IronWorks; C. L. Greilick, engaged in lumber mill business; Arthur E. Wilson, contractor and builder; Dr. Kneeland, well posted in agricultural implements. Each member of the firm was a competent man about machinery.

It was agreed between the parties that Mr. Doerr, the inventor of the machine, should go to defendant’s factory at Bowling Green, Ohio, and superintend the construction of one machine as a sample. Mr. Doerr went to the factory at Bowling Green about February 10, 1904, and remained there until about the 1st of March. The first machine was nearly completed when he left the factory. It was made up of the parts of the old machine as far as they could be used with the changes made. The frame and tongue were maple and beech and some of the castings were malleable iron. It is claimed by the plaintiffs that the machine built by Mr. Doerr was to be the sample or model machine, but this machine was shipped to plaintiffs for their use in making sales as soon as completed, about March 16, 1904. The machine the defendant’s employes understood to be the sample machine was made entirely new and was almost completed when Mr. Doerr left the factory. Mr. Doerr testified upon this subject, as follows:

“In these conversations with the employés of the factory they expressed it in their judgment that southern pine would be better than maple or beech for these purposes, and they also said that the gray castings would be [33]*33sufficient for the purpose for which they were to be used on these machines, and I told them if they were sufficient to answer the purpose and the pine was better than hardwood, I had no objections to their being used. I was there for the purpose of superintending the construction of the sample machine and wanted the machine as quick as I could get it. * * *

When I came back from the factory the second time, I made report to the other plaintiffs in the case, telling them as near as possible how near the sample machine was done when I left and that everything was satisfactory to me as far as the sample machine was concerned. I told the plaintiffs about the use of the pine in the machines. I did not tell them anything about the cast iron because I did not know whether the cast iron would stand the test or not and had no idea whether they would be used. I told the employés of the defendant of what the sample machine was made and that I was the inventor of the machine and understood the mechanism of it and am accustomed to hardware and understand machinery and told the employés of the said defendant in talking about gray castings that if the things were strong enough I had no objection. I wanted a strong and durable built machine. • I told them that [if] cast iron was strong enough, its use was immaterial to me, and I had nothing to say about it. I told them I didn’t think pine was as good as hardwood, but if it was as good I had no objection to its use. The sample machine was all I' had anything to do with. ”

The defendant substituted, in constructing the machines, long leaf southern pine for maple and cast iron for certain malleable iron castings. The defendant shipped 25 of the machines April 2, 1904. They were examined by at least three of the plaintiffs, Kneeland, Doerr, and Lou-don. Upon receipt and examination of the machines the plaintiffs wrote a letter complaining of defects in the machines, as follows: Bad painting, small cotter pins, pet cock not at 40 gallon mark, no bolts to fasten seats to frame and no'connecting rods, various parts bunched together, requiring sorting to assemble the machines. The defendant promptly replied, explaining the cause of the defects mentioned, offering to make them good or pay the ex[34]*34pense of doing so, and sending the parts by express that were missing. The missing parts were so forwarded and were received. No other complaint as to construction of machines was ever made, and no demands were ever made upon the defendant to make good any defects in workmanship or materials.

When Mr. Mull, defendant’s president, met the plaintiffs in June and in August, he told them to make a list of the parts they desired and the defendant would send them. The plaintiffs received the first 25 machines about April 9th. On May 31st, they paid the defendant $1,000 on the contract. When Mr. Mull was at Traverse City, on June 25th, 51 machines had been shipped to plaintiffs and 44 were in defendant’s warehouse at Toledo. It was then agreed that if on his return he would wire plaintiffs that the machines had all been shipped, they would pay $2,200 more. This covered the contract price, but not the bill for extra work. On July 1st the plaintiffs paid $1,000, and July 7th, $1,200.

Plaintiffs gave evidence tending to show that the machines did not work properly on account of the change of materials, and claimed that they were worthless. Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
107 N.W. 719, 144 Mich. 30, 1906 Mich. LEXIS 993, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/monroe-v-hickox-mull-hill-co-mich-1906.