O'Connor v. Hooper

36 P. 939, 102 Cal. 528, 1894 Cal. LEXIS 680
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court
DecidedMay 29, 1894
DocketNo. 18205
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 36 P. 939 (O'Connor v. Hooper) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
O'Connor v. Hooper, 36 P. 939, 102 Cal. 528, 1894 Cal. LEXIS 680 (Cal. 1894).

Opinion

Vanclief, C.

It is alleged in the complaint, substantially, that on the first day of September, 1891, the [529]*529defendant was indebted to the plaintiff in the sum of nine hundred and thirty-seven dollars and fifty-five cents for work and labor theretofore done and performed by plaintiff at defendant’s instance and request, in grading on Laguna street, between Clay and Washington streets, in the city and county of San Francisco; and that defendant has refused to pay said sum or any part thereof. By the answer of the defendant each allegation of the complaint is specifically denied.

The cause having been tried without a jury, the court found that the defendant was indebted to plaintiff for the alleged work and labor, including interest in the sum of six hundred and eighty-seven dollars and ninety-one cents, for which sum, with costs, judgment was rendered against defendant.

The defendant appeals from the judgment on the judgment-roll containing a bill of exceptions; but the bill of exceptions specifies no particular in which it is claimed that the evidence admitted is insufficient to justify the decision, and therefore raises no such question.

1. Defendant’s motion for nonsuit was not made on the ground that the evidence which had been admitted did not substantially tend to prove all the facts essential to plaintiff’s cause of action, but only on the same grounds upon which portions of the admitted evidence had been objected to when offered, and to the admission of which defendant duly excepted; so that the exception to the order denying the nonsuit added nothing to the exceptions before taken to the adinission of the evidence, and does not raise the question whether the admitted evidence tended to prove all the material allegations of the complaint; and, since errors in admitting evidence cannot be reviewed on a motion for nonsuit, it follows that the nonsuit was properly denied.

2. The plaintiff offered as evidence the following instrument:

“ This agreement, made and entered into on this — day of July, a. d. 1891, by and between James J. O’Con-nor, of the city and county of San Francisco, state of [530]*530California, party of the first part, and certain owners of property, lots, and lands fronting on Laguna street, between Clay and Washington streets, in the said city above mentioned, whose names are hereunto subscribed, each contracting severally, parties of the second part, witnesseth, that the said party of the first part, for and in consideration of the covenants of the said parties of the second part hereinafter expressed, promises, covenants, and agrees, to and with the said parties of the second part, that he will furnish all the materials, and perform the work of constructing in a good and workmanlike manner, of grading to the official grade said above-named street; also to macadamize the same, and to construct rock gutterways, and to lay redwood curbs where not already laid, or where granite curbs are not laid, at the following prices, viz:
“ Grading, per cubic yard, $.85, eighty-five cents.
“ Macadamizing and rock gutters, per front foot, one dollar and thirty cents.
“ Redwood curbs, per front foot, thirty cents.
“ Estimate of the number of cubic yards to be made by the city and county surveyor, all incidental expenses to be paid by the party of the first part.
“ And the said parties of the second part, in consideration of the premises, each for himself and not for the others, promise, covenant, and agree, to and with the said party, of the first part, that they will pay to said party of the first part, upon the completion of the work aforesaid to the satisfaction of the superintendent of public streets, highways, and squares, their pro rata of the total cost of the above-described work, each one paying therefor according to the ratio that their respective frontage bears to the whole frontage here represented.
In witness whereof the said parties have hereunto set their hands and seals the day and year aforesaid.
“ [signed] Jas. J. O’Connor,
“ 2927 Clay street.
“ [signed] John A. Hooper, “For grading only. 127 feet 8J inches.
[531]*531“ [signed] Robert Watt,
“ For grading only to center of street fronting my lot, 65 feet.
[signed] M. E. Castle,
For grading front of my lot to center of street, 62 feet, 8-i inches.”

To the introduction of this instrument the defendant objected on the grounds: 1. That the contract for grading, macadamizing, curbing, etc., was signed by plaintiff, the party of the first part, as an entire contract, whereas the parties of the second part severally limited the obligation of each to pay for only a specified part of the grading; and 2. That no authority from the board of supervisors, nor resolution of intention to do the work was shown.

I think the objection was properly overruled. The instrument expresses three distinct contracts by which each of the parties of the second part promised to pay to the party of the first part his pro rata of the total cost of the grading only, “ according to the ratio that his frontage bears to the whole frontage,” at the rate of eighty-five cents per cubic yard, the whole frontage being five hundred and ten feet nine inches, and the frontage of defendant, for which he promised to pay, being one hundred and twenty-seven feet eight inches. The effect of each of these contracts is the same as if it had been written on a separate paper. As written, the instrument is of the nature of a subscription contract, whereby the obligation of each subscriber is limited and several, and not joint.

As to the objection that the work was not lawfully authorized by the board of supervisors, it is only necessary to say that, whether so authorized or not, the contract for doing it does not appear to have been illegal, nor for any reason invalid. Yet it was proved that by resolution of the board of supervisors the mayor was “authorized to enter into private contracts for the performance of certain street work, for a portion of the [532]*532cost of which the city is assessable at the same rates as agreed upon by the property owners, to wit:

“ With J. J. O’Connor, to grade the official line and grade Laguna street, between Washington and Clay streets in front of Lafayette Park.”

The evidence shows this to have been the same work described in the contract in question, and that the city contracted with plaintiff to do its proportion of the grading, and paid him for it at the rate of eighty-five cents per cubic yard.

3. The contract provides that the estimate of the number of cubic yards is to be made by the city and county surveyor.

To prove the number of cubic yards plaintiff offered as evidence the following instrument:

“ (Duplicate No. 337.)
“ San Francisco, July 11, 1891.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
36 P. 939, 102 Cal. 528, 1894 Cal. LEXIS 680, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/oconnor-v-hooper-cal-1894.