Pennsylvania Rubber Co. v. Detroit Shipbuilding Co.

152 N.W. 1071, 186 Mich. 305, 1915 Mich. LEXIS 686
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedJune 7, 1915
DocketDocket No. 28
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 152 N.W. 1071 (Pennsylvania Rubber Co. v. Detroit Shipbuilding 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
Pennsylvania Rubber Co. v. Detroit Shipbuilding Co., 152 N.W. 1071, 186 Mich. 305, 1915 Mich. LEXIS 686 (Mich. 1915).

Opinion

Stone, J.

This litigation grows out of the fact that in the fall of 1909 the parties made two contracts for the furnishing and, installation by the plaintiff of so-called rubber tiling upon two steamers then under construction by the defendant. Except that one contract was for steamer known as No. 180, afterwards named the Rochester, and the other for steamer known as No. 181, afterwards named the Octorara, they were identical. The dispute involves substan[307]*307tially the same questions as to both steamers. A suit was brought by plaintiff upon each contract, for failure to pay the agreed price., The pleas and notices were substantially the same in each case. At the trial the cases were consolidated. The declarations count upon the contracts, and allege performance and nonpayment of the contract price. The pl'eas are the general issue with notice of recoupment. The jury under the charge found a verdict for the full amount claimed by plaintiff, judgment was entered accordingly, and the defendant has brought error.

The assignments of error are based on the refusal to give defendant’s requests to charge, and on some language of the court in the charge as given. In 1909 the defendant was building its steamer No 180 (the Rochester) for the Richelieu & Ontario Navigation Company, and its steamer No. 181 (the Octorara) for the Erie & Western Transportation Company. The Rochester was a passenger steamer which ran between Youngstown and Ogdensburg, N. Y. The Octorara was a freight and passenger steamer of the Anchor Line, running between Buffalo and Duluth. Prior to the making of the contracts in question, the defendant had contracted with the plaintiff for the rubber tiling laid on the steamer City of Cleveland, which had been satisfactory and had been paid for, and the relations of the parties had been friendly. In the instant cases the contracts were dated September 30, 1909, and consisted of written orders and acceptances. On steamer No. 180, the order was for furnishing—

“all interlocking rubber tiling required on steamer No. 180, laid and finished complete. Workmanship and material to be of the best quality. Designs to be selected by this company. * * * Price 75 cents per square foot laid. Terms 30 days net, after completion and approval by architect, and acceptance by this company.”

[308]*308Plaintiff did the work on the Rochester in February and March, 1910, and on the Octorara in April, 1910. Frank E. Kirby was the architect of the Octorara, and Louis Keil of the Rochester. Following the acceptance of the two contracts, the defendant submitted to the plaintiff color designs for the two boats. It is undisputed that at this time, in the rubber-tiling business, two types of tiling were manufactured, one with a space between each block, or unit, to allow for expansion and to prevent “buckling;” the other on straight lines and close fitting, with space left around the edges close to the wall for the expansion. The type manufactured by plaintiff was the open-jointed type, which had been previously laid on the City of .Cleveland. Upon the trial, on behalf of the plaintiff there was testimony in detail as to the manufacture of the tiling at its factory at Jeannette, Pa., and that the rubber tiling shipped to the defendant was of the best quality, and exactly according to the terms of the contract. The manager of the tiling department of the plaintiff testified, among other things, as follows:

“The tiling as made by the Pennsylvania Rubber Company is made to fit loose at the time of manufacture. That allowance is made on account of the exceptional expansive condition of the material. I could explain that by saying it is something in the nature of linoleum; that unless sufficient allowance is made, the material will expand and buckle in the center— come up from the floor, or from the surface on which it is laid. One of the merits of the Pennsylvania tile, as we saw it at that time, was having this condition taken care of by allowing a space between the blocks of tile.”

The plaintiff’s branch manager at Detroit testified that plaintiff employed Wm. E. Brady & Co., of Detroit, to install the tile on the steamers; that witness saw and was in charge of the work as it progressed from day to day; that the men who did the work were [309]*309experienced men; that Mr. Jeffreys, the general superintendent of defendant, was on the boats off and on inspecting, and that he saw Mr. Keil on the boat once; that they did criticise in one or two instances —made the criticism of the tiling being a little too rough, or in one case where the tile was chipped off from the ends — that the workmen took that tiling up and replaced it with new pieces; that witness saw the rubber tiling on the two boats after it was fully completed; that the workmanship on the steamers, in so far as the rubber tiling was concerned, was of the best quality; that after the job was completed he called on Mr. Ketcham, the secretary of defendant, to get payment of the invoices, and he said it had not been satisfactory; the complaint was that the water seeped through, and it was not satisfactory to the owners of the boat; that subsequent to May 12th witness took up with defendant the question of the payment of the two invoices a number of times; they said the tiling was not right; they claimed it did not close up enough, the water seeped through; that after June 1st Mr. Lewis, the general manager of the plaintiff, came on and took up negotiations.. Witness further testified:

“At no_ time during these negotiations did I make any modification, written or otherwise, of the two contracts in question. I did not make any agreement with the Detroit Shipbuilding Company that they could keep that rubber for an indefinite time, or for any limited time beyond June 1st, to see whether or not they wanted to accept it. Mr. Lewis was the person in whom rested the final authority in this transaction, so far as the Pennsylvania Rubber Company is concerned.
“I inspected the tiling on the Octorara at the Detroit shipbuilding docks in August, 1910. The tiling looked fine. I think I discovered later in the color there was two or three different shades of green. In. August it looked all right; surface was even. It had not closed up as much as it might. It had begun to [310]*310close up. It should not have been all closed up at that time; traffic was necessary to close it up.
“Mr. Jeffreys and Mr. Ketcham, and the gentlemen I have referred to, began to find fault with the work soon after we commenced installing, I believe it was on the Octorara. * * * Mr. Jeffreys first complained that the tiling didn’t close up. Mr. Farr complained a little about the color; those two classes of complaints were, from the very beginning, color and closing; Mr. Keil didn’t complain of anything to me.”

Wm. E. Brady testified that his business was tile contracting, and had been for 20 years; that he superintended the laying of the tiling; that when the job was going on he looked at the tiling to see if it was being laid properly; that he found it was being laid all right. He further testified:

“Mr. Gobel and I went up to the boat after it was all completed. My idea of the floor was that the rubber was laid all right. Of course they were open— all rubber floors are open when they are first laid. It was a good job of rubber floor work. Of course, there was some joints open. All rubber floors are open when they are first laid, until they tighten up.

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Bluebook (online)
152 N.W. 1071, 186 Mich. 305, 1915 Mich. LEXIS 686, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pennsylvania-rubber-co-v-detroit-shipbuilding-co-mich-1915.