Pillsbury Flour Mills Co. v. Walsh

110 N.E. 96, 60 Ind. App. 76, 1915 Ind. App. LEXIS 17
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 5, 1915
DocketNo. 8,729
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 110 N.E. 96 (Pillsbury Flour Mills Co. v. Walsh) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pillsbury Flour Mills Co. v. Walsh, 110 N.E. 96, 60 Ind. App. 76, 1915 Ind. App. LEXIS 17 (Ind. Ct. App. 1915).

Opinion

Hottel, J.

This is an appeal from a judgment in [80]*80appellees’ favor in an action brought by appellant to recover damages for breach of contract. The complaint as originally filed was in two paragraphs, each predicated on a written contract for the sale of flour. The allegations of the first paragraph necessary to an understanding of the questions herein discussed are in substance as follows: On October 17, 1910, appellant sold to appellees 1,000 barrels of “XXXX” patent flour at $5 a barrel, to be paid for in cash on delivery at Evansville on or about May 1, 1911. In the sale and purchase of the flour appellant and appellees entered into a written contract filed with and made a part of such paragraph. On March 13, 1911, appellees repudiated the contract and advised appellant by letter that they refused to accept any of the flour so purchased by them. On May 1, 1911, appellant had on hand said 1,000 barrels. of flour and, was then ready and willing to deliver it in compliance with the terms of said contract. Appellees then refused, and have continuously since said date refused, to accept and pay for the flour pursuant to the agreement. At the time of the delivery, May 1, 1911, the flour was worth only $4 a barrel and appellant was compelled to and did sell the same at that price. Appellant was at all times ready and willing to perform all the conditions of the contract on his part to be performed and appellees at all times, after March 13, 1911, refused to comply with' the terms of said contract and refused to accept and receive said flour and in all respects repudiated said contract all to appellant’s damage in the sum of $1,000. The contract filed with this paragraph is as follows:

Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Mills Co., Ltd.
Agreement made at...............
No. 517. Date 10-17,1911.
Sold to Walsh Baking Co.
[81]*81Address.....................
Ship to Evansville, Ind.
Via.................. •
From................
When: May, 1911. '
Terms: A.D.
Number
Packages. Size. Kind. Brand. Price. 1000 bbl. bulk XXXX Patent 5.00 Del. at Evansville.
Scott, Salesman.
In consideration of above terms, I hereby purchase and agree to take above goods. Signature of Purchaser, Walsh Bak. Co.
W. P. Walsh.

The second paragraph is substantially the same as the first, except it is predicated on a contract of date of October 12, 1910, for 500 barrels of flour at $5.15 a barrel, to be delivered at Evansville March 3, or 4, 1911, and alleging that 275 barrels of such purchase by appellees were shipped to them at Evansville and were paid for by them according to the terms of said contract; that afterwards, to-wit, on March_, 1911, appellant shipped to appellees at Evansville the balance of the flour so purchased by them, to-wit, 225 barrels; that such flour arrived at Evansville in due time and appellees, without any cause whatever, refused to accept and receive said flour and ever thereafter refused to accept and pay for said flour pursuant to said contract; that on account of appellees’ refusal to accept and pay for said flour “appellant was compelled to and did sell said flour at the best price obtainable at that time; that by the terms of their contract appellees agreed to pay $5.15 a barrel for the flour, and appellant, on account of their refusal to accept and pay for said flour as aforesaid, was compelled to and did sell said [82]*82flour at and for the price of $4.25 a barrel.” The third paragraph is substantially the same as the first, except it alleged that the contract for the sale of the 1,000 barrels of flour was verbal and that a memorandum of such sale was at the time signed by the parties. The fourth paragraph is substantially the same as the second, except it alleges a verbal sale and purchase of the 500 barrels of flour and omits the averment that appellant “was compelled to and did sell said flour for the best price obtainable at that time.”

To the third and fourth paragraphs appellees filed a demurrer for want of facts which was overruled. There was an answer in four paragraphs to each paragraph of complaint and a reply in general denial. A trial by jury resulted in a verdict in appellant’s favor. A motion for new trial filed by appellees was overruled. Appellees then filed a motion in arrest of judgment which motion was sustained and the court entered a final order that appellant “take nothing by its action and that judgment on the verdict herein rendered be arrested, and forever rest.” From this final order appellant appeals and assigns as error the court’s ruling on the motion in arrest of judgment and the action of the court in rendering the final order.

1. [83]*832. [82]*82We are first met with an insistence by appellees that the words of the final order, “that the plaintiff take nothing,” are mere surplusage and should be disregarded; that on a motion in arrest neither party is entitled to a judgment against the other, and hence that such an order is not one from which an appeal will lie. It is true that where a motion in arrest of judgment is sustained no judgment for either party is contemplated. The only order or judgment necessary in such case is an order arresting the judgment. “Each party pays his own [83]*83costs and the plaintiff is at liberty to proceed de nono in a fresh action.” Crawford v. Crockett (1876), 55 Ind. 220; Raber v. Jones (1872), 40 Ind.436, 441 and cases cited. It seems to be well settled, however, that such an order puts an end to the

case in the court below, and is a disposition of the ease from which an appeal will lie. Powell v. Kinney (1843), 6 Blackf. 359, 360; State v. Scott (1840), 5 Blackf. 460, 461, note; Daugherty v. Midland Steel Co. (1899), 23 Ind. App. 78, 82, 53 N. E. 844, and cases cited.

3. In support of the action of the trial court in arresting the judgment it is claimed by appellees that neither paragraph of the complaint states facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. Our • first inquiry, therefore, should be to ascertain what are the essential averments of a complaint for breach of contract for the sale of personal property. The decided eases indicate that in such actions the vendor has his choice of either of at least three remedies, viz., (1) He may retain or store the property as and for the vendee, and sue such vendee on the contract for the entire purchase price. (2) He may sell the property for and as the agent of the vendee, for his, the vendor’s, account and recover of the vendee the difference between the contract price and the price obtained on such resale. (3) He may keep the .property as his own and recover the difference between the contract price and the market price at the time and place of delivery. Dwiggins v. Clark (1884), 94 Ind. 49, 53, 48 Am. Rep. 140; Pittsburgh, etc., R. Co. v. Heck (1875), 50 Ind. 303, 308, 19 Am. Rep. 713; Ridgley v. Mooney (1896), 16 Ind. App.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Lincoln National Life Insurance v. NCR Corp.
603 F. Supp. 1393 (N.D. Indiana, 1984)
Grider v. Scharf
73 N.E.2d 75 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1947)
Smith v. State
10 N.E.2d 899 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1937)
Heinzman v. Whiteman
139 N.E. 329 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1923)
Jessup v. Hinchman
133 N.E. 853 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1922)
Taylor v. Capp
121 N.E. 37 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1918)
Van Spanje v. Hostettler
119 N.E. 725 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1918)
Fox v. Close
113 N.E. 1007 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1916)
Wainwright Trust Co. v. Dulin
111 N.E. 808 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1916)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
110 N.E. 96, 60 Ind. App. 76, 1915 Ind. App. LEXIS 17, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pillsbury-flour-mills-co-v-walsh-indctapp-1915.