Reed v. Racine Boat Co.

137 N.W. 458, 156 Iowa 12
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedMarch 11, 1912
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 137 N.W. 458 (Reed v. Racine Boat Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Reed v. Racine Boat Co., 137 N.W. 458, 156 Iowa 12 (iowa 1912).

Opinion

Weaver, J.

The plaintiff in the main action seeks [14]*14to recover damages from the defendant boat company for breach of an express or implied warranty of a gasoline launch sold him by the latter. In aid of his said action plaintiff sued out a writ of attachment, and served notice of garnishment on E. A. Sherman and other parties. The defendant is a nonresident corporation doing business in Michigan, and the plaintiff and Sherman are residents of Cedar Eapids, Iowa. The original notice of the action was served or .attempted to be served upon the defendant in Michigan on August 13, 1909, and it has entered no appearance in these proceedings. The garnishee, Sherman, responding to the statutory questions before the sheriff, answered, admitted that he had purchased a boat from the defendant, upon which account there was due a cash payment of $229.90, and stating his readiness to pay that sum into court for the benefit of the party found entitled to it, should he be awarded possession and ownership of the boat. Thereafter the National Lumbermen’s Bank of Muskegon, Mich., intervened, alleging that the boat ordered by Sherman had by the boat company been delivered to the carrier, consigned to the said company’s own order at Cedar Eapids, and a bill of lading taken therefor, by the terms of which said shipment was to be retained in the possession of the carrier until the presentation and surrender of said bill duly indorsed by the boat company; that upon receipt of said bill of lading the company drew its draft or order upon Sherman for the cash payment due from him, and having attached the bill, properly indorsed, to said draft, the company negotiated and sold the same to the intervener, who at once forwarded it for collection to the Merchant’s National Bank of Cedar Eapids, Iowa, with instructions to said bank to deliver the same to Sherman upon receipt of the money. The shipment was delivered to the carrier on July 8, 1909, and the bill of lading was issued as of that date, though not actually delivered until one or two days later. The delivery of the bill and draft [15]*15to the bank took place on July 10, 1909. The petition in this action was filed July 8, 1909. The notice of garnishment was served, according to the return thereon, July 10, 1909; but the officer, as a witness on the stand, was permitted to testify that the service was made on July 9th. It should also be said that, the boat having arrived in Cedar Rapids, the carrier delivered it to Sherman without presentation or surrender of the bill of lading, and that plaintiff thereupon caused said boat and the draft and bill of lading then in the hands of the Merchants’ National Bank to be seized under his writ of attachment. The sheriff, having levied, on the boat, left it in the possession of Sherman, taking his receipt therefor. The plaintiff denied the allegations of the petition of intervention, and the issues so joined were tried to a jury. At the close of the testimony the court withdrew the cause from the jury, entered a personal judgment against the boat company for $245, with interest and costs, dismissed the petition of intervention, and ordered Sherman to pay the said sum of $229.90 into court, to be applied upon plaintiff’s judgment against the boat company. The intervener appeals.

x. Sales: transfer of title: delivery rierrough car" I. The transaction between the boat company and Sherman is the subject of no material dispute. Sherman was a newspaper publisher, who, after correspondence with the company ordered a boat of a given description at the price of $400, which by J agreement between them was to be paid $200 in cash and $200 in advertising. To the order was added certain extra furnishings to the amount of $29.90 to be paid for in easb. Sherman, it is conceded, ws to pay the freight from, the factory to Cedar Rapids. When the boat was ready, tbe company delivered it to tbe carrier, consigned to the company’s own order at Cedar Rapids. The closing paragraph of said bill, which is the material feature thereof for the purposes of this case, is [16]*16in the following words,: “The surrender of this original order bill of lading properly indorsed shall be required before the delivery of the property. Inspection of property covered by this bill of lading will not be permitted unless provided by law, or unless permission is endorsed.on this original bill of lading or given in writing by the .shipper. Consigned to order of Racine Boat Manufacturing Company. Destination, Cedar Rapids, state of Iowa. Notify E. A. Sherman, at Cedar Rapids, state of Iowa. Route, Crosby care the St. P. at Mil. Description of article and special marks, one boat crated. Racine Boat Mfg. Company, Shipper, .per H. S. Stanton. J. M. Mason, Agt.” Tjpon the back thereof was also written:- “Deliver to E. A. Sherman. Racine Boat Manufacturing Company, E. Caspar, Cash.” So far as appears from the record, the draft and bill of lading were delivered to the intervener in the regular course of business and without any knowledge or notice of the action brought by the plaintiff.

2‘ ' It is argued for the appellee that, as Sherman was to pay the freight on the boat ordered by him, the carrier was his agent for the purposes of such transportation, and the delivery of the boat to such carrier was in law a delivery to him, and his title to the property thereby became fully vested and could not be divested by the act of the company in negotiating the draft and bill of lading to the intervener.

It is further insisted that the indorsement upon the bill of lading, “Deliver to E. A. Sherman,” had the effect to neutralize or waive the restrictive provisions of the hill, and convert the transaction into an open, unrestricted shipment direct to Sherman. The argument is unsound. The words “Notify E. A. Sherman” and “Deliver to E. A. Sherman” do no more than to designate the person who was expected to present the specific proof of his right to demand and receive the goods. They are in no manner inconsistent with the express stipulation that “the sur[17]*17render of this bill of lading properly indorsed shall be required before the delivery of the property;” nor can it be said to substitute Sherman as the consignee of the shipment. The intent of the parties is not to be determined by a single isolated act, word or phrase; but reference must be had to the transaction and the writings as a whole. Thus examined, it becomes perfectly evident that it was the purpose .and intent of the defendant company, by shipping the boat upon consignment to its own order and drawing and negotiating the draft with the bill of lading attached, to withhold the title to and control of the property until the cash payment was made, >and that upon receipt thereof, and not till then, should the hill' of lading be delivered to Sherman as the evidence of his right to demand and receive the boat from the carrier. It is immaterial whether there was any ‘agreement upon the part of Sherman to pay a draft drawn on him for the admitted' amount of the cash payment.

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Bluebook (online)
137 N.W. 458, 156 Iowa 12, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reed-v-racine-boat-co-iowa-1912.