Rodee v. Detroit Fire & Marine Insurance

26 N.Y.S. 242, 74 Hun 146, 81 N.Y. Sup. Ct. 146, 56 N.Y. St. Rep. 393
New York Supreme Court·Decided December 6, 1893·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

HERRICK, J.

By a policy of insurance dated August 20, 1891, the defendant insured a cargo of grain belonging to the plaintiffs, on board the schooner Hartford, to be transported from Detroit to Ogdensburg; the policy reading, “in board cargo of the schooner Hartford, at and from Detroit to Ogdensburg.” It was in the policy that the property insured should be insured from “beginning •■the adventure upon the said property from and immediately following the loading thereof at the port and place named in the indorsement, and so shall continue and endure until the same shall arrive and be safely landed at the port of destination, not to exceed forty-eight hours from time of arrival.” It was further provided in said policy of insurance “that, in case of loss or damage to the property hereby insured, it is agreed that this company, their agent or representative, shall have early notice of the same.” On its way from Detroit to Ogdensburg the schooner encountered a storm, and took in some water, whereby a portion of the grain became wet. The testimony of the captain, which seems to have been taken as conclusive, was that the water came in and around the centerboard box. The strain of the centerboard on the centerboard box, which enclosed it, worked the box in such a way as to let in the water. [243] The vessel reached a point at or near Ogdensburg on the morning of the 3d of September, but could not reach the plaintiffs’ dock or elevator, because of the depth of the vessel in the water, until a portion of the grain had been taken out of the vessel, “lightered out in bags;” that is, “we put the wheat into bags, and put it into a lighter, till we got light enough drought so we could go up the river.” After taking out a portion of the wheat, and so lightening the vessel, it proceeded up the river to the plaintiffs’ elevator, arriving there on Saturday, the 5th. The plaintiffs proceeded to unload the vessel by means of the elevator. It was discovered that the wheat was damaged. There were some lumps or cakes of it around the centerboard box. The lumps or cakes of damaged wheat were attempted to be kept separate from the rest, but, in taking them out, some of them crumbled away, and got mixed with the other wheat. In proceeding further with the unloading, it was discovered that a portion of the wheat on the bottom of the vessel was wet. Some of the wheat in the cargo was so wet that it sprouted. The plaintiffs commenced grinding the wheat as rapidly as possible, upon the theory, subsequently explained by them upon the trial, that the wheat would become worse if not immediately disposed of, and a considerable portion of the wheat was ground up. Upon the trial the court charged the jury that no allowance should be given by them for any loss or damage for that portion of the wheat so ground into flour. On Monday or Tuesday, it is uncertain which,—in one portion of the evidence he says on Monday, and in another portion on Tuesday morning,—the plaintiff gave notice of the loss to the defendant’s agent at Ogdensburg, who notified the home office of the company, who sent an adjuster to examine into the loss, if any.

The principal questions litigated were whether the plaintiffs had given timely notice of the loss, and whether they had proved by legal evidence the loss or damage sustained by them. It was practically conceded on both sides that the loss or damage is to be measured by the difference between the value of the grain at Ogdensburg upon its arrival in a soúnd and undamaged condition, and its actual value in its damaged condition; and it is claimed by the defendant that an essential element was to prove what its market value would have been if sound and undamaged, and his claim is that the plaintiffs failed to give any legal evidence of such market value. The plaintiff testifies in his direct examination:

“In my opinion, $1.12 per bushel would be the cash market value of the 23,001 bushels of wheat composing that cargo, had It arrived at Ogdensburg sound.”

No objection to this testimony was made by the defendant. In his cross-examination the plaintiff testified:

“The cash market price was $1.12 for No. 2 red. This was Michigan wheat. When the vessel arrived, that was the cash value in Ogdensburg. We had the market quotations every day. That is what a cargo of No. 2 red wheat would have cost, to have-bought it and delivered it at Ogdensburg that day, when the wheat arrived there, adding freight and insurance to it I take the cost of the cargo, and add freight and insurance. The [244] cost of this cargo was $1.06 and nearly one-half cents at Detroit. Then the freight was five cents, and the Insurance, I think, was about half a cent, a bushel Then there was exchange. I added all that together, and called it the cash market value at Ogdensburg.”

At the close of the plaintiff’s evidence, the defendant moved to-strike out the evidence in regard to the value of the sound wheat upon the ground—

“That it appears from the testimony of the witness Rodee that the valuation which he gives, and which is the only evidence as to the value, he arrives at it by taking the cost of the wheat, adding freight, insurance, and exchange.”

The court, in declining to grant the motion, said:

“The courts have held that the cost of an article is some evidence of its-value; and Mr. Rodee does not entirely limit his estimate to the method you speak of, as I understand his testimony. He goes upon his own experience. He says they received daily market valuations, I suppose from some center, and that his own judgment as a purchaser of wheat for many years coincides with the cost of wheat at Ogdensburg.”

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Rodee v. Detroit Fire & Marine Insurance, 26 N.Y.S. 242, 74 Hun 146, 81 N.Y. Sup. Ct. 146, 56 N.Y. St. Rep. 393 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1893).

26 N.Y.S. 242 (Rodee v. Detroit Fire & Marine Insurance) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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