Stearns v. Grand Trunk Railway Co.

120 N.W. 572, 156 Mich. 145, 1909 Mich. LEXIS 563
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 30, 1909
DocketDocket No. 110
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 120 N.W. 572 (Stearns v. Grand Trunk Railway 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
Stearns v. Grand Trunk Railway Co., 120 N.W. 572, 156 Mich. 145, 1909 Mich. LEXIS 563 (Mich. 1909).

Opinion

Brooke, J.

This case has already been before this court. See Stearns v. Railway Co., 148 Mich. 271. The statement of facts contained therein was sufficient for the determination of the matters raised by that record. It is necessary, however, to supplement it for the purpose of determining the matters in issue now before the court.

Plaintiffs were manufacturers of lumber at Pontiac, Mich., and made a contract with Scranton & Co., of Detroit, for the sale of certain lumber to be thereafter cut, at an agreed price per thousand. The contract between the parties was that, when the lumber was cut, Scranton should go to Pontiac and make an estimate of the same from time to time; that payments were to be made by Scranton & Co. to the plaintiffs upon such estimate; that the lumber was ultimately to be inspected by Scranton & Co., and, if the estimated payment was found to be too little, the balance should be paid by Scranton & Co. to the plaintiffs, and, should it turn out that the estimated payments were too large, the plaintiffs were to return the amount of overpayment to Scranton &; Co. Whether the lumber was to be inspected in Detroit or in Pontiac, is in dispute between the parties. All the lumber to be cut under the contract was finally cut and piled in the plaintiffs’ yard at Pontiac, and estimated from time to time by Scranton, and payment therefor made according to the estimate, to the am.ount of $1,319.51. At the time the estimates were so made, as before stated, Scranton wrote his firm name in various places upon the piles of lumber, and thereafter insured it, with the knowledge and consent [147]*147of the plaintiffs, in the name of Scranton & Co. No insurance was placed upon the lumber by plaintiffs for their benefit. No final inspection of the lumber was made in Pontiac. Three car loads thereof were shipped by the plaintiffs to Scranton & Co. to Detroit upon their order. The last car load, about which the dispute herein arose, was shipped by plaintiffs to their own order in Detroit, with bill of lading and draft for $116.68 attached. Scranton & Co. refused to pay the draft, but secured the delivery of the car load of lumber to them by the defendant company, and are defending this action on behalf of the defendant.

We quote briefly from the testimony of Andrews, who was a partner in the plaintiffs’ concern at the time of the dealings in question, as follows:

“ When Mr. Scranton estimated the piles he said: ‘ It
was his lumber.’ Mr. Stearns and I agreed to it, and he said that in the event of anything happening to us, that if any trouble would occur, that he claimed that lumber to be his, and we agreed to that; that it was proper, and, when it came to final scaling or inspection, whatever difference was coming to us was to be paid.
“Q. You did not have a right to sell the lumber to anyone else ?
“A. No, sir. He wrote his name on the piles, and I think put the date on the piles. * * * Now, I want the jury to understand that, besides agreeing to it, I went on and made a reservation at the same time. The first time that he went up there to estimate this very first pile he said: ‘ This is my lumber.’
“Q. And wrote his name over it ?
“A. Yes; so he would have perfect title to it if any trouble came up to us. It was his lumber. He made the remark then and there that he was to have the title. I want the jury to understand that there was a reservation. And he said that was all right. I was at three estimates made by Mr. Scranton after the first one, and every time b e made the statement that ‘ this is my lumber, ’ and we agreed to it.
“Q. And, after agreeing to it, you said, ‘But the title does not fully [pass] until you have made the final settlement?’
[148]*148“A. I do not think we said that on every time at all.
“Q. How many times did you say it ?
“A. The first time when he came out there. I cannot recall that we said it but once. Stearns and I talked the matter over thoroughly.
“Q. Did he, Stearns, say that ‘the title does not pass until complete title, until you have made final settlement ?’
“A. Yes; so did he.”

The plaintiff Stearns testified in part as follows:

“I said, ‘It would overrun his estimate,’ and Mr. Scranton said: ‘ Very well, when the lumber is inspected and if you see it overruns, I will pay the difference, and, if it underruns, you will pay me the difference.’ After Mr. Scranton estimated the lumber, he figured it up, and paid us the price upon the estimated quantity. He wrote his firm name in various places upon the piles of lumber, in my presence, and said: ‘ So there may be no difficulty about this matter in case anything should happen, this is my lumber.’ He did not say he took possession of it, but said it was his lumber, ‘This is my pile of lumber,’ and paid us the estimated price for it. * * *
“Q. And without your objection to it. That is right, is it not ?
“A. No, sir. Not without my objection. I told him it was his lumber when the balance was paid.
“Q. * * * Do you mean to tell this jury that you was saying that to him, that which you have just now stated ?
“A. Ido. That first car load.
“Q. Did you object when Mr. Scranton says, ‘This is my lumber,’ when he said that at the very first pile?
“A. Yes, sir; I did.”

The first question presented by this record is whether or not the title to the lumber passed to Scranton & Co. at the time of the payment of the $1,319.51, the identification of the same by them by writing their name upon the various piles, the conversation which occurred between the parties; and by the subsequent acts of the parties. We are of the opinion that the title did so pass. It is not disputed that the ultimate settlement was to be made upon a final inspection to be made by Scranton & Co. [149]*149either in Pontiac or Detroit. The fact that the plaintiffs had already shipped three car loads of the lumber without inspection in Pontiac is a circumstance strongly tending to show that the plaintiffs themselves believed that the inspection should take place at Detroit, as claimed by Scranton & Co. It is entirely obvious, from all the testimony contained in the record, that the estimated price paid by Scranton & Co. was intended to be the full value of the lumber sold, as nearly as it could be ascertained by the method used. But, in order that the rights of both the vendees and vendors should be protected, a careful inspection by the vendees was agreed upon. The declaration of the vendees of absolute ownership of the lumber, when estimated and marked in the presence of the vendors and the acquiescence therein by the vendors, seems to us to put this question beyond dispute.

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Bluebook (online)
120 N.W. 572, 156 Mich. 145, 1909 Mich. LEXIS 563, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stearns-v-grand-trunk-railway-co-mich-1909.