Sullivan v. Gird

197 P. 575, 22 Ariz. 332, 1921 Ariz. LEXIS 138
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedMay 4, 1921
DocketCivil No. 1877
StatusPublished

This text of 197 P. 575 (Sullivan v. Gird) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Arizona Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sullivan v. Gird, 197 P. 575, 22 Ariz. 332, 1921 Ariz. LEXIS 138 (Ark. 1921).

Opinion

ROSS, C. J.

(After Stating the Facts as Above.)— There is little or no conflict in the evidence. Some time in June or July, 1916, plaintiff, a resident of San Diego county, California, wrote to defendant, who resides in Yavapai county, Arizona, offering to sell him thirty-five Devon heifers and some cows. Replying to plaintiff, July 13th, defendant wrote:

“. . . I note your proposition in regard to the thirty-five heifer calves that yon state will be about a year old in October. I will take those at $40 per head and whatever number of those twenty-five cows yon mention that I can put in the same car with those heifers. Would wish to select the number out of the 25 head you mention at $60 per head. Would wish to have them calving or about to calve around about that time. Would want them delivered at Temecula station where we loaded the other lot, say between the first and middle of October, and as I expect to go over to San Diego about August 10th, I will call at your ranch and look them over and make the selection, as I don’t think that I can get around there in October, as I may be compelled to go East again about that time, so would leave the shipping to yourself as I feel you would do what is right in that event. Now -I am enclosing you my check on my bank here for $200 payable August 15th, or rather dated on that date. ... If I should wish and you were in shape to hold them a month later than October 15th, I would pay you for pasture, but I do not think it will be necessary, so hope my proposition will be satisfactory. If you think it necessary when I call and look your cattle over, we can draw up a few lines of an agreement, but I think you and I understand each other fairly well by this time. ...”

September 1st defendant went to plaintiff’s ranch and saw the thirty-five Devon heifers and confirmed his letter of July 13th by stating he would take them. The cows were not selected or identified at that time, but it was agreed that they should be selected and appropriated-to the contract by plaintiff at the time [335]*335of delivery. According to plaintiff’s testimony, defendant had requested him to breed the cows, or select, such as were bred, so that they would commence calving about the first of October. Defendant says plaintiff agreed to pick out cows tliat would calve the latter part of September, and about the first of October so there would be no difficulty on the road, and to be careful to see that the car was well bedded before loading any cows heavy with calf. October 15th was tentatively agreed upon as the time for delivery of the cattle at Temecula, the nearest railway station to plaintiff’s ranch. Plaintiff says defendant had instructed him to ship the cattle about October 15th from Temecula, when the latter was at his ranch. Plaintiff also says that defendant wanted him to send a man with the cattle, but it was finally agreed that defendant would send his own man to look after the cattle in shipment. Quoting plaintiff:

“They were to be delivered at Temecula at that time by me. The delivery of these cattle at Temecula was to be the consummation of this bargain. They were to be paid for at that time and place.”

Plaintiff selected and gathered the cattle and drove them to Temecula October 15th, and on the 16th loaded and consigned them to defendant at Skull Valley, Arizona, and selected a man by the name of Steen as caretaker of the cattle while in transit. He says:

“There was no one there to take charge of them, so I sent my man with them.”

October 10th defendant "wrote plaintiff:

“I am sending a young man from Skull Valley to come back with the stock and will try to start, him by the 13th, as soon as I get up there and give him instructions how to handle them after you get them loaded at Temecula. . . . The kid I am sending knows nothing about our deal and will have nothing to do [336]*336with them but help yon drive them to Temecula and look after them on the road. You had better get the whole outfit shaped up so that they will be ready to go the next morning- after he gets there. I will try to have him there by the 15th, the latest the 16th. It may be I can get to your place by the 14th. I will do the best I can. I will send you draft to reach you before you ship. I will be detained here (Phoenix) till the evening of the 12th and then go North and send shipper, so get them all together in a lot to themselves.”

The cattle were unloaded at Skull .Valley October 17th, of which defendant was notified by man in charge. Whereupon, under instructions from defendant they were reloaded and shipped in same car to Prescott, at which point they were delivered to and received by defendant on October 21st — except one cow which had died in transit at Barstow. Defendant paid the carriage charges to the railroad company, including $18 extra from Skull Valley to Prescott. October 21st defendant wrote plaintiff, complaining of loss of the cow in transit, claiming it was due to no bedding in car, and stating he had put in a bill against the railroad company and given Steen $10 on plaintiff’s account and $10 for expenses, and $18.75 to buy a return ticket; that the cows looked pretty bad after the trip, but the heifers stood it all right and looked good, and stated he would send draft next week. November 16th, defendant wrote plaintiff from Phoenix stating he was called away to Kansas City the next morning after the cattle were unloaded in Prescott and before they left the railroad yard; that he had been informed by a neighbor that one of the cows died two days after reaching the ranch, and stated “they undoubtedly were badly handled by both the railroad and shipper.” In this letter he inclosed a draft for $1,500, and promised to send bal[337]*337anee as soon as he got to Prescott, and asked for a statement from plaintiff.

It is in evidence that defendant and his employees inspected the cattle the following morning after their arrival in Prescott. Two of the employees testified that their condition was bad; that they were all skinned np and bruised, and some of them limped.

The defendant takes the position that he is entitled to recover from plaintiff the value of animals accepted by him that subsequently died as the result of their bad treatment in shipment. This depends upon the question of ownership of cattle during transit when it is claimed the injuries were inflicted. If the title did not pass to defendant until they were delivered to him in Arizona, any injury they sustained during transit would adhere to the ownership and fall upon the plaintiff. If the title to the cattle passed before the shipment and claimed injury, a different rule would be applicable. We think it is deducible from the evidence and admissions in pleadings that it was the intention of the parties: (1) That title to cattle should pass to defendant on delivery and' payment of balance of purchase price, the two acts to be concurrent; (2) that plaintiff’s duties and obligations should end with the loading of cattle and turning them over to defendant’s shipper or representative; (3) that prior to or contemporaneously with the loading of cattle the defendant should receive them and take charge of and superintend their movement from California to Arizona; (4) that plaintiff had no authority from defendant to load and ship cattle in the absence of defendant or his representative to receive them.

The duty of delivery according to contract is an imperative one. A delivery by any other means or through any other agency than the one agreed upon entitles the vendee to repudiate the sale if he so elect,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
197 P. 575, 22 Ariz. 332, 1921 Ariz. LEXIS 138, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sullivan-v-gird-ariz-1921.