Texas Co. v. Maloney

44 P.2d 903, 48 Wyo. 280, 1935 Wyo. LEXIS 29
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedMay 14, 1935
Docket1885
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 44 P.2d 903 (Texas Co. v. Maloney) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Texas Co. v. Maloney, 44 P.2d 903, 48 Wyo. 280, 1935 Wyo. LEXIS 29 (Wyo. 1935).

Opinion

*283 Riner, Justice.

This case comes here by direct appeal to review a judgment of the District Court of Laramie County, the action having been brought in that court by The Texas Company, a Delaware corporation, as plaintiff, against E. J. Maloney and American Surety Company of New York, a corporation, as defendants. Maloney was never served with summons and never appeared; and the cause proceeded to trial and judgment without him. The parties will hereinafter be referred to as “plaintiff” and “defendant.”

*284 There appears to be but one question for argument and for disposition in the cause, and the facts necessary to be recited in order to present it are substantially these:

Under a contract between E. J. Maloney and the State Highway Department the former agreed to do and perform all work and furnish all labor and materials in surfacing 83.669 miles of the Riverton-Diversion Dam Road, Federal Aid Project No. E-159-B, E, F, F. L. H. P. 2-A, B, in Fremont County, Wyoming, for a stipulated sum of money. The defendant became his surety on a bond given by him, as required by law, to insure the proper performance of the contract and the protection of those furnishing him his materials. Maloney commenced the work October 8,1932, and finished it on February 9, 1933.

During the progress of this work the plaintiff supplied Maloney with certain material “used for, in and about the execution and completion” of the work contracted to be performed by him, for which payment was not made, and on which was due at the commencement of the action aforesaid the sum of $6,777.31, with interest.

Upon conclusion of the work under the contract the Highway Department caused to be given due notice of its completion and that final payment would be made therefor, said notice being inserted in a newspaper published at Riverton, Wyoming, the first publication thereof appearing on February 23, 1933, and the last March 9, 1933. This notice was also posted at three conspicuous places on the work aforesaid on February 28, 1933, and was in the usual form required by law.

The account mentioned above not having been paid, the plaintiff instituted action to recover the amount due from Maloney and his co-defendant. The eighth paragraph of plaintiff’s petition, relative to the notice *285 of final payment published and posted by the State Highway Department as aforesaid, alleges:

“That within sixty days from March 9th, A. D. 1933, and after the last publication and after the posting of said notice by said Wyoming State Highway Commission of the time of completion of said work and the time when final settlement would be made with said defendant E. J. Maloney, the plaintiff did duly serve upon the defendant E. J. Maloney, as principal, and upon the defendant American Surety Company of New York, as surety in said contractor’s bond, ■ a written notice specifying the nature, amount and date of plaintiff’s claim.”

To this the defendant responded in the first defense of its answer:

“This answering defendant admits the allegations contained in paragraph 8 of plaintiff’s petition, and alleges that plaintiff served a written notice specifying the nature, amount and date of plaintiff’s claim upon defendant American Surety Company of New York, as surety in said contractor’s bond mentioned in plaintiff’s petition herein, more than sixty days after the posting of the notice for final settlement mentioned in plaintiff’s petition.”

In the first paragraph of the second defense of said answer the dates of publication and posting of the notice aforesaid, as recited above, are set forth, in the second paragraph thereof the statute, W. R. S. 1931, Sec. 95-204, is pleaded verbatim, and the third paragraph charges:

“That plaintiff did not comply with the provision of the statute above quoted; that it did not serve upon the principal and his surety a written notice specifying the nature and amount of its claim and the date thereof within sixty days after the publication and posting of the notice of final settlement hereinbefore mentioned.”

In view of these statements and admissions contained in the pleadings of the parties the sole conten *286 tion presented for the defendant is that the statute requires service of the written notice of claim “upon the principal and his sureties” not only within sixty days after the publication of the notice of final estimate payment, but also within sixty days after the posting of that notice; and that while such service was made within the sixty days following the completion of publication of said notice, it was not accomplished within that period following the posting, and hence the action may not be maintained.

Section 95-204, supra, reads:

“No action shall be maintained on any such bond unless, within sixty days after the publication and posting of the notice provided for in article 3 hereof, the claimant shall serve upon the principal and his sureties a written notice specifying the nature and the amount of his claim and the date thereof, and no action shall be maintained on any such claim unless it is begun within one year after the service of such written notice on such principal and surety.”

The portion of article “3” referred to in the section last quoted is W. R. S., Sec. 95-301, and this statute requires, so far as needs be kept in mind here, that the State Highway Department shall ninety days before its final estimate on the construction work involved is paid—

“Cause to be published in a newspaper of general circulation, published nearest to the point at which such work is being carried on, once a week for four consecutive weeks, and also to post in three conspicuous places on such work, a notice setting forth in substance, that it has been reported to such commission, board or person that such work has been completed and that the contractor is entitled to final settlement therefor, and that all persons, firms or corporations who have any claims for work done or material furnished on such work shall, within thirty days from the date on which such notice shall last appear, file with such commission, board or person, a verified statement of his, its or their claims.”

*287 According to Webster’s New International Dictionary (2nd Edition, 1935) the verb “publish” means “to make public announcement of; to make known to people in general; to make public in a newspaper, book, circular or the like.” The same text ascribes to the verb “post” the meaning “to publish, announce or advertise by or as by the use of a placard; to placard.” These definitions are recognized and applied in the decisions of the court. See 49 C. J. 1120, “Post Section 2” and cited cases; 51 C. J. 88, 89 and cases there listed.

It is plain then that the law in order to ‘insure the receipt of authoritative and necessary information by those interested in the payment of final estimates on public works has invoked two methods of announcing the facts, viz. by their publication in a newspaper for a fixed period and by their being placarded, i. e.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
44 P.2d 903, 48 Wyo. 280, 1935 Wyo. LEXIS 29, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/texas-co-v-maloney-wyo-1935.