Universal Mills v. Mauk

306 S.W.2d 135, 1957 Tex. App. LEXIS 2065
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 12, 1957
DocketNo. 3474
StatusPublished

This text of 306 S.W.2d 135 (Universal Mills v. Mauk) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Universal Mills v. Mauk, 306 S.W.2d 135, 1957 Tex. App. LEXIS 2065 (Tex. Ct. App. 1957).

Opinion

FIREY, Justice.

Appellant, a corporation and resident citizen of Tarrant County, Texas, has perfected its appeal from an order overruling its plea of privilege to be sued in the county of its residence (non-jury). Upon written request of appellant the court filed findings of fact and conclusions of law. We quote the material parts thereof:

“Findings of Fact
“1. Plaintiff is, and was at all times pertinent to this cause, a resident of Robertson County, Texas.
“2. Defendant is a domestic corporation, incorporated under the laws of the State of Texas, with domicile in Tarrant County, Texas.
“3. H. P. Schultz, doing business as H. P. Schultz & Son and as Paul Schultz & Sons, was the agent of defendant in Robertson County, Texas.
“4. The defendant contracted to finance plaintiff in the turkey business for 1955 in Robertson County, Texas, by purchasing for plaintiff turkey poults and supplying feed. The contract was made in Robertson County, Texas, and performed in Robertson County, Texas.
“5. In compliance with the contract, defendant purchased for plaintiff on June 24th, 1955, 2,287 turkey poults, for which plaintiff executed to defendant notes for $1,275.00 and $472.20, payable at Fort Worth, Texas, and supplied feed to plaintiff in the amount of $7,944.51, for which plaintiff executed notes payable to defendant in Fort Worth, Texas, and the notes for poults and feed were secured by a chattel mortgage on the turkeys.
“6. Defendant shipped to plaintiff on October 6th, 1955, 150 sacks of feed unfit for turkeys because it was in large and small lumps and was heavily infested with mould. Plaintiff took a specimen of the moulded feed to defendant’s agents, H. P. Schultz and Clem Woods, who told plaintiff the feed would not hurt the turkeys, and the defendant had no other turkey feed at the time. Immediately after eating the moulded feed, the entire flock of turkeys became sick, and over a period of six weeks 320 turkeys died, and many of the surviving turkeys were low grade because of sickness.
“7. Prior to October 6th, 1955, the turkeys were in healthy condition, but after the moulded feed was given, the entire flock became sick and the death of a large number resulted within a very few days, and many of the sick turkeys died from day to day for several weeks. The lumpy feed, infested with mould, furnished by defendant to plaintiff and fed to the turkeys was negligence on the part of defendant and was the proximate cause of the sickness and death of the turkeys.
“8. Plaintiff paid to defendant the entire proceeds of sale of all the remaining turkeys in his flock in the amount of $9,783.32, and paid same under protest, and gave as his reason for the protest the damages suffered by him in the loss of more than 300 turkeys from moulded feed.
“9. Defendant sued plaintiff in Tar-rant County for $910.39 on the unpaid balance on the notes executed by plaintiff. Plaintiff filed an answer generally denying the debt.
[137]*137“10. Plaintiff and defendant, through, their attorneys, settled the litigation by payment of $700.00 to defendant, and Universal Mills, the plaintiff in the Tarrant County case, moved to dismiss the suit, which was dismissed with prejudice.
"11. There was an understanding between the parties when the Fort Worth suit was settled and dismissed that Gilfert Mauk was not agreeing not to bring a suit for damages sustained by him for sick and dead turkeys caused by moulded feed furnished by Universal Mills, and that the settlement and dismissal of said suit would not bar Mauk from bringing a future suit for damages.
“Conclusions of Law
“1. Defendant’s negligence in manufacturing and delivering moulded feed to plaintiff to be fed to turkeys, and which was fed to turkeys of plaintiff in Robertson County, Texas, which caused sickness and death of his turkeys, gave rise to a cause of action in Robertson County, Texas, for plaintiff.
“2. Defendant, being a private corporation, and a cause of action having arisen in Robertson Co., Texas, against it in favor of plaintiff, gave him venue for a suit based on said cause of action in Robertson County, Texas.
“3. Defendant, being a private corporation, and a part of a cause of action having arisen in Robertson County, Texas, in favor of plaintiff, gave plaintiff venue of a suit in Robertson County, Texas, based on said part of a cause of action.
“4. Defendant, being a private corporation, and a cause of action or part of a cause of action having arisen in Robertson County, Texas, at the time said cause of action or part thereof arose, and defendant having an agent, H. P. Schultz, in Robertson County, Texas, fixed venue in Robertson County, Texas, for plaintiff to bring this suit.”

A rather complete statement is necessary. Appellee went to trial on its original petition. He alleged substantially that he was a resident citizen of Robertson County, Texas, and that defendant was a private corporation organized under the laws of the State of Texas, with its home office and principal place of business in Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas; and that H. P. Schultz & Son of New Baden, Robertson County, Texas, were and are agents and representatives of said defendant; that at all times material to this cattse of action, the defendant, through its agents or representatives, was engaged in selling and delivering its products in Robertson County, Texas; that in the year 1955 plaintiff and defendant, acting through George McCarthy, its vice-president, had a meeting at the lake house of H. P. Schultz on Camp Creek Lake in Robertson County, Texas, together with several other turkey growers; that the defendant, acting through its vice-president, George McCarthy, an expert in mixing and manufacturing turkey feed, offered a plan to plaintiff, by the terms of which the defendant offered to finance turkey growing operations of plaintiff for the turkey growing season of 1955, and turkey egg production business for the year 1956; the defendant offered to manufacture, sell and deliver through its agent, H. P. Schultz & Son, the proper feed to be used by plaintiff to feed said turkey flock. It was especially agreed between the parties that defendant would purchase poults from the DeWitt Turkey Hatchery, Waxahachie, Ellis County, Texas, nationally known as a producer of high grade turkeys, said turkeys being also noted for egg production; that said turkey poults were purchased for the reason that they were a special kind of turkeys noted for special egg production and the price for said poults was over ten cents more per turkey poult than current prices for market poults; that defendant agreed that it would advance funds to purchase 1,500 BBB tur[138]

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Bluebook (online)
306 S.W.2d 135, 1957 Tex. App. LEXIS 2065, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/universal-mills-v-mauk-texapp-1957.