Welsbach Street Lighting Co. v. City of Wichita

168 P. 1090, 101 Kan. 452, 1917 Kan. LEXIS 118
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedOctober 6, 1917
DocketNo. 20,605
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 168 P. 1090 (Welsbach Street Lighting Co. v. City of Wichita) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Welsbach Street Lighting Co. v. City of Wichita, 168 P. 1090, 101 Kan. 452, 1917 Kan. LEXIS 118 (kan 1917).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Dawson, J.:

This lawsuit arises out of a contract for lighting the streets of Wichita and an alleged breach of that contract. In 1905, the Welsbach Street Lighting Company, plaintiff, entered into a contract with the city of Wichia, defendant, whereby the plaintiff undertook to furnish two hundred street lamps and their equipment, and to maintain and light these lamps along the streets, alleys and public grounds of Wichita, and to furnish, equip and maintain as many more such lamps as might be required by the city. The agreed price to be paid for this service was $27 per lamp, per annum, payable monthly. The contract was to endure—

“For the term of five (5) years, from the first day of July, 1905; it being mutually understood that this contract shall continue for another term unless official notice be given by either party to the other sixty (60) days before its expiration.” <

Pursuant to this contract the plaintiff supplied some 430 street lights for five years; and no official or formal notice being given by the city to terminate the contract relationship, the plaintiff continued the service for about two and a half years thereafter, when it was ordered by the city to remove its lamps from the streets. The city paid the monthly charges for the first five years ending June 30, 1910, and also for the months of July, August, September and October, 1910.. It paid nothing thereafter.

On June 2, 1913, the city commission adopted a resolution:

“Be it Resolved, etc., That the Welsbach Street Lighting Company be and it is hereby ordered and directed to at once remove said lamps and poles from the streets of said city.”

The plaintiff thereupon discontinued its service, removed its property, and commenced this action, in two counts, one for services under its contract from November 1, 1910, until June 7, 1913; and another for1 damages for breach of contract for the remainder of its duration — until June 30, 1915.

The city offered to confess judgment for plaintiff’s services for November, 1910. Answering further, defendant pleaded [454]*454a number of incidents, correspondence, and interviews between attorneys for the plaintiff and officials of the city all of which transpired within a few months just prior to the end of the first five-years period, and which the city relied upon to show that plaintiff had waived the sixty-days official notice of the city’s intention to terminate the contract.

The district court gave judgment for plaintiff for its street-lighting services for the month of November, 1910 — no more; and the plaintiff appeals.

' The city took no direct formal action to terminate the contract, nor to give the plaintiff official notice of intention to do so; and the question whether the incidents, correspondence and interviews pleaded and proved by defendant amounted to a waiver of the notice provided by the original contract is the crux of this lawsuit.

The-most significant of these will be reviewed.

(a) In November, 1909, the attorney for plaintiff wrote to the mayor and commissioners urging the lighting of the residence districts of Wichita with natural gas and suggesting other economies, etc.—

“You are paying $27.00 a year for gasoline lights standing on streets traversed by gas mains to the extent of some 300, which you might be getting under our proposition for a net cost to the city of $15.00 for service and $5.00 for gas. This is poor business policy, and can not be justified by any public officer or taxpayer. . . .
“Though The Welsbach Street Lighting Company is entitled to six or eight months service yet at $27.00, we are willing to cancel that contract in the interest of a better service to the city at large, which will be a pleasure to us as well as a great convenience to the citizens.
“In consideration of the foregoing conditions confronting your city, we propose to tender you an attractive proposition at your next regular session.”

Nothing came of that proposition, and no element of defense to the contract can be founded thereon. An offer to cancel a contract amounts to nothing unless it is accepted.

(6) In' January, 1910, the company’s attorney prepared an ordinance at the suggestion of one of the city commissioners, and mailed it to him with a letter saying that the ordinance had been redrafted pursuant to an agreement “at the conference in the mayor’s office the other day.” This proposed ordinance provided for the lighting of the city by plaintiff, partly [455]*455by natural-gas street lamps and partly by gasoline lamps, prices specified, etc., for ten years, and provided that the ordinance might be repealed and the contract abrogated after five years on ninety days’ written notice and on payment by the city of five dollars for each lamp then installed by the plaintiff.

Nothing came of that proposed ordinance, and no legal consequences attach to the fact that there was a conference between plaintiff’s attorneys and the city officials concerning it, nor does any legal effect attach to the fact that the proposed ordinance was drawn or revised by plaintiff’s attorney and transmitted to a city commissioner with an accompanying letter which discussed some of its provisions.

(c) On February 8, 1910, the city adopted a resolution:

“Whereas, The contracts for street lighting heretofore entered into 'by the city of Wichita will expire in the near future; and
“Whereas, The city of Wichita is desirous at this time of making new contracts for the lighting of the streets and alleys of said city, and
“Noiv therefore be it resolved by the Board of Commissioners of the city of Wichita:
“That the Welsbach Street Lighting Company, the Edison Light & Power Company, and Wichita R. R. & Light Co., are hereby requested and authorized and are hereby empowered by this board of commissioners to install their lighting system on any block in the city of Wichita within fifteen days from the date hereof, selected by such company in order to demonstrate the efficiency of their lights and lighting system, lights to be located under direction of commissioner of'lights.”

The plaintiff installed four or six lights pursuant to this resolution, and some were also put up by a competitor. No element of waiver arises from compliance with this request.

(cl) On April 19,1910, the city adopted a resolution reciting that, whereas—

“The contracts' now in force for the lighting of the streets and avenues and public grounds of the City of Wichita, expire on the 31st day of June, and the 7th day of September, 1910, now, therefore,
“It is hereby declared to be a public necessity to light the streets, avenues and public grounds of the City of Wichita, . . .
“Be it resolved further, That the City Clerk is hereby instructed to advertise for bids for ligthing the streets, avenues and. public grounds of the City of Wichita, bids to be upon a minimum number of six hundred (600) lights, with the right to add as many more, as may be ordered, . . . designating the candle power of each light on a five years,- or a ten years contract, or both.”

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Thomas v. Kliesen
201 P.2d 663 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1949)
Prather v. National Fire Insurance
112 P.2d 99 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1941)
Utt v. National Life & Accident Insurance
73 P.2d 1095 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1937)
Hammond v. Tate
83 F.2d 69 (Tenth Circuit, 1936)
Wright v. Simpson
51 P.2d 1 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1935)
Cambridge State Bank v. Dwyer
289 P. 423 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1930)
Proctor Trust Co. v. Neihart
288 P. 574 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1930)
Johnson v. Dumond
287 P. 249 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1930)
Moody v. Providence Washington Insurance
275 P. 131 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1929)
Kansas Wheat Growers Ass'n v. Farmers Elevator Co.
272 P. 181 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1928)
Union Building, Loan & Savings Ass'n v. Bright
253 P. 404 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1927)
Insurance Co. of North America v. Renfro
1926 OK 250 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1926)
Harpham Bros. v. Perry
235 P. 1039 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1925)
Ohio Confection Co. v. Eimon Mercantile Co.
191 N.W. 910 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1923)
Eikelberger v. Insurance Co. of North America
189 P. 139 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1919)
Welsbach Street Lighting Co. v. City of Wichita
169 P. 193 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1917)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
168 P. 1090, 101 Kan. 452, 1917 Kan. LEXIS 118, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/welsbach-street-lighting-co-v-city-of-wichita-kan-1917.