Anvil Min Co v. Humble
Decision Date | 14 May 1894 |
Docket Number | No. 323,323 |
Parties | ANVIL MIN. CO. v. HUMBLE et al |
Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
This was an action by John Humble, Joseph H. Johns, and James Johns, partners as Johns Bros. & Humble, against the Anvil Mining Company, to recover for work done under a contract, and for damages for an alleged breach thereof by defendant. The action was commenced in a state court, but was removed to the circuit court by defendant. Joseph H. Johns having died, the action was revived in the name of the surviving partners. Verdict and judgment were rendered for plaintiffs, and defendant sued out this writ of error.
On May 1, 1888, John Humble, Joseph H. Johns, and James Johns, who were partners doing business under the firm name of Johns Bros. & Humble, entered into a contract with the Anvil Mining Company for mining iron ore. The provisions of the contract, so far as they are material, are that:
'They, the said party of the first part, shall and will, in a good and workmanlike manner, and at their own proper charge and expense, mine, remove, and load into the skips all the merchantable iron ore contained on or above the first level of the mine now owned and worked by the said Anvil Mining Company at its No. 1 shaft, in said township of Bessemer. The said ore shall be mined and removed by what is known as the 'caving system,' and the ore removed shall be at least seventy-five per cent. (75 per cent.) of the merchantable iron ore contained on or above said first level, and shall be worked, taken out, and removed in such manner as not to interfere with the future workings and development of said mine. Said party of the first part shall work said mine to its full capacity, and remove the ore therefrom without unnecessary delay, and shall mine from said level at least two hundred (200) tons of merchantable iron ore per day; that is, the average amount of ore removed each month shall not be less than two hundred (200) tons per day.
'It is understood and agreed between the parties hereto that, should it be determined by said second party that the ore from the second and third levels of said mine can be removed and extracted by the caving system of mining, or by the same system practiced in removing the ore from the said first level, that this contract, at the option of said second party, shall extend to and include the ore contained on and above the second and third levels of said mine.
'It is also agreed that it shall be entirely optional with said party of the second part to extend the contract to the ore below the second level, and that the said party of the second part shall have the right of terminating this contract and the said system of mining at any time when said second party shall decide that said system is prejudicial to the future welfare and development of said mine; equitable compensation to be made said party of the first part for damage suffered by them by reason of the said party of the second part so terminating this contract; and, should said parties be unable to agree upon the basis of settlement, then the matter shall be left to two disinterested mining superintendents,—one to be chosen by the party of the first part, and the other to be chosen by the party of the second part,—and, in case said referees fail to agree, they shall choose a third; and the decision of said referees, or the majority of them, shall be final and conclusive upon the parties hereto as to the compensation to be made said party of the first part because of the termination of this contract.
'The ore to be taken out by said party of the first part under this contract shall be merchantable iron ore, containing at least fifty-six (56) per cent. or upwards of metallic iron, and no ore of lower grade shall be accepted or paid for by the said party of the second part.
'The said party of the first part are to take out all the ore which can possibly be taken out under the caving system of mining, and in no case shall the amount taken out be less than seventy-five (75) per cent. of the ore contained therein, as above agreed.
'The party of the second part are to have the right or privilege of superintending and directing said work, and for that purpose to enter said mine, and inspect the works thereof, at any time, for the purpose of seeing that the work is properly conducted by the said first party, and that the work so done is not prejudicial to the future interest and working of said mine.
This contract was subsequently extended by the following stipulation, dated the 10th day of July, 1888:
'It is mutually agreed by the parties to the within agreement that this contract shall extend to and include the ore contained on and above the second and third levels, as named therein, with the exception that the merchantable iron ore extracted under this contract shall contain at least 58 per cent. (fifty-eight per cent.) or upwards of metallic iron.'
The firm commenced the work soon after this contract was entered into, and continued it until the 11th of October of that year. On February 11, 1889, they began this action in the circuit court of the state of Michigan for the county of Gogebic to recover for work done and damages sustained. The defendant removed the case to the federal court, where issue was joined, and the case went to trial before a jury, which, on September 16, returned a verdict for the plaintiffs in the sum of $5,943.79. Pending the proceedings in the trial court one of the plaintiffs, Joseph H. Johns, died, and the suit was revived in the name of John Humble and James Johns, the surviving partners. Upon the verdict as returned judgment was entered, and to reverse such judgment the defendant sued out this writ of error.
Dan H. Ball and James G. Flanders, for plaintiff in error.
[Argument of Counsel from pages 544-546 intentionally omitted] Edwin F. Uhe, for defendants in error.
Mr. Justice EREWER, after stating the facts in the foregoing language, delivered the opinion of the court.
The claims of the respective parties, as stated by the court in its charge to the jury, are briefly these: Plaintiffs claimed— First, an amount unpaid for ore mined in September and October; second, wages which they had paid during certain periods when they were delayed in the prosecution of the work by the fault of the defendant; and, third, the profits which they would have made if the defendant had not prevented them from completing the contract. On the other hand, the defendant claimed—First, excessive freights paid by reason of a failure on the part of the plaintiffs to produce the ore seasonably; second, damages for a failure to bring out that per cent. of the ore which by the contract plaintiffs had agreed to take out of the mine; and, third, damages on account of the unskillful working of the mine.
The first claim of the plaintiffs, to wit, for ore mined in September and October, is not disputed. With regard to the second, the court accepted the rule of law agreed upon by counsel for both parties, and therefore there is no dispute as to that. The controversy is in respect to plaintiffs' claim for profits, and here many questions are discussed by counsel. We shall, in our examination of them, follow the order in which they are...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Page v. Savage
...... obviously within the intent and mutual understanding of both. parties, when the contract was made." ( The Anvil. Min. Co. v. Humble, 153 U.S. 540, 14 S.Ct. 876, 38 L.Ed. 814.). . . The. truth concerning the facts must be unknown to the other ......
-
UNITED STATES, ETC. v. Guy H. James Construction Co., Civ. A. No. 504.
...treat the contract as broken and is not bound to proceed under the added burdens and increased expense. Anvil Mining Co. v. Humble, 153 U.S. 540, 14 S.Ct. 876, 38 L.Ed. 814 (1894). In the present action, E & R elected to complete performance even though James materially interfered with its ......
-
McCullough v. Clinch-Mitchell Const. Co., 9810.
...225, 248, this court; The Eliza Lines, 199 U. S. 119, 128, 26 S. Ct. 8, 50 L. Ed. 115, 4 Ann. Cas. 406; Anvil Mining Co. v. Humble, 153 U. S. 540, 551, 552, 14 S. Ct. 876, 38 L. Ed. 814; Hinckley v. Pittsburgh B. Steel Co., 121 U. S. 264, 7 S. Ct. 875, 30 L. Ed. 967; Lovell v. St. Louis Mut......
-
Pulitzer Publishing Co. v. Mcnichols
......269; Gardner. v. The Roycrofters, 118 N.Y.S. 703; Stephenson v. Cady, 117 Mass. 6; O'Neill v. Supreme. Council, 70 N. J. Law 410; Anvil Co. v. Humble, 153 U.S. 540. . . Judson,. Green & Henry for plaintiff, appellant. . . (1) The. ......
-
Preparing and Presenting Loss of Labor Productivity Claims: Analysis of the Methodologies with Two Exemplars
...method of proving damages, which frequently has been used in breach of contract cases”) (citing Anvil Mining Co. v. Humble, 153 U.S. 540 (1894); Abbett Elec. Corp. v. United States, 142 Ct. C1. 609 (1958)); States Rooing Corp., ASBCA No. 54860 et al., 10-1 BCA ¶ 34,356, at 169,667 (“We have......