Dale v. Donaldson Lumber Co.
| Citation | 2 S.W. 703 |
| Parties | DALE and another <I>v.</I> DONALDSON LUMBER CO. and another. |
| Decision Date | 15 January 1887 |
| Court | Supreme Court of Arkansas |
Action by physician to recover fees. Judgment for defendants. Plaintiff appeals.
Crawford & Crawford, for appellant, Dale.
The Donaldson Lumber Company was a corporation of Iowa, engaged in the manufacture of lumber in this state. Putnam was its secretary, treasurer, and general business manager, besides being one of its directors, and the owner of nearly one-third of its stock. One Watson, a laborer employed by the company, was dangerously wounded, not, however, in the course of his employment, but in a private brawl. Thereupon Putnam sent the following telegram:
The doctor responded to this, by going in person to Donaldson, and giving to the wounded man such treatment as was needed. The visit was repeated, and then, by advice of his friends, and with encouragement of Putnam, the patient was removed to Arkadelphia for better treatment. He was attended daily by the doctor and his partner in business for the space of six weeks. The bill amounted to $146, and it was charged to the lumber company. At the end of the year payment was demanded of Putnam, as the agent and representative of the company. He denied all liability in the premises, but offered to pay, by way of compromise, $10, the price of the first visit. This proposition was declined, and the physicians brought this action against the company and Putnam to recover compensation for their professional services.
The company denies that Putnam had any authority, express or implied, to bind it to pay for such services. Putnam also denied his individual liability, although he admitted that he sent the message to the doctor, and that he exceeded his authority in signing the name of the corporation. His excuse for this act was that he was personally unknown to the physician, and he was afraid he would not come if he summoned him in his own name. A jury was waived, and the trial was had before the court, which found that Putnam was acting in this matter outside of the apparent, as well as real, scope of his authority. It therefore gave judgment in favor of the lumber company. And its finding is in that behalf approved. But it further found that Putnam, in sending the telegram, intended to make himself liable for only one visit to Watson, and that the proof fails to establish a known and general usage and custom that, when a physician is called in, he is expected to attend the patient through that particular illness. It therefore declared, as matter of law that Putnam was liable for one visit, and no more, and gave judgment accordingly. The plaintiffs have appealed.
The facts of the case are not substantially in controversy. There is no doubt that Dr. Dale went to Donaldson, and took charge of Watson's case, in reliance upon the telegram; and that he rendered the services in the expectation that the lumber company would pay for them; and that the sole reason why he so believed was the reception of the telegram. The company, as we have seen, was not responsible; but Putnam was, upon an implied warranty of his authority. "If the agent exceed his authority, so that his principal is not bound, he will himself be liable for the damage thus occasioned to the other contracting party, although he may have been innocent of any intention to defraud." Smith, Merc. Law, (3d Amer. Ed.) 213. The only question, then, is as to the extent of Putnam's liability. He testified that he thought it was impossible for Watson to live long, and that his only motive in sending the dispatch was to gratify the wish of a dying man. He also directed Watson's friends, in case Dr. Dale could not come, to send a dispatch for a certain physician at Malvern, and he...
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