Donaldson v. Buhlman

• Decision Date: 05 November 1907
• Citation: 134 Wis. 117,113 N.W. 638
• Parties: DONALDSON ET AL. v. BUHLMAN.
• Court: Wisconsin Supreme Court

134 Wis. 117

113 N.W. 638

DONALDSON ET AL.

v.BUHLMAN.^a1

Supreme Court of Wisconsin.

Nov. 5, 1907.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Grant County; Geo. Clementson, Judge.

Action by Gilbert Donaldson and others against Julius H. Buhlman to set aside an award of arbitrators. From a judgment for plaintiffs, defendant appeals. Affirmed.

This is an action in equity to set aside an award of arbitrators rendered upon a common-law agreement of arbitration. The evidence showed: That the plaintiffs and defendants, being partners in the electric light and lumber business at McGregor and Guttenberg, Iowa, under the name of the McGregor Light & Lumber Company, on July 6, 1905, made a written agreement, by which the defendant Buhlman withdrew from the firm, and the assets and liabilities were apportioned; the defendant receiving the Guttenberg plant and a certain island known as “Crawford Island” in the Mississippi river, and the agreement providing, however, that “the saw logs standing on said land shall be cut and taken off by the McGregor Light & Lumber Company.” That said island is about 130 acres in area and contained about 200,000 feet of saw logs. That the plaintiffs began cutting timber on the island in the fall of 1905, but that a controversy soon arose between the parties as to what constituted saw logs; the defendant claiming that the plaintiffs were cutting timber of smaller size. That after some correspondence and consultation a written agreement of arbitration was entered into February 12, 1906, by which three arbitrators were chosen (1) to decide what size of log constituted a saw log, (2) to set a time when all saw logs must be removed from the island by the plaintiffs and their rights cease, (3) to determine whether plaintiffs had taken any wood not saw logs from the island, and, if so, to assess the defendant's damages thereby, and (4) to settle certain minor questions not material to the present controversy. That the arbitrators met February 22, 1906, at McGregor, Iowa, and after hearing the statements of the parties made an award on the same day to the effect: (1) That plaintiffs had violated the contract by wrongfully taking wood from the island, for which defendant's damages were assessed at $75; (2) that the time at which all the rights of the plaintiffs to cut any logs from the island should expire February 23, 1906; and (3) that a saw log must be a piece of wood at least eight feet long and eight inches at the small end. That...