Gaslin v. Pinney

• Decision Date: 20 May 1876
• Citation: 23 Minn. 26
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court
• Parties: WILLIAM H. GASLIN <I>vs.</I> OVID PINNEY and another.

23 Minn. 26

WILLIAM H. GASLIN vs. OVID PINNEY and another.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

May 20, 1876.

Action against the defendants, Ovid Pinney and Jane Brockway, partners as Pinney & Brockway, upon five orders, amounting in all to $4,100, drawn upon the defendant Pinney, and signed in the firm name "by William Brockway, agent." At the trial in the district court for Hennepin county, before Vanderburgh, J., it appeared that William Brockway, who was the "operating agent" of the

defendants, under the articles of partnership set forth in the opinion, purchased of plaintiff 1,200,000 feet of saw-logs, at $8 per 1,000 feet, and that the orders in suit were given for a part of the purchase-money. At the close of the evidence the action was dismissed, on defendants' motion; a new trial was refused, and plaintiff appealed.

Lochren, McNair & Gilfillan, for appellant.

J. Guilford, for respondents.

BERRY, J.

The defendants were partners in a general lumber business, under the firm name of Pinney & Brockway. The partnership articles contain the following provisions, viz.: "The said Pinney, party of the first part, agrees to furnish a capital of from six to ten thousand dollars, in such sums and at such times as may be drawn for by the operating agent of said parties, no single draft to exceed one thousand dollars in amount unless previous arrangement has been made to the contrary; the money so furnished, as well as that received from the sale of lumber or other products of the mill, to be used for stocking the mill with logs, erecting piers or booms, purchasing or hiring teams, the payment of running expenses, and the payment of firm debts." * * * "And it is mutually agreed that neither party, nor the agent of the parties, shall sign the firm name to any note, or other evidence of indebtedness, except with the concurrence of both parties, nor shall the firm name be used in any case except in necessary connection with the legitimate business of the mill." The partnership articles further provide that William Brockway shall be the operating agent of the concern, and, among other things, "that he shall use his best skill and judgment in purchasing logs." Brockway purchased logs for the concern, of different parties, including the plaintiff. In part-payment for logs purchased of plaintiff, he drew five orders for the payment of money, in favor of the plaintiff, and directed to defendant Pinney. Two of the orders were signed "Pinney & Brockway, by William...