Horne v. Niver

• Decision Date: 25 February 1897
• Parties: HORNE et al. v. NIVER et al.
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

168 Mass. 4

46 N.E. 393

HORNE et al. v. NIVER et al.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Middlesex.

February 25, 1897

COUNSEL

William

H. Bent, for plaintiffs.

Benj. L.M. Tower, for defendants.

OPINION

HOLMES, J.

This is an action on an alleged contract to sell 400 tons of coal at $2.50 a ton. On July 17, 1895, the defendants wrote to the plaintiffs offering "a very low figure on a small lot of our Columbia coal at Salem." The letter continued: "We beg to quote you $2.50 on cars at that place, and, should you deem it wise to favor us with an order of 5 or 600 tons, kindly wire us at our expense on receipt of this." On July 19th the plaintiffs replied, ordering 400 tons. The presiding judge, against the plaintiffs' request and exception, ruled that the answer was not in time to constitute a good acceptance, and found as a fact that the offer was not accepted according to its terms. The ruling was clearly right, as applied to the written offer alone, since the offer did not purport to extend beyond the time for a reply by telegraph (Eliason v. Henshaw, 4 Wheat. 225; Maclay v. Harvey, 90 Ill. 525); and, so far as appears, the finding was justified (Minneapolis & St. L. Ry. Co. v. Columbus Rolling-Mill Co., 119 U.S. 149, 152, 7 Sup.Ct. 168). There was conflicting evidence of some conversation between the two letters, which is relied on as showing that the offer was treated as open; but, as the judge found that the only oral agreement made was conditional upon the coal not having been all disposed of, which in fact it had been, the talk cannot help the plaintiffs.

The finding just mentioned made the plaintiffs' other requests for rulings as to a verbal extension of time or consent to an acceptance on July 19th immaterial.

Exceptions overruled.