Liverpool London Globe Insurance Company v. Kearney

• Decision Date: 07 January 1901
• Docket Number: No. 85,85
• Citation: 45 L.Ed. 460,180 U.S. 132,21 S.Ct. 326
• Parties: LIVERPOOL & LONDON & GLOBE INSURANCE COMPANY, Plff. in Err. , v. T. K. KEARNEY and J. W. Wyse, Partners as Kearney & Wyse
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

180 U.S. 132

21 S.Ct. 326

45 L.Ed. 460

LIVERPOOL & LONDON & GLOBE INSURANCE COMPANY, Plff. in Err.,

v T. K. KEARNEY and J. W. Wyse, Partners as Kearney & Wyse.

No. 85.

Submitted November 7, 1900.

Decided January 7, 1901.

[Syllabus from pages 132-133 intentionally omitted] Mr. E. S. Quinton for plaintiff in error.

Messrs. A. C. Cruce and W. I. Cruce for defendants in error.

Mr. Justice Harlan delivered the opinion of the court:

This action was brought to recover the amount alleged to be due on two policies of fire insurance issued by the Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance Company,—one dated June 15th, 1894, for $2,500, and the other dated February 11th, 1895, for $1,000,—each policy covering such losses as might be sustained by the insured, Kearney & Wyse, in consequence of the destruction by fire of their stock of hardware in the town of Ardmore, Indian territory.

Each policy contained the following clause, called the iron-safe clause: 'The assured under this policy hereby covenants and agrees to keep a set of books showing a complete record of business transacted, including all purchases and sales, both for cash and credit, together with the last inventory of said business; and further covenants and agrees to keep such books and inventory securely locked in a fireproof safe at night, and at all times when the store mentioned in the within policy is not actually open for business, or in some secure place not exposed to a fire which would destroy the house where such business is carried on; and, in case of loss, the assured agrees and covenants to produce such books and inventory; and in the event of the failure to produce the same this policy shall be deemed null and void, and no suit or action at law shall be maintained thereon for any such loss.'

The insurance company insisted in its defense that the terms and conditions contained in this clause of the policies had not been kept and performed by the insured.

There was a verdict and judgment in favor of the plaintiffs in the United States court for the southern district of the Indian territory, and that judgment was affirmed in the United States court of appeals for that territory.

The insurance company sued out a writ of error to the United States circuit court of appeals for the eighth circuit, and that court affirmed the judgment. 36 C. C. A. 265, 94 Fed. Rep. 314.

The controlling facts are thus (and we think correctly) stated in the opinion of Judge Thayer, speaking for the court below: 'On the night of April 18th, 1895, between the hours of 1 and 3 A. M., a fire accidentally broke out in a livery stable in the town of Ardmore, which was about 300 yards distant from the plaintiffs' place of business. Efforts to arrest the progress of the conflagration failed, and when it had approached so near to the plaintiffs' place of business that the windows of their store were cracking from the heat and the building was about to take fire, one of the plaintiffs entered the building for the purpose of removing the books of the firm to a safer place, thinking that it would be better to remove them than to take the chances of their being destroyed by fire. He opened an iron safe in the store, in which they had been deposited for the night, which was called a fireproof safe, and took them therefrom, and to his residence, some distance away. The books consisted of a ledger, a cash book, a day book or blotter, and a small paper-covered book containing an inventory that the firm had taken of their stock on or about January 1st, 1895. In the hurry and confusion incident to the removal of the books, the inventory was either left in the safe and was destroyed, or was otherwise lost, and could not be produced after the fire. The other books, however, were saved, and were exhibited to the insurer after the fire, and were subsequently produced as exhibits on the trial. There was neither plea nor proof that the loss of the inventory was due to fraud or bad faith on the part of plaintiffs, or either of them. The trial judge charged the jury that the set of books which had been kept and which were produced on the trial 'were substantially in compliance with the terms of the policy upon that subject,' and no exception was taken by the defendant to this part of the charge.'

It was also said in the same opinion: 'The books, though used at the trial as exhibits, do not form a part of the record. For these reasons no question arises as to the sufficiency of the set of books that was kept which we are called upon to consider. It must be taken for granted...