Quick & Grice v. Ashley, 40017
| Decision Date | 19 March 1956 |
| Docket Number | No. 40017,40017 |
| Parties | QUICK AND GRICE v. W. H. ASHLEY. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Welch, Gibbes & Graves, Laurel, for appellant.
Luther Austin, Paul G. Swartzfager, Laurel, for appellee.
This suit is for the recovery of damages for the breach of a warranty in a contract for the drilling of a water well to supply appellee's home. It appears that on August 2, 1950, appellee gave to the appellant a written order for the drilling of a well sixty feet deep and for the pump and other accessories to be used in connection therwith. The order was signed by the appellee and was subject to the approval of appellant. Appellant accepted the order but the terms of the order are so indefinite as to what kind and size of well was to be drilled that, standing alone, it does not constitute a written contract since the terms thereof are utterly indefinite. Appellee testified that the deal was made with the manager of the branch office at Laurel, Mississippi, whose name is Howard Cole, and it is appellee's testimony that Cole guaranteed that the well would be satisfactory. Cole testified that he was the brnach manager with authority to make the contract and to guarantee the well. Both testified that the well was guaranteed to be satisfactory to the appellee, both as to quantity of water produced and also as to the quality of the water. Shortly after the order was signed the well was drilled, not merely to the depth of sixth feet but to the depth of seventy-two feet, and on August 29, 1950, appellant made up another invoice on this well showing a total charge of $475.32 instead of the $439 stated in the original order. There were several changes made in the original order, as shown by the second invoice, including an entirely different type of electric pump.
The seventy-two foot well at first afforded a satisfactory flow of water but an unsatisfactory quality of water and finally went completely dry. Appellee called on appellant to make good its guarantee of the well and, in recognition of the guarantee, appellant drilled a second well in February 1952. The second well was located one hundred feet away from the site of the first well. When the drilling reached a depth of seventy-two feet a good stream of water was brought in, but appellant's agent advised appellee that he would not guarantee the well at that depth and insisted on going deeper and appellee agreed to this provided the second well would carry the same guarantee as the first one. The well was accordingly drilled an additional ninety-four feet in depth, making a total of approximately one hundred sixty-six feet. There was no order for and no writing of any kind in connection with the drilling of the second well. After completion of the well the appellant made out an invoice to the appellee for an additional charge of $272.36. Apparently there must have been some subsequent equipment in connection with the well and fixtures since the total cost of both wells aggregated over $1,100, and they were financed with First Federal Savings & Loan...
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...Corbin, Contracts, § 95, p. 407 (1963). 23 Under Mississippi law a contract may be too indefinite to be enforced. Quick and Grice v. Ashley, 227 Miss. 273, 86 So.2d 40 (1956). 24 Jones v. McGahey, 187 So.2d 579 (Miss. 1966), suggestion overruled 191 So.2d 532 (Miss.1966). In reversing a low......
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