Robinson v. Cutter

Decision Date02 April 1895
Citation163 Mass. 377,40 N.E. 112
PartiesROBINSON v. CUTTER.
CourtUnited States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

This is an action of contract for breach of contract to hire the plaintiff as a carriage-wood worker.

It was admitted that the plaintiff had worked a few weeks under a written contract; that subsequently he had been laid off, the defendant agreeing to make good any loss of wages. The defendant introduced evidence to show that he had sent for the plaintiff to come to work for him, but that he refused to go to work, and he subsequently left at the house of the defendant a letter as follows, which defendant alleged was the entire letter: "As it now stands, I think it would be better for me to remain where I am, so send you word, to save you sending a team after tools. Hoping you will lose nothing by waiting this length of time, I remain, yours respectfully, F.E. Robinson." Plaintiff introduced evidence to prove that the letter was part of a letter which he had written to the defendant on the 2d day of July A.D.1891, four days previous to the date of the contract in evidence; that the letter in question was a part of the original negotiations which led up to the contract of July 6 1891; and testified that, upon the evening of the same day upon which the letter was sent, the defendant called upon him and said: "I received your letter. I cannot put up the fifty dollars, but I will give you a contract in writing for a year;" to which the plaintiff assented, and which finally resulted in the contract declared upon. E.F. Blood testified that he was present at the time the letter in question was written; that it began with a date and address and that the paper produced by the defendant appeared to be part of this letter, but was not the whole of it. The plaintiff then offered to introduce oral evidence of the contents of the whole of that letter. No notice had been given to produce, and no demand was made at the time of the trial to produce, the original letter. Alice W. Robinson, the wife of the plaintiff, testified that she was present when the plaintiff, on the 2d day of July, A.D.1891, at his house wrote the letter referred to, to Cutter; that she read it, and knew its contents; that the paper produced by the defendant was not the whole of the letter written in that time. She was then asked to state what the contents of the letter were. The counsel for the defendant objected to the oral testimony as to the contents of the letter, but his objection was overruled, and exception to the oral testimony as to the contents of the letter was allowed. The plaintiff was asked to state to the jury how it happened that his wife was not...

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