St. Louis Agricultural & Mechanical Ass'n v. Delano

• Decision Date: 22 February 1891
• Citation: St. Louis Agricultural & Mechanical Ass'n v. Delano, 18 S.W. 1101, 108 Mo. 217 (Mo. 1891)
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court
• Parties: ST. LOUIS AGRICULTURAL & MECHANICAL ASS'N v. DELANO et al.

18 S.W. 1101

108 Mo. 217

ST. LOUIS AGRICULTURAL & MECHANICAL ASS'N v. DELANO et al.

Supreme Court of Missouri, Division No. 1.

February 22, 1891.

PLEADING — GENERAL DENIAL — SUNDAY LAWS — ATHLETIC SPORTS.

1. Plaintiff sued on a contract for the use of its premises by defendants, members of an athletic association, on a Sunday, for the performance of "athletic games and other sports of the association." Defendants filed a general denial. Held, that the pleadings eliminated all questions relating to Rev St. §§ 3759, 3852, 3855, prohibiting labor, public boxing, and the sale of liquor on Sunday.

2. Rev. St. § 3854, provides that any person convicted of "horse-racing, cock-fighting, or playing at cards or games of any kind," on Sunday, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Held, that this provision does not extend to mere "athletic sports;" the words, "or games of any kind," falling under the rule which prescribes that, where general words follow particular ones, they are to be construed as applicable to things or persons of a like nature.

Appeal from St. Louis circuit court; DANIEL DILLON, Judge.

Action by the St. Louis Agricultural & Mechanical Association against R. J. Delano and others. Judgment for plaintiff. Defendants appeal. Affirmed.

J. P. Kerr, for appellants. Charles S. Taussig, for respondent.

SHERWOOD, C. J.

Plaintiff's petition, filed on the ___ day of November, 1887, alleges that it is the owner of certain property in the city of St. Louis, known as the "Fair Grounds;" that the Amateur Athletic Association and the defendants, as members thereof, leased from the plaintiff the said grounds and premises, to be used by the said association, its members, and persons to be invited by them, on Sunday, the 25th day of September, 1887, for the athletic games and other sports of the association, and agreed to pay the plaintiff therefor the sum of $1,000; that the association and defendants, as members thereof, used the premises on the 25th day of September, 1887, in accordance with said agreement, but refused and failed to pay to plaintiff the sum of $1,000. All of the defendants filed a general denial to the petition. Trial had before the court, and the plaintiff had judgment for the $1,000 and interest, and there was evidence to support the finding. On appeal this judgment was affirmed by the St. Louis court of appeals, THOMPSON, J., delivering the opinion, in which the facts and law are elaborately considered; but inasmuch as that opinion was opposed to that of State v. Williams, 35 Mo. App. 541, delivered by the Kansas City court of appeals, the case was certified here in conformity to the constitutional mandate.

1. There is nothing on the face of the petition herein which indicates any other than a valid contract between the plaintiff and the defendants; and when this is the case the rule is that, if the contract is to be invalidated by reason of some extrinsic matter, such matter must be pleaded in order that it be made issuable at the trial, so that it may be considered on appeal. In this case the answer was simply a general denial, and on this point the following authorities apply: Sybert v. Jones, 19 Mo. 86; Moore...