Terrace Water Co. v. San Antonio Light & Power Co.

Contract to Sell Electric Power—Personal Property—Price not Paid—Measure of Damages.—A contract to sell electric power for five years is a valid contract to sell personal property, and where the price is not paid in advance the measure of damages for breach of the contract is the excess, if any, of the value of the property to the buyer over the amount which would have been due to the seller under the contract if it had been fulfilled.

Id.—Pleading—Admissibility of Evidence—Presumed Notice of Legal Damages—Minimum Damages.—Damages resulting from the act complained may be proved under the ad damnum clause of the complaint. The defendant must be presumed to be aware of the damages fixed by law for the violation of his contract, and where no special damages were claimed or allowed the court properly allowed the minimum of damages resulting from the procurement from another at a higher price of what the defendant had failed to deliver at the stipulated price.

ID.—Estoppel of Defaulting Party.—The party who voluntarily and wrongfully puts an end to a contract and prevents the other party from performing it is estopped from denying that the injured party has not been damaged to the extent of his actual loss and his outlay fairly incurred.