McLennan v. Ohmen

Belcher, C. C. This is an action to recover damages for breach of warranties of a steam-engine.

The plaintiff had a mill in the city of San Francisco, in which he carried on the business of wool-scouring. The work in the mill was done by machinery, which was propelled by a steam-engine. The defendant was a manufacturer of steam-engines in the same city. The plaintiff had an old “slide-valve engine,” and was informed that an automatic cut-off engine would save him a large amount of fuel

On or about the first day of May, 1884, defendant agreed to manufacture and sell to plaintiff, and plaintiff agreed to purchase from defendant, a twelve-by-twelve cut-off engine, to be used in plaintiff’s mill; and the price to be paid for the same was $750 and the old engine.

[560]The defendant manufactured the new engine and delivered it to the plaintiff on or about the first day of July, 1884, and the plaintiff then paid the defendant therefor the price agreed upon

The new engine was at once placed in the mill, and was used by plaintiff in running his machinery until the seventeenth day of October, 1884, when he offered to return it to defendant, because of its defects and failure to fulfill the warranties made by defendant, and demanded the return of the old engine and remuneration for all damages which he had sustained in consequence of defendant’s failure to comply with his contract. The defendant refused to accede to this demand, and this action was afterwards brought.

It is alleged in the complaint that the engine, at the time of its delivery to plaintiff by defendant, was not sound and merchantable; that it possessed a latent defect, not disclosed to plaintiff, in this, that the valves thereof were leaky; that it was not reasonably fit for the purpose for which it was made, to wit, for' the purpose of running plaintiff’s wool-scouring machinery; that at the time of making the contract for the manufacture and sale of the engine, defendant warranted it to save plaintiff twenty-five per cent of his coal bills for running his machinery, and thereby induced plaintiff to enter into the contract; that the engine did not save twenty-five per cent ip the coal bills, but, on the contrary, caused an increase in the coal bills of forty per cent; and that plaintiff had sustained damages by reason of the premises in the sum of two thousand five hundred dollars, for which he prayed judgment.