Campodonico v. Oregon Improvement Co.

The Court. Action to recover damages for the conversion, by defendant, of certain personal property, con[567]sisting of beans and barley grown upon land farmed by one Dodge, in the county of San Luis Obispo, in 1888. Judgment was rendered in favor of the plaintiff, and from this, and an order denying its motion for a new trial, defendant appeals.

The court below found, in substance, that in May, 1888, the said Dodge duly mortgaged to plaintiff the said beans and barley then growing to secure the sum of fifteen hundred dollars and interest, which mortgage was properly recorded; that between May 31, 1888, and October 27, 1888, the said Dodge, at the request of plaintiff, had the said property hauled from the land on which it was grown, and delivered to the defendant at its warehouse, instructing the person hauling it to store the same as the property of plaintiff, in accordance with plaintiff’s request; that upon delivery of the first lot hauled, the defendant was notified that said property belonged to plaintiff, and that the delivery was made for him; that from time to time, as delivered, the defendant gave to the teamster of Dodge who hauled it tags of weight, reciting that the same was received from said Dodge, and mot naming the plaintiff. On October 27, 1888, Dodge surrendered these tags to defendant, and requested the agent in charge of defendant’s warehouse to issue a warehouse receipt to plaintiff for said property, but that the agent issued such receipt in favor of said Dodge, the said Dodge protesting that the same should show that said beans and barley were stored for plaintiff. Plaintiff did not know that the property had been stored, in the name of Dodge, until October 28, 1888, when he was informed of that fact by Dodge, 'and of the further fact that the same had been attached on the day before by one Aaron, in a suit against Dodge. On the 29th of October, Dodge indorsed and assigned the warehouse receipt to plaintiff, and the defendant was on the same day notified by plaintiff that he was the owner of the property. After this assignment, and upon the same day, Dodge filed his peti[568]tion in insolvency, and was thereupon adjudged insolvent. Aaron was appointed assignee in the insolvency proceedings, and, as such, sold the property in controversy to one Sinsheimer, and on December 17, 1888, the defendant, by order of said Sinsheimer, shipped the same, and without the knowledge or consent of plaintiff, to the consignee of said Sinsheimer in San Francisco.