Davis v. Eames

BELCHER, C. This is an action to recover damages for an alleged breach of contract by the .appellants. The case was tried by the court without a jury, and judgment was entered against appellants for the sum of $700 and costs, from which, and from an order denying their motion for a new trial, they appeal. The facts are substantially as follows: The respondent, being the owner of a certain mining claim, known as the “Todd Mine,” entered into a written contract with the appellants, by which, in consideration of the covenants and agreements to be performed on their part, he agreed to convey to them the property within four months for the sum of $6,000;

[437]and they covenanted and agreed to at once enter upon the mine, and sink a shaft thereon to the depth of at least one hundred feet, and to crosscut the ledge on the fifty-foot level, and at the bottom of the shaft to crosscut again at least ten feet, and to make such other developments thereon as they might deem proper. They, were also to have all the ore taken from the miii'e in doing this work. In pursuance of the terms of the contract, appellants entered upon the mine and sunk a shaft to a depth of fifty-six feet. At the fifty-foot level they ran a crosscut a distance of forty-seven feet and struck a granite wall, which they penetrated about three feet. They then, without the plaintiff’s consent, discontinued work in the shaft and never afterward did any more work in it or sunk any other shaft in the mine. There were croppings on the surface of the mine and seams leading out from the croppings containing paying ore. The shaft was started on one of these seams, and from it defendants took some three or four tons of ore, which yielded about $20 per ton; but it gave out at a depth of about twenty-six feet, and below that point they found no ore in the shaft or crosscut. They afterward- prospected on the surface, and spent some $1,200 in so doing, but did not, as they thought, find evidence that the ledge contained valuable ore in sufficient quantities to justify them in paying for the mine, and thereupon they abandoned the contract. It is admitted that it would have cost at least $700 to sink the shaft the remaining forty-four feet and make the ten-foot crosscut at the bottom; and, as a reason for not completing the contract in this regard, the witness James, who was an experienced miner in charge of the work, and interested with defendants therein, testified: “One of the reasons why we felt that we could not comply with the written contract and why we wanted it modified was because it would require steam works to sink the shaft deeper, which would have cost a good deal.”