124 Iowa 576 | Iowa | 1904
The contract of insurance was what is known as a “ running policy,” in which the parties, the nature of the property to be covered, and the risk to be assumed are certain, but other prescribed conditions must be observed before'it attaches to specific property. Among other things, it stipulated indemnity for loss of money “ from the time of its deposit and registration at the post office * * * until delivered a,t the place of address to the consignees.” P. Sandoval & Co., acting as agent- of plaintiffs, deposited a package of Mexican currency in the post office at Nogales, Arizona, addressed to the Bank of Bisbee, at Bisbee, Arizona, March 21, 1900, at about eleven a. m., which was duly registered. The postmaster left the post office at- six o’clock p-. m., as usual, without closing the door. The portion used by the public, however, was separated by a partition, not reaching to the ceiling, from the apartment where the mails were kept,
First. No risk to be considered as insured hereon until a letter addressed to the company at Des Moines, Iowa, detailing particulars of mailing with the description of the property and the amount insured, is deposited in the post office at the place of mailing, which must be done while the property is in good safety and in all cases prior to the departure of the mail or express which carries the property insured. * * * '
Eighth. ' It is warranted by the assured that the packing and sealing of the package containing the property insured hereunder shall be witnessed by two adults, one of whom shall have charge of the same until deposited and registered at the post office or delivered to the express company.
Was dropping the letter in the mail box depositing it “ in the post office at the place of mailing,” within the meaning of the first condition of the policy ? In the statutes of the United States the word “ post office ” has a well-defined meaning. Section 3829 et seqItev. St. U. S. (U. S. Comp. St. 1901, page 2608). The postmaster general is required to establish post offices at such places on post roads as he may deem expedient, and a postmaster is to be placed in charge of each post office. As contemplated in these statutes, and in the sense in which the word is ordinarily used, “ post office ” is the room or building where the local business of the postal department is conducted. Thus Webster defines it as “ an office under governmental superintendence, where letters, papers, and other mailable matters are received and distributed; a place appointed for attending to all business connected with the mail.” That the word was employed in this sense appears from a comparison of the first and eighth clauses of the contract, and in the fair construction of the former. The first condition requires the letter of advice to be “ deposited in the post office at the place of mailing,” and the second exacts the mailing of the package by being “ deposited and registered at the post office.” In other words, the letter of advice may not be deposited in the post office of some place other than that of the village, town, or city where the package is registered. The language employed also indicates that it was intended to distinguish between the mere matter of mailing the letter and the place where mailed, for it is expressly required, not that it be mailed or placed in the United States mails, but that it be
Some reliance is placed on section 1743 of the Code,. providing, in substance, that the violation of any condition or. stipulation rendering a policy void, before loss, shall not defeat recovery, if it is made to appear that the omission to observe such condition or stipulation did not contribute" to the loss. This section has no application, for that, by not complying with the condition precedent, no contract of
The appellee urges that the objection to the nonage of Dato was waived, and there is much to be said in favor of this proposition. But as what we have said will in all probability terminate the case, it is unnecessary to pass on that issue. — Be versed.