111 Ga. 668 | Ga. | 1900
Ober & Sons Company instituted an action of trover against J. L. Bell, for the recovery of 7,500 pounds of
The plaintiffs’ evidence tended to show that the defendant had paid eleven bales' of cotton on his note at one time, and four more at another, leaving a balance of 10,940 pounds of cotton due. Cotton was worth 8 1/2 cents per pound at the date the note matured. Defendant also held notes of the value of one hundred dollars, given by various named parties, all of which belonged to the plaintiffs. On the fourth of November he owed plaintiffs 10,940 pounds of cotton, and at that time had on hand notes uncollected to the amount of four hundred dollars; he reported this to the agent of the plaintiffs, by a printed list. Plaintiffs demanded a settlement of the defendant, which he declined to make, unless plaintiffs would settle all differences which existed between them. Plaintiffs then demanded the cotton and notes sued for, which defendant refused to deliver. A witness for plaintiffs, who was their agent in the transaction -with defendant, and on whose evidence plaintiffs relied to make out their case, testified that the way he arrived at the amount of cotton Bell collected was by taking the notes Bell had on hand and deducting them from the balance of the cotton due ; that Bell told him that the ones sued for were the only notes he had on hand uncollected. It is possible that the defendant might have taken stock in payment of .some of the notes, but plaintiffs had nothing to do with the stock; what they wanted was for their notes to be collected. When witness demanded the notes, defendant offered to give them up, as well as the cotton he had on hand, provided witness would give him up this note and settle some old matters that did not have anything to do with this case. This suit was brought for the cotton that he had on hand, and the balance of the notes that had been collected; it was instituted to recover the balance due on defendant’s note; and the list of notes