154 Wis. 76 | Wis. | 1913
The contention that the notes are void because of the failure of the plaintiff to comply with the requirements
In S. F. Bowser & Co. v. Schwartz, supra, the warranty read: “We guarantee 'all goods of our manufacture to be as represented in our catalogues. . . . Furthermore, we agree to correct any defects due to imperfect material or workmanship which may develop within three years from date of invoice, making no charge for same;” and it was held that the evidence offered did not tend to show a breach of the warranty, for reasons stated in the opinion. The warranty in this case is quite different, and the evidence offered and excluded differs from that of the former case. The warranty here is: “We guarantee all our goods as represented in our catalogue. . . . Furthermore we guarantee them to remain in perfect order for three years from date of invoice.” Defendants purchased a dry-cleaning outfit consisting of gasoline storage tanks, on© centrifugal pump, filter, three traps, one distilling tank, valves, piping and connections to be installed by plaintiff in their place of business in Eau Claire. As stated by counsel for plaintiff, “It would have been impossible for plaintiff to have shipped to Eau Claire a complete machine ready for operation.” But that is what defendants bought and agreed to pay for. They did not buy a dismembered plant. They were entitled under their contract of purchase and the warranty therein contained to an installed plant which, properly operated, would remain in perfect order for three years. The
It seems the trial court construed the contract as merely warranting that the separate parts of the plant would remain in good repair, and not the plant as a whole. In other words,
On the part of the defendants there was proof that the plant leaked from seventy-five to eighty gallons of gasoline a week; that the pump never worked right; that valves all leaked; that part of the time defendants could not get gasoline up from the tanks at all; that the machines leaked in their connections with the system; that the filter leaked; that there were about thirty unions fitted with rawhide washers; that such washers will not hold gasoline; that only brass unions will do so; that the tank connections were constructed in such a manner that if one tank got full of dirty gasoline it could run into the clear gasoline tank, on account of there being no valve to cut it off; that there was no cut-off between the pump and the washers, and that there was no cut-off by which the dirty gasoline could be forced out through the filter.
Notwithstanding such evidence of defects in the plant, the court directed a verdict for the plaintiff. This was error. There was sufficient proof to go to the jury upon the question of the breach of the warranty in the contract of sale.
The court also erroneously excluded evidence tending to show that the plant was out of repair and could not be made to operate properly. Thus, in answer to question by the court, “Where was it that it leaked ?” one of the defendants testified, “Well, the elbows and joints and filter, and the machine. There was no way it could be shut off from the tanks. The pipes were always full of gasoline. ... It leaked whether you pumped or not. The storage tanks were under ground. Where it leaked was above the level of the tanks.” The answer was stricken out. The record discloses a number of instances where similar evidence was excluded. In an action for damages for breach of warranty that a machine or plant shall remain in perfect order, evidence, that it does not prop
By the Court. — Judgment reversed, and cause remanded for a new trial.