85 Wis. 218 | Wis. | 1893
The following opinion was filed March 21, 1893:
By the terms of the original contract the plaintiff was to begin hauling the logs January 4,1892; and after January 10, 1892, he was required to haul at a specified rate or forfeit all rights under the contract. He appears to have commenced on time, with the requisite teams, men, and outfits; but the road upon which to haul the logs had not been furnished by the defendants as agreed upon. This operated to delay performance by the plaintiff in what is generally the best portion of the logging season. Of course the plaintiff’s expenses continued whether his men and teams were idle or at work. It would seem that about January 19, 1892, the defendants induced the plaintiff to consent to their constructing a new road, and abandoned the purpose of completing the old one as they had agreed. The jury found, in effect, that the defendants-did not provide such a new road with reasonable diligence; that up to the time the plaintiff quit the job, January 27, 1892, they had not furnished such new road as the}7 had agreed, and hence the plaintiff, contrary to his desires, was forced to quit the job. Obviously, a man might be willing to enter upon the hauling of four or five million feet of logs early in January, when he would be entirely unwilling, if precluded from doing so until the 1st of February or later. It is conceded that the plaintiff was justified in suspending work upon the job by reason of the failure to furnish the road as agreed; but it is contended that after the plaintiff commenced hauling upon the new road, though incomplete, he had no right to abandon the contract so long as the de-'
By the Court.— The judgment of the circuit court is reversed, and the cause is remanded with direction to enter
A motion for a rehearing was denied May 23, 1893.