112 Ga. 1 | Ga. | 1900
The Southern Supply Company, hereinafter referred to as the “contractor,” contracted with the Florida Northern Railroad Company and the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad Company, both of which for convenience will hereinafter be indicated by the collective term “railroad company,” for the construction of a line of railroad. Under the contract as originally agreed upon, the road was to be completed by September 15, 1893. Subsequently the time was extended to November 1st of that year. In point of fact it was not finished till about January 1, 1894. The contract provided that the railroad company should make monthly payments to the contractor upon estimates furnished by the engineer in charge, such payments to cover ninety-five per cent, of the value of the work actually done, and upon its completion a final estimate was to be made and a full settlement had. The contract, after specifying the date by which the railroad was to be finished, and reciting that it was “ expressly agreed that the time herein stipulated shall be of the essence of this contract, ” further provided as follows: “ And the failure on the part of [the contractor], the [railroad' company] having faithfully kept and performed all of [its] covenants, to complete the same in the time specified may be considered sufficient reason fo'r the forfeiture of the reserved five per cent.; and the [contractor] hereby consents ¡and agrees to this condition. Should, however, delays in the performance and completion of the work to be done by the [contractor] hereunder within the time herein be occasioned by epidemics, ¡strikes, or providential causes, a reasonable extension of time for the completion of this contract shall be made. Timely notice of all such delays shall be given ” by the contractor to the railroad company. After the railroad had been finished and turned over to the railroad company, the contractor brought against it an action for the recovery
Judgment affirmed, with direction.