181 Iowa 926 | Iowa | 1917
The, appellant specifies no particular errors relied on for a reversal, but submits his brief upon the general merits of the case. He challenges the general theory upon which the case was submitted, and contends, in effect, for the conclusiveness of his express contract. Upon the record before us, there is no way that we can reach that question. Appellee insists that no exceptions were taken to the instructions. The record sustains this contention. The instructions, therefore, are not subject to review, and they have become the law of the case. The theory on which recovery was permitted is set forth in Instructions Nos. 10 and 21. Following these as the law of the' case, no legal ground of complaint is left to the appellant. Whether, in
In fairness to the veteran counsel for the appellant, it should be said that he conducted the litigation under the distractions of painful illness, and this doubtless accounts for much of the condition of the record.
3. As already indicated, the appellant presses upon our attention the larger merits of the case and the manifest injustice of the judgment. To this it would be sufficient to say that the judgment as entered is not without support in the evidence. The case, however, has its unique features, which have not failed to attract our attention. The merits of the contention, pro and con, are deeply concealed in many incongruities on both sides.
As to plaintiff, though he purported to do farm work at $60 per month for somewhat over 5 months, yet he has
On the other hand, the defendant sent the plaintiff and his wife to North Dakota and deferred starting their wages until after they got there. He charged against them their railroad fare and freight paid on their goods amounting to $117. It would cost them presumably the same amount to return. If the defendant’s farm had been a few miles further distant, the expense of going and coming would have absorbed the plaintiff’s entire summer’s wage. As it was, it left .him a very little margin. The oral agreement, as testified to by the plaintiff, would not justify the charging of the traveling expenses to the plaintiff, and it is at least doubtful if such charges could be justified under the testimony of the defendant himself as to the original agreement.
It further appears that, on the day of the separation, the parties had a fight “before breakfast.” Though the fight preceded the breakfast, no breakfast followed the fight. The preparation of the breakfast for that morning was the function of the plaintiff, his wife being absent. He had overslept somewhat; and, when the defendant was ready for breakfast, the breakfast was not ready for the defend
For the reasons indicated, we cannot interfere. The judgment is accordingly — Affirmed.