66 Pa. 202 | Pa. | 1870
The opinion of the court was delivered, January 3d 1871, by
— This action was brought by the plaintiffs below, against 'the county of Jefferson, to recover the price of bricks which they delivered to build the court-house in the borough of Brookville in said county. It appeared from the evidence given on the trial that the commissioners entered into a written agreement with James T. Dickey for the erection of the court-house, by which he agreed to furnish the materials and do the work for the sum of ’$57,600; and that Dickey entered into a written contract with the plaintiffs, by which they.agreed to make 300,000 bricks at $7.50 per thousand, and have them ready at the times stipulated in the agreement; that after they had delivered to him 25,000 or 30,000, they refused to deliver any more because of his failure to pay for them according to the terms of the contract; and that afterwards they delivered the bricks in controversy at the request of two of the commissioners, but whether upon their express promise to pay for them or not, was the matter of dispute between the parties, and in regard to which the evidence was conflicting. The jury, under the instructions of the court, found that the bricks were delivered on the promise of the commissioners to pay for them, and returned a verdict for the plaintiffs, upon which judgment was entered by the court below.
The assignments of error embrace the exceptions taken by the defendant, on the trial, to the rulings of. the court in the rejection of evidence, and to the instructions given to the jury in answer to points submitted on both sides.
The first question presented by the specifications of error which we shall consider — though not the first in the order of the assignments — is, whether the two commissioners had power to bind the county by their promise to pay for .the bricks, which the plaintiffs delivered at their request? This is the main question in the case; and it arises on the answers of the court to the plaintiffs’ 2d and the defendant’s 1st point. The plaintiffs requested the court to instruct the jury, that if two of the commissioners, in order to obtain the bricks to finish the court-house, went to the yard and promised the plaintiffs that if the bricks were delivered at the court-house they would pay for them, and the bricks were delivered on the strength of this promise, the county would be bound by their agreement for the amount of bricks, delivered after and in pursuance of such promise. The court answered this point in the affirmative, if the two commissioners went to the brickyard and made the contract, or assumed the payment of the bricks
The court was requested in defendant’s 2d point to charge that
The question whether the commissioners promised, on behalf of the county, to pay for the bricks, and whether .the plaintiffs delivered them in consideration of their promise, was fairly submitted by the court to the jury, and as we discover no error in the record, the judgment must be affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.