84 Kan. 778 | Kan. | 1911
The opinion of the court was delivered by
This was an action by the Kansas Crude Oil and Gas Company to recover $235.71 alleged to be due from The Kansas and Texas Oil, Gas and Pipeline Company, in which the plaintiff prevailed. The defendant appeals, and bases its claim of reversal upon an instruction given by the trial court.
It appears that in 1907 appellee was supplying and selling gas to consumers, and appellant desired to purchase gas from appellee but its main line did not reach appellant’s plant, being about four thousand feet away, and as appellant was in a hurry to obtain gas it laid a pipe line two thousand feet long which connected with a branch line two thousand feet in length built by appellee, and through these pipes gas was delivered to appellant for a time at a flat rate. The manager of appellant testified that under this first agreement there may have been a stipulation requiring appellant to make the connection with appellee’s system. Later an agreement was made that gas should be furnished at a meter rate and a meter was installed at appellant’s end of its pipe line so that the gas which it took passed through its own pipes before it was measured. Some time after the meter was placed appellee connected an auxiliary line with that of appellant through which gas was transported to other consumers. Monthly settlements were made between the companies until about June, 1909, when a dispute arose as to the state of their account and an agreement was made to arbitrate the matter and to abide the decision of the arbitrators. The arbitration was had, and the decision was that appellant was indebted to appellee in the sum
“Should you believe from the evidence in this case that at the time of the arbitration between the plaintiff and the defendant herein that the defendant did not intend to make any charge for the use of its pipe line, then and in that event you should allow it nothing by way of set-off in this case.”
The correctness of this instruction is the only question presented for determination.
Ordinarily when valuable services are rendered or the use of property furnished by one person to another, which are voluntarily accepted, and there is no express agreement as to compensation, the law implies a promise to pay a reasonable compensation for such services or use. On the other hand, if the services are performed or use furnished with the intention that no charge shall be made for them and if they are accepted in reliance upon such intention, the first party can not subsequently, upon changing his mind, recover for them. Where something is contributed by one and accepted by another as a gratuity or some service is rendered wholly as an act of friendship and mutual accommodation, no recovery can be had therefor as on an implied contract. This rule was applied in Collins v. Martin, 43 Kan. 182, where certain things were furnished by one neighbor to another with no intention to
The judgment is affirmed.