37 Ga. App. 619 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1928
E. E. Miles, R. M. Dunn, W. D. Dunn, and G. W.
Dunn, as copartners doing business under the firm name of Pine Grove Stave Company, brought suit against Á. G. and L. W. Smith on an open account for $178.75, the price of 325 bundles of barrel staves at 55 cents per bundle, alleged to have been sold to the defendants June 24, 1926. L. W. Smith pleaded that A. G. Smith died in December, 1926, and that he, L. W. Smith, had never purchased any staves from the plaintiffs, but did in 1926, purchase from one E. N. Rushing 375 bundles of staves, and on the 9th of November 1926, paid Rushing for the staves. The jury rendered a verdict for the defendants; the plaintiffs made a motion for a new trial, which was overruled, and the plaintiffs excepted.
In view of the note of the trial judge, included in his order overruling the motion Tor a new trial, which is a part of the certified record before us, the special grounds of the motion show no cause for a reversal. ■ On the general grounds a reversal is required, as the verdict for the defendants was unauthorized by the- evidence. The record shows that the defendants paid Rushing for the staves, and the controlling question for determination by the jury was whether or not, under the evidence, the defendants had a legal right to pay Rushing for the goods, and whether or not the plaintiffs were bound by such payment. Since questions of’ fact on which the evidence is conflicting axe fox the exclusive determina
An agent may be limited by his authority, and “agency to sell does not necessarily carry with it authority to collect.” Walton Guano Co. v. McCall, 111 Ga. 114 (36 S. E. 469). In the instant case the agent had no authority to collect for his principal, as is shown by the undisputed evidence. “The agent must act within the authority granted to him” (Civil Code (1910), § 3576), and “persons dealing with an agent appointed for a particular purpose are bound to inquire as to the extent of his authority.” Harris Loan Co. v. Elliott & Hatch Co., supra; Baldwin Fertilizer Co. v. Thompson, 106 Ga. 480 (33 S. E. 591); Dannenberg Co. v.
Since it is undisputed that the plaintiffs delivered the goods as shown by the bill of lading; that the defendants received the goods; that the plaintiffs never received payment therefor; that Eushing had no authority to collect for the plaintiffs, and that the defendants had paid Eushing for the goods, the verdict for the defendants was unauthorized by the evidence, and the court erred in overruling the motion for a new trial.
Judgment reversed.