98 S.E. 838 | N.C. | 1919
Plaintiff sued for damages, alleging that he contracted with the defendant to board and lodge nine of its employees at one and 25-100 dollars per day for each of them, and that after staying with him a few days they left his home, without any legal or sufficient cause, although he had to incur great expense in preparing to perform his part of the contract, and while they were with him as boarders and lodgers he supplied them with good and wholesome food and comfortable lodging, and was, at all times, able, ready, and willing to perform the contract *333 throughout the time named therein. The defendant denied the allegations of the complaint.
The jury returned the following verdict:
What amount, if any, is the plaintiff entitled to recover of the defendant? Answer: "$150."
Judgment and appeal by the defendant.
There is but one question which requires consideration. Mrs. Wafford testified that she had eaten at the plaintiff's boarding house both before and after the employees came there, and saw the supper which was spread for them on the night they did not come, when they agreed to come and were expected by the plaintiff to come, and it "looked nice," was well cooked and "looked as nice as anybody's." Defendant objected to this testimony, but it will be observed that at least some of it was clearly admissible, and the objection must fail, for where a part of testimony is competent, although the other part of it may not be, and exception is taken to all of it, it will not be sustained. Defendant should have separated the "good from the bad," and objected only to the latter, as the objection must be valid as to the whole of the testimony. We will not set off the bad for him and consider only that much of it, upon the supposition that his objection was aimed solely at the incompetent part. He must do that for himself. This is the firmly established rule. S. v. Ledford,
But the testimony as to the kind of meals provided by plaintiff before the boarders came was relevant and competent, not generally or in all cases, but in this case, because of its peculiar facts. Plaintiff kept a boarding house and agreed for a consideration to take these employees of defendant as boarders, giving them such lodging and table board as he had theretofore furnished to his other boarders. There was no special provision for better board or accommodations. It was competent for the witness, therefore, in stating what kind of table board they received *334 after coming there, to compare it with that furnished before they came, as tending to show that, under the contract, which was general in its terms, and called for the same kind of accommodations and board theretofore supplied, the employees received the ordinary and usual board, and not such as they stated had been received. But if not substantive evidence it was, at least, corroborative of the witness, and no special instruction was asked as to how it should be applied by the jury, as required by Rule 27 of this Court. 164 N.C. (Anno. Ed.), p. 438.
The question to be decided, when this class of testimony is (316) offered, is whether it is relevant — that is, whether it rationally tends to prove the fact in issue, and is so related to it as to form a reasonably safe basis for a conclusion in regard to the fact. Where the defense in an action brought to recover for labor was that the plaintiff had unskillfully performed such labor, evidence that he had unskillfully performed other labor was held irrelevant. Campbell v. Russell,
If the testimony offered in behalf of the plaintiff was found by the jury to be true, which seems to be the case, the plaintiff furnished such meals and substantial food as were sufficient to satisfy the normal appetite, though not, perhaps, suited to those of fastidious tastes. He was not required, under the contract, to gratify the luxurious tastes of an epicurean.
The testimony of Mrs. Wafford, that her daughter was employed by plaintiff to help in the house when the new boarders should come, and that she was afterwards told by plaintiff that her child's service would not be needed, as his wife could do the work after the boarders had lift, if not harmless, tended to show that plaintiff, as he stated, had prepared, after making the contract, to receive his guests and have the proper waiters at the table for serving the meals. They could not eat if they could not get the food, and there must be some one to bring it to them. *335 This is not an unusual but a customary provision at a boarding house or a hotel. This proof was offered to show plaintiff's readiness to perform his part of the contract.
A party to a contract can maintain an action for its breach upon averring and proving a performance of his own antecedent obligations arising on the contract, or that he was prevented from performing it by the other party or those acting for him. Tussey v. Owen,
"1. Where one violates his contract he is liable for such damages, including gains prevented as well as losses sustained, as may fairly be supposed to have entered into the contemplation of the parties when they made the contract, that is, such as might naturally be expected to follow its violation, and they must be certain, both in their nature and in respect to the cause from which they proceed. Griffin v. Culver, supra.
"2. The law seeks to give full compensation in damages for a breach of contract, and in pursuit of this end it allows profits to be considered when the contract itself, or any rule of law, or any other element in the case, furnishes a standard by which their amount may be determined with sufficient certainty.
"3. In an action for damages for a breach of contract, in the absence of some standard fixed by the parties when they made their *336 contract, the law will not permit mere profits, depending upon the chances of business and other contingent circumstances, and which are perhaps merely fanciful, to be considered by the jury as part of the compensation."
A text-writer thus refers to the rule: "In an action for damages the plaintiff must prove, as part of his case, both the amount and the cause of his loss. Absolute certainty, however, is not required, but both the cause and the amount of the loss must be shown with reasonable certainty. Substantial damages may be recovered though plaintiff can only give his loss approximately." Hale on Damages, p. 70, (318) quoted with approval by this Court in Bowen v. King,
Some of these questions are not presented by the assignments of error, but they are discussed to some extent in the briefs, and we have deemed it proper that we should refer to them.
We will not close without adverting to the form of the issue, which we do not approve. There should have been an issue as to whether there had been a breach of the contract, the defendant having denied that there had been one. The second issue, then, should have been in the form of the one submitted, or substantially so. But there was no objection to the form of the issue, and we merely refer to it, because such an issue has been condemned by this Court. Denmark v. R. R. Co.,
There was no error in the trial of the case, and we find none in the record.
No error.
Cited: Singleton v. Roebuck,
(319)
