November 25, 1915. 



Pertinent Legal Findings 



Queries on questions arising on ami points involving the late os it is applied to lumlering and allied industries }oilt Tie given proper expert 

 attention througti this- ilcpartment if submitted to IIaiidwood Record. There irill be no charge Jor such service, but Hardwood Uecokd 

 reserves the right to publish questions and answers witlwut designating names or location of inquiries unless specificallu requested not to do so. 



Taxation of Standing Timber 



Tho Mississippi supreme court notes tliat it is now settled law 

 that when standing timber is owned by one person and the land by 

 another, the timber may be separately assessed to its owner. (Caston 

 vs. Pine Lumber Company, 69 Southern Reporter, 668.) 



Damages for Breach of Contract 

 Even if a lumber manufacturer does break his contract to give 

 employment to a contractor to transport lumber, etc., the latter cannot 

 recover substantial damages without offering proof of his inability 

 to get other work during the contract period for his teams and equip- 

 ment, and that he was diligent in attempting to get sucli work. 



Assignments for Benefit of Creditors 

 After a debtor made a general assignment for the benefit of his 

 creditors, it was too late for a lumber company to which he was 

 indebted for materials to levy on the assigned property to satisfy 

 judgment on the claim, according to a late holding of the Washing- 

 ton supreme court, and sale under such a levy was void. This is 

 specially true, the court holds, when it appears that the lumber com- 

 pany originally assented to the assignment. (Gilbert vs. Morgan 

 Lumber Company, 151 Pacific Eeporter, 785.) 



Validity of Insurance on Lumber 



The right of a lumber company to recover the face value of 

 a policy insuring lumber against loss by fire is not defeated by the 

 fact that part of the stock burned was manufactured from tim- 

 ber -cut from state lands, where it appears that the company 

 did not have actual knowledge that a trespass upon the state's 

 lands had been committed, settlement was made with the state for 

 the trespass, and the value of the lumber actually owned by the 

 company and covered by the policy exceeded the amount of the 

 insurance. (Michigan supreme court, First National Bank vs. 

 Aetna Insurance Company, 153 Northwestern Eeporter, 1063.) 



Employer's Liability for Injury 

 In a suit against an employer for injury to a workman while 

 operating woodworking or other machinery, the question of neg- 

 ligence in failing to maintain the machinery in reasonably safe 

 condition is to be determined with reference to the probability 

 of such an accident happening, rather than to the possibility of 

 injury. (Michigan ^preme court, Johnston vs. Elm. Cooperage 

 Company, 153 Northwestern Eeporter, 1075.) 



Liability of Business Manager 



One employed to manage the affairs of a company engaged in 

 the manufacture of lumber is legally, as well as morally, bound 

 to use the highest degree of good faith and honesty in his dealings 

 on behalf of the company. Hence, he can be compelled to account 

 to the company for profits made by him personally through double 

 dealing. (Kentucky court of appeals, 178 Southwestern Eeporter, 

 1082.) 



Conversion of Shipment by Carrier 



Where a consignee of a lumber shipment refused to accept it 

 and title remained in the shipper, the latter is entitled to re- 

 cover against the delivering railway company on the theory of 

 conversion of the shipment, if it appears that in selling the 

 lumber to satisfy freight and demurrage charges the sale was 

 made by the carrier to a person who was not buying in good 

 faith on his own account but as secret agent of the railway com- 

 pany. 



Partial Acceptance of Deliveries 



The right of a buyer of lumber to accept the part of a ship- 

 ment which comes up to the contract grade and to reject part 

 which is defective, is recognized by the Michigan supreme court 

 in the recent case of Stearns Salt & Lumber Company vs. Dennis 

 Lumber Company, 154 Northwestern Eeporter, 91. But the court 

 holds that if the buyer in this case had taken into possession the 



rejected lumber and assumed to dispose of it at a less price, 

 ' ' there could be no question that under the law in this state the 

 damages thus sustained could not have been recouped in an action 

 to recover for the rejected lumber. But here the defendant moved 

 promptly by notifying plaintiff the very next day after the inspec- 

 tion of the rejection of the lumber in question." 



In a similar case in Maryland, Canton Lumber Company vs. 

 Liller, 68 Atlantic Eeporter, 500, the court held that the plaintiff, 

 the buyer in that case, had a right to accept lumber which was up 

 to the grade contracted for, and that by doing so it did not accept 

 the part which was below grade. 



The same point has been decided by the New Hampshire su- 

 preme court in the case of Holmes vs. Gregg, 28 Atlantic Eeporter, 

 17. That case involved a sale of lumber shipped on cars in five 

 lots, three of which were' accepted and used by the defendants, 

 and the others, not conforming to the order in quality, were 

 rejected and piled in their yard, where they remained subject to 

 the plaintiff's order. The defendants seasonably informed the 

 plaintiffs of their action, and tendered the price of the aceeptea 

 lumber. The court said: 



"Without an express stipulation that the contract was or was 

 not entire, the parties might have understood that it was sever- 

 able in such a sense that the defendants could accept the lumber 

 that conformed to the contract and reject the rest." 



In the Wisconsin case, the supreme court added this statement: 



"In his reasons for directing a verdict [in favor of the buyer] 

 the trial court also stated that thus severing the contract was.in 

 accordance with a custom universal among lumber dealers, and 

 it is contended that this was error because, it is claimed, the 

 testimony in this respect falls far short of establishing such a 

 universal custom as to warrant this conclusion on the part of 

 the court. Being of the opinion that the court arrived at a 

 proper conclusion with respect to the other question, and properly 

 directed a verdict for that reason, it is unnecessary for us to 

 determine whether under the facts in this case the testimonyswas 

 insuflScient to justify a conclusion that a universal custom had 

 been established." 



Expensive Waste in Drying 



In drying lumber the factory waste wUl average thirty to thirty- 

 five per cent. This is admitted by careful manufacturers who know. 

 The waste is produced all the way from the yard to the finished 

 product, in about this order: If lumber is not properly piled on 

 the yard to air-dry, overhanging boards wiU check, twist and bend 

 down by the weight; they become weathered, and these projecting 

 ends are often worthless. Stickers are not put over each other 

 and are not put in thick enough, and no attention is paid to uni- 

 formity of thickness; hence the lumber is kinked, which often 

 necessitates cutting out. The proper pitch of piles is lacking, and 

 this causes the lumber to stain. When put in the kilns the same 

 slipshod methods are pursued, and a woeful lack of knowledge of 

 proper means of drying is universal. The lumber is baked dry, 

 causing it to twist, warp, cheek and honeycomb. Some of it is 

 overdried and some is underdried, even on the same car, and when 

 this much abused lumber reaches the saw, it must be literally cut 

 to pieces to remove the defects that have been largely produced by 

 carelessness. Most of the above waste can be saved by yarding, 

 sticking and drying the lumber properly. Suppose twenty-five per 

 cent were saved. This on twenty-doUar lumber equals five dollars 

 for 1,000 feet. If a manufacturer cuts 10,000 feet a day, it is 

 fifty dollars a day, or a saving of $15,000 a year of 300 working days 

 — rather a tidy sum to be thrown away in useless waste. 



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