Brown v. Exeter Machine Works

Citations

• 60 Pa. Super. 365
• 1915 Pa. Super. LEXIS 198

Syllabus

<p>Contract — Severable contract — Payments.</p> <p>A contract provided for the furnishing of specifications and drawings for four locomotive cranes of five, fifteen and twenty tons respectively. The consideration w;as fivejrundred dollars payable in installments of five hundred dollars each as the drawings for each crane were respectively delivered. The sets for the five- and ten-ton cranes were delivered and paid for. On the sheets or drawing for the ten-ton crane there were dimensions for a fifteen- and twenty-ton crane, but no separate drawings were ever delivered for them. The excuse for not delivering the two sets of drawings for the larger cranes was that they were not necessary, and' that the sets of drawings delivered covered all four items of the contract. Held, (1) that the contract was severable; (2) that it was error to direct a verdict for the plaintiffs because defendant had retained the drawings and specifications without protest and without any offer to return them.</p> <p>Whether a contract is entire or divisible depends on the intention of the parties as manifested by the language employed, rather than in the character of the subject-matter or of the consideration, though this is an aid in determining the intent. If the part to be performed by one party consists of several distinct items and the price to be paid by the other is apportioned to each item or is left to be implied by law, generally the contract is held to be sever-able.</p>