Harper v. Baird

Citations

• 19 Del. 110
• 3 Penne. 110
• 50 A. 326
• 1900 Del. LEXIS 61

Syllabus

<p>Assumpsit—Contract—Sale of Goods—Examination—Acceptance— Refusal to Accept—Tender—Usage af Trade—Evidence.</p> <p>1. When two papers purporting to be counterparts of the agreement upon which the action is founded have been offered in evidence, both of which were signed by the plaintiff and by him sent to the defendants for acceptance, who endorsed their acceptance upon one of the papers and returned it to the plaintiff, but refused the other; held that the paper that was accepted by the defendants, and so endorsed, and returned by them to the plaintiff, is the one upon which the plaintiff has the right to rely, and is to govern the jury in reaching their verdict.</p> <p>2. Questions as to the examination, acceptance or refusal of the goods in question, are for the determination of the jury, and not for the Court, when the evidence is conflicting. The plaintiff is bound to tender or deliver the goods to the defendant in such a manner as to afford a fair opportunity to inspect the same, for the purpose of determining whether they answered the reqirements of the contract.</p> <p>3. If after a fair opportunity for inspection the defendant unconditionally accepts the goods, or any part thereof, as in conformity with the contract, he cannot afterwards repudiate such acceptance and refuse to pay the contract price for the goods so accepted.</p> <p>4. Where the agreement is a single contract, the purchaser of the goods has a right to wait until the entire quantity is ready for delivery, before he is called on either to accept or reject them. It is his right to have the opportunity to see and examine the entire lot, to ascertain whether it altogether complies with the contract and also to such reasonable custody and possession as might be necessary for that purpose. ,</p> <p>.5. If ¡under the usage and custom of the particular trade there is a class or kind of “ skins” known to the trade as “ Russian goatskins,” in such case the term would designate the kind of skins so k