Liverpool & London & Globe Insurance v. Kearney

Citations

• 180 U.S. 132
• 21 S. Ct. 326
• 45 L. Ed. 460
• 1901 U.S. LEXIS 1291

Syllabus

<p>The plaintiff in error insured the defendants in error against loss by fire by two policies, one dated in June,, 1894, the other in February, 1895, each of which contained the following provision: “The assured under this policy hereby covenants and agrees to keep a set of books showing a complete record of business transacted, including all purchases and sales, both for cash and credit, together with the last inventory of said business; and further covenants and agrees to keep such books and inventory securely locked in a fireproof, safe at night, and at all times when the store mentioned in the within policy is not .actually open for business, or in some secure place not exposed to a fire which would destroy the house - where such business is carried on; and, in case of loss, the assured agrees and covenants to produce such books and. inventory, and in the event of tlie failure to produce the same, this policy shall be deemed null and void, and no suit or action at law shall be maintained thereon for any such loss.” On the night of April 18,1895, between the hours of one and three a. m., fire accidentally broke out in a livery stable in the town of Ardmore, which was about three hundred yards distant from the plaintiffs’ place of business. Efforts to arrest the progress of the conflagration failed, and when it had approached so near to the plaintiffs’ place of business that the windows of their store were cracking from the heat and the building was about to take fire, one of the plaintiffs entered the building for the purpose of removing the books of the firm to a safer place, thinking that it would be better to remove them than to take the chances of their being destroyed by fire. He opened an iron safe in the store in which they had been deposited for the night, which was called a fireproof safe, and took them therefrom and to his residence some distance away. Tlie books consisted of a ledger, a cash book, a day book or blotter, and a small paper-covered book