Owen M. Bruner Co. v. Standard Lumber Co.

Citations

• 63 Pa. Super. 283
• 1916 Pa. Super. LEXIS 152

Syllabus

<p>Contract — Contract by correspondence — Acceptance — Revocation.</p> <p>While an acceptance of an offer to contract is domplete where a letter is deposited in the mail, a retraction of the offer can have no effect until it is communicated to the person to whom the offer is made, and the revocation can take effect only if it is communicated to the other party before its acceptance.</p> <p>Where an offer to purchase lumber is made subject to confirmation, and subsequently on an August 11th the purchaser telegraphs a confirmation of the order,'andbn the same day the seller by letter retracts the offer, and this letter is not received by the purchaser until August 14th, the retraction is ineffectual; and it is immaterial that the seller may have telegraphed also on August 11th, after the accepting telegram was received, that the offer had been revoked.</p> <p>Affidavit of defense — Contract—Sales—Mistake.</p> <p>In an action to recover the price of lumber, an affidavit of defense is insufficient which merely alleges that the price quoted for the lumber and referred to in the correspondence $26 per thousand, was a mistake, and should have been $36 instead, and that plaintiff knew'that the defendant had made a mistake. In such a case the affidavit should disclose such equitable grounds as would relieve the defendant of the written order and narrate such facts as would bring knowledge of the mistake to the plaintiff, or at least sustain an inference to that effect.</p>