Williams Typewriter Co. v. Cleaver

Citations

• 38 Pa. Super. 376
• 1909 Pa. Super. LEXIS 145

Syllabus

<p>Contract- — -Alteration of written contract — Contract of sale — General and specific contract.</p> <p>1. Where a written contract for the purchase of typewriters is altered after the purchaser has signed it, by the insertion of serial numbers of the typewriters and by the addition of a schedule materially varying the terms of payment, the seller cannot enforce the agreement.</p> <p>2. In such a case the insertion of the serial numbers in the contract, without the knowledge or consent of the purchaser, changes it from a general to a specific contract, and the change is very material because it gives the seller the right to sue for and recover the contract price for the typewriters if the purchaser refuses to take them, but without such insertion the recovery is limited to the difference between the price agreed upon and the market value on the day fixed for delivery.</p> <p>Evidence — Assignments of error — Appeals—Harmless error.</p> <p>3. Where the trial judge gives binding instructions in favor of the defendant because of material alterations made by the plaintiff in the contract in suit after the defendant had signed it, errors in ruling on what was or was not proper cross-examination, are harmless.</p>