The Hartwell Corporation v. A. J. Bumb, Trustee, Etc.

This is an appeal from a district court order reversing a decision of a referee in bankruptcy. Jurisdiction over this bankruptcy matter was conferred upon the district court by 28 U.S.C. §§ 84 (b) (2), 1331 and 1334. We have jurisdiction to entertain this appeal from the district court’s final order pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 47 and 28 U.S.C. § 1291 .

The district court order does not particularize the grounds upon which it reversed the referee’s decision. We can only infer from the summary approach that the district court accepted the findings of fact of the referee but found the decision reached incorrect as a matter of law.

The undisputed findings of fact of the referee state that this controversy involves a suit against the trustee in bankruptcy for the United States Chemical Milling Corporation for damages sustained as the result of misrepresentation and breach of warranty. In the course of the bankruptcy proceedings, the trustee sought to sell an autonomous division of the bankrupt, “Missile-Air Latch Division.” The trustee solicited an offer from appellant in the course of which he made a written representation that “backlog in this division as of August 81,1962, was for the…