Neuss, Hesslein & Co. v. Van Derstegen

Defendant in error brought action on June 19, 1920, in the United States District Court for China against plaintiff in error for an alleged breach of a contract. The parties will hereinafter be designated plaintiff and defendant, as in the court below.

During the period involved in this controversy, plaintiff, L. Van der Stegen, was a citizen of Belgium, doing business in Shanghai, China, under the name of the Belgian Trading Company, and defendant, Neuss, Hesslein & Co., was an American corporation, organized and existing under the laws of the state of New York, and having its principal place of business at Nos. 43-45 White street, New York City.

In plaintiff’s petition, it is alleged that the defendant had a branch office at No. 1 Yuen Ming Yuen Road, Shanghai, China, of which W. P. Hough was the manager, and its main office in New York, United States of America; that on January 30, 1920, defendant, through the manager of its Shanghai branch, purchased of the plaintiff, for and on account of its (the defendant’s) New York office, certain merchandise, the items of which material to this controversy are described as “100 tons spray hen’s egg yolk, at gold $0.54 per pound net c.…