Copper River Packing Co. v. Alaska S. S. Co.

Plaintiff, a salmon packing company, has a cannery at Nellie Juan, Alaska, with a capacity of from 1,200 to 2,000 cases of salmon per day. The season begins about July 4th and ends about the 18th of August of each year. The steamship company and plaintiff entered into a contract in March, 1922, by the terms of which the steamship company would deliver or receive at ship’s tackle all the property owned or controlled by the packing company covered by the agreement, which would require transportation to or from the wharf, it being understood that the bulk of the packing company’s north-bound shipments moved in relatively large shipments in the spring and south-bound shipments in relatively large shipments in the fall. The steamship company agreed to furnish sufficient vessels to handle the north-bound shipments in the spring and the south-bound shipments in the fall “with reasonable promptness and dispatch, and at other times during the season to furnish such additional vessels, either direct or by detours from a regular route, as may be reasonably required by the necessities of the second party’s business.” The pack-’ ing company was to ship exclusively by the steamers of the…