Fairbanks, Morse & Co. v. Lake Union Dry Dock & Machine Works

This was an action by Lake Union Dry Dock & Machine Works against Fairbanks, Morse & Co., on a trade acceptance executed by the latter through C. R. Miller, as agent. The authority of Miller to execute the trade acceptance on behalf of Fairbanks, Morse & Go. was the only question at issue in the court below. The court, sitting without a jury, determined that issue in favor of the plaintiff, and gave judgment accordingly. The defendant has appealed therefrom.

Without going into unnecessary detail, the facts are substantially as follows. At the beginning of 1927 the Sterling Steamship Company was indebted to the appellee in the sum of $8,000, with accrued interest, for re *415 pairs on the Ethel M. Sterling, a vessel owned by the Sterling Company. This balance became due on March 1, 1927, and in the latter part of May, 1927, a demand for payment was made on Walter R. Kuppler, treasurer of the Sterling Company, and also credit man for the appellant. The vessel at that time was on a voyage to Honolulu through the Panama Canal, and the appellee notified Kuppler that, unless the claim was paid, the’ vessel would be libeled at Galveston, Tex., where she was expected to arrive in a few…