Miller v. Chicago & Northwestern Railway Co.
Wisconsin Supreme Court
Appeal from a judgment of the circuit court for Sauk county: E. Ray Stevens, Circuit Judge. Eor fourteen years plaintiff was in tbe business of buying and leasing slot machines. During that time he owned four or five hundred machines and sold a few, not to exceed twenty. His usual custom was to lease the machines to saloon and hotel keepers on an agreement that he was to receive as pay for their use one half the profits derived therefrom.
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Appeal from a judgment of the circuit court for Sauk county: E. Ray Stevens, Circuit Judge. Eor fourteen years plaintiff was in tbe business of buying and leasing slot machines. During that time he owned four or five hundred machines and sold a few, not to exceed twenty. His usual custom was to lease the machines to saloon and hotel keepers on an agreement that he was to receive as pay for their use one half the profits derived therefrom. The plaintiff looked after and cared for the machines so leased. He said: “When I know a machine is going to take a vacation pending an election or a wave…
1Opinion of the CourtBarnes, J.
There is no claim on the part of either party that the machine in question was not a gambling device or that its use was not prohibited by secs. 4529 and 4531, Stats. Neither is there any claim that the machine was usable for any lawful purpose.
The judgment cannot stand unless the court holds that where 'an article is not usable and has no value for lawful purposes the right exists to recover for its value based on its use and usability for an unlawful purpose.
*433This question suggests some others that might arise: If a counterfeiter employed an engraver to make plates to be used in making…
2Cases cited11 opinions
- People v. AdamsNew York Court of Appeals · 1903
- People v. . AdamsNew York Court of Appeals · 1903
- Frost v. PeopleIllinois Supreme Court · 1901
- J. B. Mullen & Co. v. MoseleyIdaho Supreme Court · 1907
- Board of Police Commissioners v. WagnerCourt of Appeals of Maryland · 1901
6 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.
3Cited by8 opinions
- Maltz v. SaxCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · 1943
- United States v. SischoDistrict Court, W.D. Washington · 1919
- Stanley-Thompson Liquor Co. v. PeopleSupreme Court of Colorado · 1917
- State v. ClementiWisconsin Supreme Court · 1937
- Weis v. AllmanAppellate Court of Illinois · 1945
3 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.