Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Co. v. H. W. Wright Lumber Co.
Wisconsin Supreme Court
Appeal from a judgment of the circuit court for Lincoln county: B. E. Dustwiddie, Judge. In 1897 the parties entered into a written contract reciting : That the defendant was the owner of tracts of timber in township 41, range 7, Yilas county, Wisconsin, which it desired to cut and transport to its mills at Merrill, on the plaintiff’s railway.
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Appeal from a judgment of the circuit court for Lincoln county: B. E. Dustwiddie, Judge. In 1897 the parties entered into a written contract reciting : That the defendant was the owner of tracts of timber in township 41, range 7, Yilas county, Wisconsin, which it desired to cut and transport to its mills at Merrill, on the plaintiff’s railway. That the parties proposed to construct and operate a spur track about seven miles in length, extending from Plum Lake station, in a northwesterly direction, to reach and transport said timber, and for other purposes. That the railway company should…
1Opinion of the CourtDodge, J.
The question presented is one of construction of á written contract, mainly by means of its own words, aided, if in the examination of those words there arises any ambiguity, by certain undisputed facts surrounding the parties at the time it was made. As has often been said, the construction or meaning intended to be conveyed by the words of a wanting is seldom aided by argument or precedents. The one charged wdth the duty of construction must assume that parties intended to express that Avhich the words used convey to his mind. As in case of wills, the all-dominating rule is to ascertain…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Wisconsin Marine & Fire Insurance Co. Bank v. WilkinWisconsin Supreme Court · 1897
- Brittingham & Hixon Lumber Co. v. MansonWisconsin Supreme Court · 1900
3Cited by7 opinions
- Jones v. JenkinsWisconsin Supreme Court · 1979
- Polebitzke v. John Week Lumber Co.Wisconsin Supreme Court · 1914
- Weber v. NedinWisconsin Supreme Court · 1933
- Barkhausen v. Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Co.Wisconsin Supreme Court · 1910
- Isermann v. MBL Life Assurance Corp.Court of Appeals of Wisconsin · 1999
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