Burnham v. Boston Marine Insurance
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Contract upon a policy of insurance, dated January 19,1882, against perils of the seas, whereby the defendant insured the plaintiffs, “ lost or not lost, five hundred dollars on advances on board the schooner Madame Roland, free from claim for particular and (or) general áverage.”
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Contract upon a policy of insurance, dated January 19,1882, against perils of the seas, whereby the defendant insured the plaintiffs, “ lost or not lost, five hundred dollars on advances on board the schooner Madame Roland, free from claim for particular and (or) general áverage.” Trial in the Superior Court, before Mason, J., who reported the case for the determination of this court, in substance as follows: The policy put in evidence showed that the words “ advances on board the schooner ” were written in place of the printed words “ outfits, catch, cargo, or the freight on said cargo,”…
1Opinion of the CourtField, J.
The statements made by Steele, before the policy was issued, that he could “ write $500 more in the Boston Marine Insurance Company,” and could “ call it advances,” and not “ outfits,” and that it would be “ all right,” could not be received to change the contract actually made. A written contract must *405be construed according to its terms in their ordinary signification, unless those terms, by usage in the business or between the parties, have a different meaning; and oral evidence that, before the contract was executed, the parties orally agreed that some of its terms should mean something…
2Cited by2 opinions
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