Dubuque Fire & Marine Insurance v. Union Compress & Warehouse Co.

BENJAMIN C. DAWKINS, Jr., Chief Judge.

These consolidated cases, tried without jury, are the aftermath of a disastrous fire which occurred at Delhi, Louisiana, on November 12, 1953, destroying more than 3,000 bales of cotton, worth about $450,000, and two fairly large buildings, one of which was insured jointly by plaintiffs. They contend that defendants are responsible to them for the loss they thereby sustained.

The background facts are these: About 1940 or 1941, a group of public-spirited citizens of Northeast Louisiana, taking note of the advantages to be derived from a change in the former…