Besse v. Dyer
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Contract brought to recover the amount of a reward of twenty-five dollars offered by the defendants, by a handbill, reciting that two harnesses, which were described, had been stolen from them, and stating thát “ the above reward will be paid for the detection of the thieves and the recovery of the property.”
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Contract brought to recover the amount of a reward of twenty-five dollars offered by the defendants, by a handbill, reciting that two harnesses, which were described, had been stolen from them, and stating thát “ the above reward will be paid for the detection of the thieves and the recovery of the property.” At the trial in the superior court, before Lord, J., it appeared that on the afternoon of the day when the harnesses were stolen and the reward was offered the plaintiff saw, at a railroad station in North Bridgewater, a box which, as he suspected, contained them, having upon it the name…
1Opinion of the CourtChapman, J.
An offer of a reward by a public advertisement is to be regarded as a conditional promise. The advertiser states such terms as he pleases, and whoever would entitle himself to the reward must prove that he has performed substantially the service proposed in the advertisement, though it need not be performed literally. In Fallick v. Barber, 1 M. & S. 108, a person had advertised the loss of°a child, and offered that whoever would give information where the child was, so that it might be restored to its friends, should have a certain reward. The defendant had given the information and obtained…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- President of City Bank v. BangsNew York Court of Chancery · 1833
3Cited by1 opinion
- Graves v. StateMississippi Supreme Court · 1927