6. G bought a bill of goods from X on ninety days time and F guaranteed the payment for them. X allowed the debt to drag along for six years, at which time G had moved to a distant state. X then sued F for the bill. Is he entitled to recover?

7. A bought a horse from B on six months time and C guaranteed the payment of the debt in case of A's failure to do so. At the end of the six months B without C's consent gave B an additional six months in which to pay. On B's failure to pay at the expiration of the additional time B sued C on his guarantee. Is he entitled to recover?

CHAPTER XL

BAILMENTS

ANALYTICAL OUTLINE OF BAILMENTS

1. Definition.

2. Distinguished from sale and from barter.
1. Bailments for the benefit of the

3. Classification.

Bailments..

bailor.

2. Bailments for the benefit of the

bailee.

3. Bailments for the benefit of both
the bailor and the bailee.

4. Liability in the different kinds of bailments.
5. Rights and liabilities of pledgees and pawnbrokers.

446. Definition. Bailment embraces all cases in which the owner of personal property places it in the hands of another for some special purpose. Merely the possession of the property and not the ownership of the property is transferred. Bailment includes borrowing, lending, letting, hiring, and loaning of things and services. The person making the delivery is called the bailor, and the person to whom the delivery is made is called the bailee.

447. Bailment contracts. The delivery is made upon a contract expressed or implied that after the purpose of the delivery has been accomplished the property shall be returned to the bailor or to some person designated by him.

Most bailments rest upon an implied contract. If a person leaves his suit at a tailor shop to be pressed, it constitutes a bailment. The party leaving the suit is the bailor, and the tailor to whom it is delivered is the bailee, and there is an im

plied contract that the suit is to be returned to the owner as soon as the work is done.

448. Distinction between a bailment and a sale. In a sale there is a transfer of the general ownership or title, while in a bailment there is only the transfer of possession for a particular purpose, the title remaining in the owner.

449. Distinction between a bailment and a barter. A barter is an exchange of one piece of property for another, as where two men trade horses. In a bailment the identical thing is to be returned, and there is no exchange of property. The property may be returned in a different form, as where wheat is ground into flour, or logs are sawed into lumber.

450. Classification of bailments. Bailments fall into three classes: 1. Bailments for the benefit of the bailor. 2. Bailments for the benefit of the bailee. 3. Bailments for the benefit of both the bailor and the bailee.

451. Bailments for the benefit of the bailor. This is a very common class of bailments. Whenever a person undertakes to hold or convey a piece of property for a friend as a favor, without any compensation, such a transaction comes under this class of bailments. B undertakes to take A's plowshare to the shop to be repaired, just as a friendly act, or he may undertake to sharpen it without pay, or to store it in his barn, in any of these cases B is a gratuitous bailee, and the bailment is for A's sole benefit.

452. Liability of a gratuitous bailee. As the bailee is to receive no compensation for his trouble, the law does not hold him to a high degree of care, and he is liable only for gross negligence. The lowest degree of care and diligence is all that the law requires.

453. Test of gratuitous bailment. Whether a bailment is gratuitous or not depends on the intention of the parties. If the bailee received the property in the usual course of business, and it is customary to charge for the services to be rendered, he will have the right to demand pay for his services and the bailment is not gratuitous, even though nothing was said about compensation.

454. Bailments for the benefit of the bailee. In this class of bailments the bailee receives the entire benefit. The property is simply loaned to him for his use. A case of this kind is where A loaned his driving horse to B, for B to take a pleasure drive, without any charge for the use of the animal. The ordinary term is "borrower." B merely borrowed the horse. The loan may be for a definite period or at the will of the lender.

455. Liability of the bailee. Since the bailee is the only one who received any benefit from the transaction, the law holds him to a high degree of care, and he will be liable for slight degree of negligence. He must use the property strictly in accordance with the terms upon which he received it, and if he deviates from the agreement in the least degree and a loss occurs, he will be liable. The bailee is required to exercise great care in keeping or using the article, and he will be liable for slight negligence. He is held to a higher degree of care than any other kind of bailee. He is not liable for an inevitable accident, but is held responsible for any loss which he might have prevented by the exercise of the highest degree of diligence. 456. Caring for borrowed articles. The bailee is required to feed a borrowed animal and furnish shelter and proper care, but he is not liable if the animal dies a natural death. Any extraordinary expense beyond food and shelter, which is necessary to preserve the property to the owner is properly charged to the bailor.

457. Termination of bailment. The parties may agree as to the time the bailment is to continue. In the absence of any agreement, the bailment is at the option of the bailor and he can terminate it at any time. The bailment terminates on the destruction of the property.

458. Use of property. Rule: The thing borrowed must be used strictly for the purpose for which it was loaned.

This rule is most rigidly enforced. If the thing is used in any other way or for any other purpose than that for which it was obtained, the bailee must make good the loss. A borrowed B's horse to ride to a certain place, but instead he rode him one and one-half miles farther in a different direction, and the

horse died on the way. A was held liable for the value of the horse, though he was not guilty of any negligence. He was liable for the injury because of his departure from the terms of the contract.

459. Bailments for the benefit of both the bailor and the bailee. In this class of bailments the benefits are not confined to one side but are for the benefit of both parties. It is not an act of favor or friendship, but is a business transaction.

460. Pledge. It is a pledge when one party gives personal property to another to hold as security for the payment of some debt or performance of some act.

The person transferring possession is called the pledgor; the person receiving it the pledgee. This is what may be termed a collateral security. Anything that is personal property may be pledged.

461. Duty of pledgee. Rule: The pledge being for the benefit of both parties, the pledgee is required to use only ordinary

care.

The pledgee is not entitled to use the property if its use will lessen its value. Thus, if an overcoat be pledged to secure the payment of a debt, the pledgee would have no right to wear it. But if a horse be pledged it should be used sufficiently to keep it in health.

462. Right to sell. Rule: The pledgee has a right to retain possession of the property pledged until the debt be paid, but he cannot hold the property to cover debts other than those for which the pledge was made. If the debt be not paid when due the pledgee may either sue on the debt or sell the property.

The property is not forfeited to the pledgee. He must notify the pledgor to redeem the property by public auction. He should be sure that it is an open and fair sale. Or, if he prefer, he may file a bill in equity asking for a foreclosure, leaving the sale in the hand of the court. Therefore, after default by the pledgor, the pledgee may either sue on the debt, sell the property at public auction, or have it sold by the court through its officers. When notes are pledged they can not be sold ordinarily.