Case Name: Hattiesburg Plumbing Company v. Carmichael & Company
Court: Mississippi Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Mississippi
Decision Date: 1902-03
Citations: 80 Miss. 66
Docket Number: 
Parties: Hattiesburg Plumbing Company v. Carmichael & Company.
Judges: 
Reporter: Mississippi Reports
Volume: 80
Pages: 66–68

Head Matter:
Hattiesburg Plumbing Company v. Carmichael & Company.
Evidence. Artesian well. Meaning of term. Parol evidence.
The word “artesian,” when applied to a well, indicates in its primary sense a well from which the water flows naturally, and in its secondary sense one from which the water is made to flow by artificial means, and being a term of equivocal significance when standing unexplained in a contract, and parol evidence is admissible to show what meaning it was intended to have by the parties to the contract.
Prom the circuit court of Covington county.
Hon. John E. Enochs, Judge.
The appellant, the Hattiesburg Plumbing Co., was plaintiff, and the appellees. A. E. Carmichael & Co., were defendants in the court below.
The action was for the balance due on contract price of an artesian well put down by the plaintiff for defendants. The plaintiff’s manager testified that his company had put down the well for defendants to a depth of 554 feet, and secured a flow of water that came within sixteen feet of the top, but did not overflow under natura] pressure. It was objected by the defendants that the plaintiff had not shown performance of the contract on its own part since, only a well from which the water flows naturally, without the aid of artificial means, is an artesian well, and when the plaintiff sought to show by parol evidence the sense in which the term was employed by the parties to the contract, the court below sustained the defendants’ objection, and excluding the whole of the evidence offered by the plaintiff, directed a verdict for the defendants. Judgment having been entered accordingly, the plaintiff appealed to the supreme court.
Harper & Potter, for appellant.
While the primary meaning of the term “artesian,” as applied to a well, means a well that overflows by natural pressure, the secondary meaning includes even those where pumping is necessary. Standard Dictionary. Being a term of art, and having two meanings, it was competent to show by parol its meaning as used in the contract. Tufts v. Greenewald, 66 Miss., 360.
McIntosh Bros., for appellees.
The court did not err in excluding parol evidence to explain the meaning of the term “artesian,” as used in the contract. An “artesian well” is defined as one which flows spontaneously without the employment of artificial means. Webster’s International Die.; Worcester’s Die.; 2 Am. & Eng. Enc. Law (2d ed.), 994.

Opinion:
Whitfield, C. J.,
delivered the opinion of the court.
The primary definition in all the dictionaries of the word "artesian" indicates a well from which the water flows naturally without artificial pressure; but the secondary definition of this word in the Century and Standard dictionaries, and others, seems to indicate that it may be applied also to wells from which the- water is made to flow by artificial means. The word "artesian," therefore, becomes a term of equivocal significance, standing unexplained in a contract. It was hence competent to introduce parol testimony to show what meaning it had in this particular contract. The court, consequently, erred in excluding this testimony; it should receive all parol testimony showing what meaning this word "artesian" had as used by the parties to this contract.
Reversed and remanded,