acquiescence in such act is proven, either directly or indirectly, by the usual course of dealing. Such purchase does not bind the firm, when the other members thereof repudiate the transaction as soon as it comes to their knowledge. D. W. Bruckart, for the appellants. G. H. Reynolds, for the respondent. 258 MITCHELL, J. Defendant's counterclaim is founded on an alleged purchase of five thousand bushels of wheat by the plaintiffs from the defendant's testate, Tileston. The principal points urged by the plaintiffs are: 1. That there was no sufficient memorandum of the contract of purchase to take the case out of the statute of frauds, and that parol evidence was improperly admitted to explain the terms of the written memorandum; 2. That the alleged purchase was the individual transaction of the plaintiff Marcus Maurin, and not within the scope of the partnership business. 1. The written memorandum was in the words and figures following: "St. Cloud. "Sold Maurin Bros. "Cold Springs. "5000, 1-0 July Del. "99 c. Duluth. "(Signed) GEO. TILESTON & CO. "MAURIN BROS." Both parties were engaged in buying and selling grain, and were presumably acquainted with technical terms of the trade. The referee who tried the cause admitted, over the objection and exception of the plaintiffs, parol evidence that in the trade, among buyers and sellers of wheat, the character "1-0" was used to indicate the grade of the wheat, and meant, "Grade No. 1 Northern wheat"; also, that "July Del" meant July delivery (that is, that the wheat was to be delivered during July); that "99 c. Duluth" indicated the price per bushel and the place of delivery, and meant that the price was ninety-nine cents per bushel, and the place of delivery Duluth; that these were the meanings of the characters and terms used in the 259 randum, as understood by the usages and customs of the trade among wheat men. memo This evidence was competent, under the rule which admits parol evidence to show that abbreviations, and apparently am biguous statements of description, price, et cetera, have a recognized meaning in the trade, and hence are a sufficient statement of the terms of the contract. This is the rule as to various abbreviations and apparent ambiguities of this nature in brief notes of mercantile contracts which are often composed, to use the language of Parke, B., in Marshall v. Lynn, 6 Mees. & W. 109, 118, in "a sort of mercantile shorthand, made up of few and short expressions, which generally express the full meaning and intention of the parties": Browne on the Statutes of Frauds, sec. 380. See, also, Paine v. Smith, 33 Minn. 495; 01son v. Sharpless, 53 Minn. 91; Merchant v. Howell, 53 Minn. 295. The parol evidence admitted in this case neither varied nor added to the written memorandum, but merely translated it from the language of the trade into the ordinary language of people generally. The memorandum, as thus translated, fulfilled all the requirements of the statute of frauds. 2. The purchase of wheat was made by the plaintiff Marcus Maurin without the knowledge of his partner, Peter Maurin, who promptly repudiated the transaction when it came to his knowledge. The plaintiffs had been in partnership for a number of years, engaged in conducting two general merchandise country storesone at Cold Springs, under the personal management of Marcus, and another at Elizabeth City, under the personal management of Peter. They sold general merchandise, and bought grain and other farm products raised in the surrounding country, paying for the same in cash or merchandise, or taking it on debts. They had an elevator at each of the points where the stores were situated, and a third elevator at the station of Carlisle (which is not far from Elizabeth City), in which they stored the wheat which they purchased. This wheat they sold sometimes to millers, and sometimes through commission men at Minneapolis or Duluth, to whom they shipped it to sell for them. Sometimes they sold this wheat for future arrival. The firm never bought any wheat at Duluth or Minneapolis, or 260 sold any there, except the wheat which they bought in the country in the vicinity of their stores and elevators; and the understanding and agreement between the partners themselves was that their business of buying grain should be thus confined to the home markets (that is, the places where their stores and elevators were situated), and that their sales should be limited to the grain purchased at those points, and it had in fact been so limited, unless the purchase from Tileston was an exception. Peter Maurin had, two or three years previously, made two purchases of wheat in Minneapolis on speculation, but these were made in his own individual name, and on his own personal account. The purchase from Tileston was not made to fulfill any prior contract of the firm, but, so far as appears, purely on speculation, in expectation of a future rise in price. Tileston did not have the wheat on hand at St. Cloud, where he lived, or elsewhere, but after he made the contract with Marcus Maurin he bought the wheat to fill it in Duluth. This is substantially all the evidence bearing upon the nature and scope of the partnersnip business. We do not think that it justified a finding that the transaction was within the scope of the partnership business, so as to bind the firm. It by no means follows, because it was within the scope of the partnership business to buy wheat from farmers and others in the vicinity of their country elivators and stores, that it was also within the scope of the business to buy large quantities of wheat in Duluth or Minneapolis for purely speculative purposes. It has been frequently held that a purchase of goods by one partner in quantities so large as to be entirely beyond the needs of the partnership business, and for speculative purposes even though the goods be of the general character dealt in by the partnership, is beyond the scope of the partnership business, and does not bind the firm, unless an acquiescence in such act is proven, either directly or indirectly, by the usual course of dealing. The transaction was clearly not within the scope of the partnership business, as agreed on between the partners, or as it had actually been conducted in the past. There was no evidence that Peter Maurin had ever acquiesced in any such transactions in behalf of the firm, or that the business had been so conducted as to give Tileston 261 a right to assume that the transaction was within the scope of the partnership business. If he was not advised as to the nature or limits of that business, it was his duty to inform himself on the subject before accepting a contract made in the name of the firm. It is clear from the evidence that the partnership agreement conferred no actual authority to make the purchase in dispute. No such authority can be inferred or implied from the previous course of business of this character carried on by one partner with the knowledge of the other, for the proof furnishes no foundation for any such implication. Neither was the previous course of business such as to furnish any foundation for the claim that the transaction was within the apparent scope of the partnership. The fourth finding of fact is, therefore, without evidence to justify it. Although the evidence and finding may establish a cause of action against Marcus Maurin individually, yet this cannot, under the statute, be set up as a counterclaim to a cause of action against the copartnership. The order appealed from is therefore reversed, and a new trial granted. EVIDENCE-PAROL, TO EXPLAIN TERMS OF CONTRACT.— Where phrases or terms used in a contract have acquired, by the custom of the locality or the usage of trade, a peculiar signification, parol evidence may be given to explain this, whether the words or phrases be in themselves apparently ambiguous or not: Extended notes to Willmering v. McGaughey, 6 Am. Rep. 678, and Keller v. Webb, 28 Am. Rep. 210-213. See monographic note to Harris v. Murphy, 56 Am. St. Rep. 660, 661. PARTNERSHIP-POWER OF ONE PARTNER TO BIND FIRM. By virtue of the partnership relation, each partner is constituted the general agent of his copartners, and has power authorizing him to act at once as principal and agent. So long as the relation exists, he has the power to bind the partnership in all matters within the scope of partnership dealings or falling within the ordinary business and transactions of the firm: Western Stage Co. v. Walker, 2 Iowa, 504; 65 Am. Dec. 789, and note; Warder v. Newdigate, 11 B. Mon. 174; 52 Am. Dec. 567. This power extends to such matters only as, in the ordinary course of dealing, have reference to the business in which the firm is engaged: Crosthwait v. Ross, 1 Humph. 23; 34 Am. Dec. 613; Savings Fund Soc. v. Savings Bank, 36 Pa. St. 498; 78 Am. Dec. 390. Where a partnership is limited to a particular trade or business, one partner cannot bind his copartner by any contract not relating to such trade or business: Livingston v. Roosevelt, 4 Johns. 251; 4 Am. Dec. 273; Western Stage Co. v. Walker, 2 Iowa, 504; 65 Am. Dec. 789. ROBBINS V. Larson. [69 MINNESOTA, 436.] MORTGAGES-ASSIGNMENT RECORD-NOTICE.-The record of an assignment of a mortgage is constructive notice to all persons of the rights of the assignee, as against any subsequent acts of the mortgagee affecting the mortgage, save only as excepted by statute. A second mortgagee, or the assignee of his mortgage, is not within the statutory exceptions. MORTGAGES - ASSIGNMENT - RECORD-NOTICE ΤΟ SECOND MORTGAGEE.-A statute providing that "the recording of the assignment of a mortgage shall not, in itself, be deemed notice of such assignment to the mortgagor, his heirs or personal representatives, so as to invalidate any payment made by them, or either of them, to the mortgagee," applies only to the parties therein named, and not to a second mortgagee or his assignee. MORTGAGES - ASSIGNMENT – NOTICE OF FIRST AND SECOND MORTGAGEES.-If the assignee of a first RIGHTS mortgage has had his assignment duly recorded before the execu tion of a second mortgage, the assignee of the latter is not entitled to have the former canceled on the ground that, subsequent to the assignment of the first mortgage, it was paid to the mortgagee without actual notice of the assignment. Mason & Hilton, for the appellant. Houpt & Baxter, for the respondent. 437 START, C. J. The facts in this case, as found by the trial court, are these: On November 8, 1888, the defendants Larson and wife executed to the defendant, the Globe Investment Company, their promissory note for twelve hundred dollars, due in five years from its date, with interest, with a mortgage on the premises described in the complaint to secure its payment. The mortgage was duly recorded on November 8, 1888; and on November 28, 1888, the Globe Investment Company, for a valuable consideration, and in the usual course of business, duly assigned this note and mortgage to the defendant Menzies. His assignment was duly recorded December 4, 1888. Afterward, and before the maturity of this note and mortgage, and on October 21, 1893, the mortgagors, Larson and wife, executed to the mortgagee, the Globe Investment Company, their other note, of like amount, due in five years, with interest, and secured its payment by a mortgage on the same premises described in the first mortgage. This second mortgage was duly recorded on November 22, 1893, and was given and received in payment of the first mortgage. The mortgagors, at the time of so paying the first note and mortgage, had no actual notice that they had been so assigned. Afterward, and on March 30, 1895, the Globe Investment Company, for a valuable consideration, duly assigned the second note and mortgage to the plaintiff, which assignment was duly recorded on October 7, 1895. Other than this, neither mortgage has ever been paid. This action was brought to foreclose the second mortgage, and to cancel and satisfy of record the first mortgage. None of the defendants answered, except the owner of the first mortgage, Menzies. As conclusions of law, the trial court found that the plaintiff was entitled to judgment of foreclosure and sale of the premises on his 40 mortgage, and, further, that the first mortgage be adjudged paid, and canceled of record. The defendant Menzies moved for a new trial, and appealed from an order denying it. The appellant claims that the finding that the second mortgage was given in payment of the first one is not sustained by the |