Question 570. - A, who is operating a sawmill, sold a million feet of lumber to be cut and delivered as cut at the railway siding near the mill. The purchaser resides at a distance. Under the contract fifty per cent, of the purchase price per thousand feet is to be paid as the lumber is sawn; forty per cent, at the siding; and the balance thirty days after ship-ment. A copy of the contract is filed with the bank by A. The bank lends on the lumber, taking security in the form of Schedule C, when about half the lumber is at the siding. At this point A absconds. Who has a prior claim to the lumber - the bank or the purchaser?

Answer. - The bank having received notice of the contract, the purchaser would have a prior claim to the extent to which he had performed, or was prepared to perform, his part of it.