Covingtonco v. Keith, STOCK-YARDS

Citation35 L.Ed. 73,11 S.Ct. 461,139 U.S. 128
Decision Date02 March 1891
Docket NumberSTOCK-YARDS
PartiesCOVINGTONCO. v. KEITH et al
CourtUnited States Supreme Court

Ed. Baxter, for appellant.

Mr. Justice HARLAN, after stating the facts in the foregoing language, delivered the opinion of the court.

On the 28th of January, 1886, George T. Bliss and Isaac E. Gates instituted in the court below a suit in equity against the Kentucky Central Railroad Company, a corporation of Ken- tucky, for the foreclosure of a mortgage or deed of trust given to secure the payment of bonds of that company for a large amount; in which suit a receiver was appointed, who took possession of the railroad, with authority to operate it until the further order of the court.

The present proceeding was begun on the 18th of June, 1886, by a petition filed in the foreclosure suit by Charles W. Keith, who was engaged in buying and selling on commission, as well as on his own account, live-stock brought to and shipped from the city of Covington, Ky., over the Kentucky Central Railroad. The petition proceeded upon the ground that unjust and illegal discrimination had been and was being made against Keith by the receiver, acting under and pursuant to a written agreement made November 19, 1881, between the railroad company and the Covington Stock-Yards Company, a corporation created under the general laws of Kentucky; the yards of the latter company located in Covington, and connected with the railroad tracks in that city, being the only depot of the railway company that was provided with the necessary platforms and chutes for receiving or discharging live-stock on and from its trains at that city. The petition alleged that Keith was the proprietor of certain live-stock lots and yards in that city immediately west of those belonging to the Covington Stock-Yards Company, and separated from them by only one street, 60 feet in width; that he was provided with all the necessary means of receiving, feeding, and caring for such stock as he purchased, or as might be consigned to him by others for sale; and that his lots and yards were used for that purpose subsequently to March 1, 1886, and until, by the direction of the receiver, the platforms connecting them with the railroad were torn up and rendered unfit for use. The prayer of the petitioner was for a rule against the receiver to show cause why he should not deliver to him at some convenient and suitable place outside of the lots or yards of the said Covington Stock-Yards Company, free from other than the customary freight charges for transportation, all stock owned by or consigned to him and brought over said road to Covington.

The receiver filed a response to the rule, and an order was entered giving leave to the Covington Stock-Yards Company to file an intervening petition against the railroad company and Keith, and requiring the latter parties to litigate between themselves the question of the validity of the above agreement of 1881. The stock-yards company filed such a petition, claiming all the rights granted by the agreement referred to, and allgin g that it had expended $60,000 in constructing depots, platforms, and chutes, as required by that agreement.

Referring to that agreement, it appears that the stock-yards company stipulated that its yards on the line of the railroad in Covington should be maintained in good order, properly equipped with suitable fencing, feeding-pens, and other customary conveniences for handling and caring for live-stock, and to that end it would keep at hand a sufficient number of skilled workmen to perform the operations required of it, and generally to do such labor as is usually provided for in stock-yards of the best class, namely, to load and unload and care for 'in the best manner all live-stock delivered to them by the party of the first part [the railroad company] at their own risk of damage while so doing, and in no event to charge more than sixty cents per car of full loads for loading, and sixty cents per car for unloading, and no charges to be made for handling less than full loads, as per way-bills.' The stock-yards company also agreed to become liable for those charges, and to collect and pay over to the railroad company, as demanded from time to time, such money as came into its hands; the charges for feeding and caring for live-stock not to be more than was charged for similar services and supplies at other stock-yards of the country. The railroad company, upon its part, agreed to pay the stock-yards company the above sums for loading and unloading, and otherwise acting as its agent in the collection of freights and charges upon such business as was turned over to it by the railroad company; that it would require all cars loaded at yards for shipment south or east to be carefully bedded, which the stock-yards company was to do at the rates usually charged in other yards; that it would make the yards of the stock-yards company its 'depot for delivery of all its live-stock' during the term of the contract, and not build, 'nor allow to be built, on its right of way, any other or yards for the reception of live-stock.' The delivery of stock in cars on switches or sidings provided for the purpose was to be considered a delivery of the stock to the stock-yards company, which, from that time, was to be responsible for the stock to the railroad company. To protect the business of the stock-yards company from damage in case the railroad extended its track over the Ohio river, the railroad company agreed that during the term of the contract the rate of freight from all points on its road and connections should 'not be less than five dollars per car more to the Union yards of Cincinnati than the rate to Covington yards from the same points;' that its business arrangements with any other railroad or transportation line should be subject to this agreement; and that the yards of the stock-yards company 'shall be the depot for all live-stock received from its connections for Cincinnati or eastern markets.' The agreement, by its terms, was to remain in force for 15 years.

In the progress of the cause, E. W. Wilson, by consent of parties, was made a copetitioner and co-respondent with Keith.

By the final decree it was found, ordered, and decreed as follows: 'It is the duty and legal obligation of the Kentucky Central Railroad Company, as a common carrier of live-stock, to provide suitable and convenient means and facilities for receiving on board its cars all live-stock offered for shipment over its road and its connections from the city of Covington, and for the discharge from its cars of all live-stock brought over its road to the said city of Covington, free of any charge other...

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