Orr v. Chicago & A.R. Co.
| Decision Date | 23 March 1886 |
| Citation | 21 Mo.App. 333 |
| Parties | H. A. ORR, Respondent, v. CHICAGO & ALTON RAILROAD COMPANY, Appellant. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
APPEAL from the Pike County Circuit Court, ELIJAH ROBINSON, Judge.
Reversed and remanded.
MACFARLANE & TRIMBLE, for the appellant: It is competent for a carrier to limit its common law liability, even on its own line, in case such limitations are reasonable. Snyder v Express Co., 63 Mo. 376; Railroad v. Brumley, 5 Lea (Tenn.) 401. The statute only makes the receiving carrier liable for the loss occasioned by the negligence of the connecting carrier. The negligence is a fact to be proved by the plaintiff by competent evidence. There is no evidence in the case as to how, when, or where the goods were lost. The burden of proof to show the negligence is on the plaintiff in such case. McBeath v. Railroad, 20 Mo.App. 445; Railroad v. Kirkwood, 45 Mich. 51. The fact that the destination, " Springfield," was given on the bill of lading, and that the amount of freight to be collected was guaranteed, would be no evidence of an agreement to carry through. Knight v. Ry. Co., 9 A. and E. R. R. C. 90 and note; Snyder v Express Co., 63 Mo. 383; Insurance Co. v Railroad, 3 A. and E. R. R. C. 260.
JOHN W. MATSON, for the respondent.
The plaintiff recovered a judgment before a justice of the peace, and in the circuit court, to which the cause was appealed, for one hundred and fifty dollars damages, alleged to be caused by the negligent execution of a contract of transportation by the defendant.
The statement on which the cause was tried, charged that the defendant, as a common carrier of goods, undertook, for a consideration, to carry the plaintiff's goods, of a stated value, from Louisiana, Missouri, to Springfield, Missouri, and to deliver them at the last named place to J. M. Orr, consignee, and that the goods were wholly lost to the plaintiff by the defendant's negligent execution of the contract.
The plaintiff testified: " I am the plaintiff; live in Louisiana, Missouri. On the ____ day of November, 1883, I delivered to the defendant a box of household goods, consisting of beds and bedding, and wearing apparel, which I desired shipped to Springfield, Missouri. The box had a card tacked on it marked " Henrietta A. Orr, Springfield, Mo.' I directed the goods shipped to J. M. Orr, Springfield, Mo. My son delivered the goods to the defendant's agent at Louisiana. I did not see him myself. I got a receipt, or bill of lading, for the goods. I never received the goods again. The goods were worth one hundred and fifty dollars."
The bill of lading, issued by the defendant, as far as it affects the question under consideration, is in the following words:
" CHICAGO & ALTON RAILROAD COMPANY.
This receipt to be presented without alteration or erasure.
LOUISIANA, Nov. 26, 1883.
Received from H. A. Orr, the packages numbered and described as follows, in apparent good order (contents and value unknown), to be transported on the line of this road, from ____________ to____________ Station, and delivered, in like good order, to the consignee or owner, at said station last mentioned, or (if the same are to be forwarded beyond said station), to any company or carrier receiving, or which may receive freight from the said Chicago & Alton railroad company, for the purpose of transporting the same towards the place of destination of said goods or packages, and the Chicago & Alton railroad company guarantees that the rate of freight for transportation of said packages from the place of shipment shall not exceed ____________ per ____________, and charges advanced by this company.
| Marks and | Weight subject to |
| Consignees. | Articles. | correction. |
| J. M. Orr. | 1 BX. H. H. G. | 150 lbs. |
Prepaid $1.50.
C. W. UPDYKE."
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