Alexander v. McNally
| Decision Date | 08 May 1905 |
| Parties | JULIA ALEXANDER, Respondent, v. J. S. McNALLY, Appellant |
| Court | Kansas Court of Appeals |
Appeal from Livingston Circuit Court.--Hon. John P. Butler, Special Judge.
Judgment affirmed.
Sheetz & Sons for appellant.
(1) The court erred in striking out part of the answer of the defendant. 3 Am. & Eng. Ency. Law (2 Ed.), 563; Green v Railroad, 38 Iowa 100; s. c., 41 Iowa 410; 5 Am. and Eng. Ency. of Law (2 Ed.), 184. (2) The court erred in giving the peremptory instruction to the jury. It was a question of fact for the jury under all the evidence, what the contract was between the plaintiff and the defendant; and whether defendant had fully performed his part thereof; and whether he had delivered the baggage to the railway company; and whether he or plaintiff was negligent on account of which the baggage was lost. 5 Am. and Eng. Ency. of Law (2 Ed.), 563; Transfer Co. v. Isaacs (Tex. Ct. App.), 40 S.W. 39. (3) The court erred in refusing defendant's demurrer to the evidence. All the testimony showed that defendant was in no wise negligent, and that the baggage was lost by the negligence of plaintiff, and that when it was lost, it was in the custody of the railway company, and that this company was responsible to the plaintiff; and not the defendant.
Paul D Kitt and J. M. Davis & Sons for respondent.
(1) Defendant in transporting the grip containing the wearing apparel in question from the Milwaukee depot to the Wabash depot was a common carrier, and liable as such. Kirby v Express Co., 2 Mo.App. 374; Parmelee v. Lowitz, 74 Ill. 116, 24 Am. Rep. 276; Robertson v. Kennedy, 36 Ky. (2 Dana) 430, 26 Am. Dec. 466; 6 Am. & Eng. Ency. Law (2 Ed.), 253; DePorte v. Transfer Co., 42 La. Ann. 696; Richards v. Wescott, 2 Bosw. (N. Y.) 589; Verrier v. Sweitzer, 32 Pa. St. 203; Dibble v. Brown, 12 Ga. 217, 56 Am. Dec. 460. (2) The responsibility of the defendant as a common carrier did not end by the mere fact that he reached the Wabash depot and unloaded the grip out of the vehicle in which it was transported, onto the platform; he must have delivered it to the owner or to the railroad company as warehouseman, and the carrier's liability does not end until that of the owner or warehouseman begins. Railroad v. Warren, 16 Ill. 502; 63 Am. Dec. 317; Sutherland v. Express Co., 32 N.Y.S. 260, 40 How. Prac. 468; Bartlett v. Steamboat, 32 Mo. 256; Chillicothe v. Raynard, 80 Mo. 185; Railroad v. Naive (Tenn.), 79 S.W. 124; Ostrander v. Brown, 15 Johns. Rep. (N. Y.) 43. (3) After the plaintiff showed the delivery of the baggage to the carrier and its loss then the burden of proof was upon the defendant to prove that the loss of the goods did not occur from any cause for which he was responsible. Lawson on Contract of Carriers (1 Ed.), 369, 5 Am. and Eng. Ency. Law (2 Ed.), 355; Davis v. Railway, 89 Mo. 349-50; Green v. Railroad Co., 56 Mo. 556; George v. Railway, 57 Mo.App. 362-3. (4) And to relieve himself of his liability he must show that the damage was occasioned either by the act of God, the public enemy, or unavoidable accident. Dagget & Price v. Shaw, 3 Mo. 264; Kirby v. Express Co., 2 Mo.App. 374; Davis v. Railway, 89 Mo. 349; Green v. Railroad Co., 56 Mo. l. c. 558; Hill v. Sturgeon, 28 Mo. 323; Castigan v. Trans. Co., 33 Mo.App. 287; Rial v. Railroad, 60 Mo. 206; 2 Am. and Eng. Ency. Law (1 Ed.), 902. (5) The court committed no error in instructing the jury to find a verdict for the plaintiff for the amount sued for, the value of the articles lost being admitted, and plaintiff's case having been made out by legal evidence undisputed by facts or circumstances, and there being in the opinion of the trial court nothing to dispute plaintiff's case, she was therefore entitled to a peremptory instruction. The court should not submit a cause to a jury when a verdict would not be permitted to stand. Bank v. Hainline, 67 Mo.App. 483, and cases cited; Brewing Co. v. Lindsay, 72 Mo.App. 591; Hendley v. Refining Co., 106 Mo.App. 27, citing May. v. Crawford, 150 Mo. 527; Lumber Co. v. Muehlebach, 109 Mo.App. 646; 83 S.W. 547; Kingsbury v. Joseph, 94 Mo.App. 304; Foster v. Lange, 80 Mo.App. 238; Green v. Railroad, 56 Mo. 556; Wilson v. Pearl, 148 Mo. 449.
The defendant is a common carrier operating transfer vehicles in the city of Chillicothe. Plaintiff instituted the present action charging that she delivered to him her valise containing valuable articles of baggage with instructions to take the same to the station of the Wabash railway in said city and there deliver it to the station agent. That while the defendant undertook to do so, yet he failed, and instead of delivering to the agent, he placed the same on the station platform, outside of the building, and left it without any one in charge thereof. That in consequence of such action the valise and contents were lost or stolen and have never been recovered. The trial court gave a peremptory instruction directing a verdict for the plaintiff and defendant appealed.
It appears that plaintiff, a young lady residing in Gallatin, Daviess county, had been visiting the family of Mr. Rucker at Chula in another county. She left there for her home and in company with Mr. and Mrs. Rucker took the Milwaukee & St. Paul train at Chula for Chillicothe where she would transfer across the city to the Wabash railway, which passed through her home place. Mr. Rucker telephoned defendant to meet him at Chillicothe with a carriage at the station of the Milwaukee road, which he did. There, Mr. Rucker delivered plaintiff's check or valise to defendant and then with his wife and plaintiff got into defendant's carriage which took Mr. Rucker to the hotel and then carried the ladies to a friend's house in another part of the city. Plaintiff was expecting to meet her father at Chillicothe and did not take the Wabash train for her home until the next evening.
The articles lost and their value, as alleged by plaintiff, were conceded to be correct and the only question in the case is whether the evidence made an issue of fact so as to entitle defendant to the opinion of the jury. The evidence in behalf of each party showed a delivery of the valise to defendant as a carrier, and there is no dispute as to its loss. In such circumstances it devolved on defendant to account for it. [Hill v. Sturgeon, 28 Mo. 323, 327; Read v. Railway Co., 60 Mo. 199, 206.] To properly account for it he should have shown a delivery to the agent at the Wabash station. The evidence to show such delivery as given by defendant himself was that he took it to the station and deposited it on the platform outside of the building among a large number of people, and there left it without putting it in charge of anyone and not knowing what became of it. That did not show a delivery to the agent or any other person; on the contrary, it shows an abandonment.
If we should concede that a custom of the Wabash Railway Company to receive hand baggage by having it merely deposited on the platform...
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