Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Dothan Ins. Agency

• Decision Date: 17 December 1918
• Docket Number: 4 Div. 538
• Citation: 16 Ala.App. 623,80 So. 627
• Parties: ATLANTIC COAST LINE R. CO. v. DOTHAN INS. AGENCY.
• Court: Alabama Court of Appeals

80 So. 627

16 Ala.App. 623

ATLANTIC COAST LINE R. CO. v. DOTHAN INS. AGENCY.

4 Div. 538

Court of Appeals of Alabama

December 17, 1918

Appeal from Circuit Court, Houston County; H.A. Pearce, Judge.

Action by the Dothan Insurance Agency against the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company for damages for failure to deliver a carload of damaged corn. From a judgment for plaintiff defendant appeals. Reversed and remanded.

John R Tyson, of Montgomery, for appellant.

Lee &amp Tompkins, of Dothan, for appellee.

SAMFORD J.

The defendant carrier contracted with the plaintiff to transport a carload of damaged corn from Dothan, Ala., a point on its line, to Myrtle, Ga., a point on the line of a connecting carrier. The contract was evidenced by a standard bill of lading, stipulating the tonnage, point of destination, and consigned to plaintiff, order, "Notify Bud Evans." There was no requirement for payment of freight in advance. The bill of lading stated that the corn was damaged. The corn had been damaged by fire and water while stored in a building that was burned. The car was carried promptly by the defendant to the point where it was to be turned over to the connecting carrier. There the corn had become so heated by spontaneous heat that it was smoking, and defendant had other water put on it, and the connecting carrier refused to accept the car unless the freight was prepaid from that point to the point of destination. This the defendant refused to do, but notified the shipper of the connecting carrier's demands, and called on the shipper for payment in advance, which the shipper refused to pay. The corn was never delivered at the point of destination.

The defendant as a special defense filed pleas 2, 3, and 4, which were demurred to, and the demurrers were sustained. These special pleas alleged that the corn was damaged, and that while in transportation the corn became heated to such an extent as to render it practically of no value, and that for this reason the connecting carrier would not accept the car without a prepayment of the freight. The condition of the corn, which would have produced the destruction of its value, which will excuse the defendant, is some internal and latent defect at the time of the making of the contract of shipment, of which the defendant did not know, and from which loss or damage ensues to the goods in the ordinary course of handling and transportation. 4 R.C.L. § 203, p. 732; A.C.L. v. Rice, 169 Ala. 265, 52 So. 918, 29 L.R.A. (N.S.) 1214, Ann.Cas.1912B, 389; Nelson v. Woodruff, 1 Black, 156, 17 L.Ed. 97. These pleas did not allege a lack of knowledge on the part of the defendant of the condition of the corn at the time of shipment, and for that reason were demurrable.

While a carrier may properly refuse to receive goods which are in such condition as to be liable to become damaged while in transit (4 R.C.L. p. 665), if it does receive them it is bound to handle them with reference to that condition, and is liable for a failure to do so (Truax v. Philadelphia W & B.R. Co., 3 Houst. [ Del.] 233; David v. Caroline, 5 Blatchf. 266, Fed.Cas. No. 3,593); that is, the defendant, having received the car of corn with a...