Beth v. St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad Co.
| Decision Date | 01 March 1909 |
| Citation | 116 S.W. 1111,136 Mo.App. 234 |
| Parties | J. A. BETH, Respondent, v. ST. LOUIS & SAN FRANCISCO RAILROAD COMPANY, Appellant |
| Court | Kansas Court of Appeals |
Appeal from Jasper Circuit Court.--Hon. Hugh Dabbs, Judge.
REVERSED.
Judgment reversed.
W. F Evans and Woodruff & Mann for appellant.
(1) As the mule sued for in this case was killed in the Indian Territory, plaintiff was not entitled to institute a suit to recover the value thereof before a justice of the peace in Missouri, for the reason that section 3839, Revised Statutes 1899, limits the jurisdiction of a justice of the peace in actions against a railroad company for killing or injuring mules, cattle or other animals to the township in which the injury happened, or to any adjoining township, and justices of the peace not having any common law jurisdiction are strictly limited in their jurisdiction to that granted to them by statute, having no other jurisdiction except that granted by act of the Legislature. Rohland v Railroad, 89 Mo. 182; Manuel v. Railroad, 19 Mo.App. 631; Creason v. Railroad, 17 Mo.App. 111; Warden v. Railroad, 78 Mo.App. 664; State ex rel. v. Hopkins, 87 Mo. 519; Hansburger v Railroad, 43 Mo. 196; Haggard v. Railroad, 63 Mo. 302; Iba v. Railroad, 45 Mo. 475; Geltz v. Railroad, 38 Mo.App. 580; Nickerson v. Eddy, 50 Mo.App. 569. (2) As under the act of the Legislature of the State of Kansas, offered by defendant and excluded by the court, the plaintiff in this case had he been a resident of the State of Missouri could not have brought this action in the State of Kansas, therefore, under the principles of comity the plaintiff, being a resident of the State of Kansas at the time this suit was instituted in Missouri, the courts of the State of Missouri will not grant to plaintiff, a citizen of Kansas, the privilege of maintaining this action in the courts of the State of Missouri. Smith, Admr., v. Stone, ___ Fed. ___.
Lee Shepherd, for respondent, filed no briefs.
This suit was instituted before a justice of the peace of Galena township, Jasper county, against the defendant, a railroad corporation, for the negligent killing of plaintiff's mule by one of its trains of cars in the town of Quapaw Indian Territory. The plaintiff at the time was living in Quapaw, but soon after moved to the State of Kansas. The defendant objected to the introduction of any evidence for the reason that the petition shows the mule was killed in the Indian Territory; therefore, the justice had no jurisdiction and consequently the circuit court had no jurisdiction of the cause of action. The objection was overruled. The defendant offered in evidence the statutes of Kansas for the purpose of showing that in that State, the place of residence of plaintiff, a non-resident would not be permitted under its laws to maintain...
To continue reading
Request your trial