Blount v. Western Union Telegraph Co.
| Decision Date | 10 April 1900 |
| Citation | 126 Ala. 105,27 So. 779 |
| Parties | BLOUNT v. WESTERN UNION TEL. CO. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Appeal from circuit court, Henry county; J. C. Richardson, Judge.
Action by H. A. Blount against the Western Union Telegraph Company. From a judgment in favor of defendant, plaintiff appeals. Affirmed.
This was an action of tort brought by the appellant against the appellee. The complaint averred the sending over the line of the defendant from Dothan, Ala., to Climax, Ga., of a telegram from the plaintiff's wife to one Dock English instructing him to notify the plaintiff to come home, that his wife had given birth to a girl baby, and that said baby died a few hours after its birth. The complaint then averred that if said message had been delivered by the defendant to said English within a reasonable time after its arrival at Climax, Ga., said English would have communicated the fact of the birth of plaintiff's child, and the plaintiff would have returned home on the receipt of said message, and been with his wife during her sickness, affliction, and sorrow over the death of her child, and that, by reason of the negligence and carelessness of the defendant in not so delivering said message within a reasonable time after its reception at Climax, "he was deprived of the privilege of being with his wife during her sickness for twenty-four hours after the birth of the child, and during her sickness her affliction, and sorrow over the death of the child, and by reason of such deprivation great mental suffering was inflicted upon plaintiff, by which he claims the sum of five hundred dollars special damages." The complaint further averred that after the death of the child it was prepared for burial and carried from Dothan, Ala., to the plaintiff's old homestead, in Climax, Ga.; that immediately upon the receipt of the message the plaintiff took the first train to Dothan, not knowing that the child was dead and would be sent to Climax for burial; that the train which was carrying the plaintiff to Dothan and the train which was carrying the corpse of the child to Climax passed each other, without the plaintiff knowing that the child was being carried to Climax for burial; that when plaintiff arrived at home, in Alabama the corpse of his child was in Georgia for burial, and he was deprived of the privilege of seeing his child. It is then averred that, if the defendant had exercised due diligence in delivering such...
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Western Union Telegraph Co. v. Baker
...See Western Union Co. v. Blocker, 138 Ala. 484, 35 So. 468; Western Union Co. v. Anniston Co., 6 Ala.App. 351, 59 So. 757; Blount's Case, 126 Ala. 105, 27 So. 779; Case, supra; Western Union Co. v. Jackson, 163 Ala. 9, 50 So. 316. 5. Charges X and Z were properly refused, if for no other re......
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Western Union Telegraph Co. v. Rowell
... ... It has been distinctly held by this court that, in actions of ... tort for the failure to deliver a telegraphic message, where ... there is no claim or proof of damages for physical injuries ... or injuries in estate, there can be no recovery of damages ... for mental suffering. Blount v. W. U. Tel. Co., 126 ... Ala. 105, 27 So. 779. In actions for the breach of a contract ... (actions ex contractu) there may be a recovery for mental ... suffering when only nominal damages are sustained ... Blount's Case, supra; W. U. Tel. Co. v. Blocker, ... 138 Ala. 484, 35 So. 468; W ... ...
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Western Union Telegraph Co. v. Hawkins
... ... The law is well settled, however, ... that demurrer is not the appropriate remedy for purging a ... complaint of a claim for special damages not shown by the ... allegations of the complaint to be recoverable in the action, ... unless they are the sole damages sought ( Blount v. W.U ... Tel. Co., 126 Ala. 105, 27 So. 779), which is not the ... case here, but that the proper remedy is either a motion to ... strike such claim, or by objection to evidence of offered in ... support of it, or by request for appropriate instructions to ... the jury to disregard such ... ...
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Western Union Telegraph Co. v. Morrison
... ... impelling this conclusion are that the cause of action ... declared on is the breach of a contract, and the ... plaintiff's right of recovery is dependent upon his right ... to recover damages separate and distinct from such as may ... have resulted from mental anguish. Blount v. W.U.T ... Co., 126 Ala. 105, 27 So. 779; W.U.T. Co. v ... Krichbaum, 132 Ala. 535, 31 So. 607. When the plaintiff ... establishes his right to recover damages for the breach of ... the contract, though it be only nominal damages, then damages ... for mental ... [74 So. 94.] ... ...