Central R.R. & Banking Co. v. Strickland

• Decision Date: 14 November 1892
• Citation: 16 S.E. 352,90 Ga. 562
• Parties: CENTRAL RAILROAD & BANKING CO. v. STRICKLAND.
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court

16 S.E. 352

90 Ga. 562

CENTRAL RAILROAD & BANKING CO. v. STRICKLAND.

Supreme Court of Georgia

November 14, 1892

Syllabus by the Court.

1. Under the law and rules prescribed by the railroad commission of this state it is the duty of railroad companies to keep their ticket offices open for the sale of tickets for a reasonable time before the departure of trains from all stations, provided that offices at way stations may be closed one minute before the arrival of trains; and it is the duty of passengers to use proper diligence in supplying themselves with tickets before getting upon the trains. A railroad company is not bound to keep a ticket office open each and every minute up to the time it may lawfully close the same provided a reasonable opportunity is afforded all persons desiring tickets to obtain them; nor is a passenger bound to wait at a ticket office an unreasonable time for the appearance of the agent to sell him a ticket, or to call again and again at the office to procure one, provided, in good faith, and with due diligence, he endeavors to do so before the time for closing the office arrives. In each case it is a question to be determined by the jury whether or not the parties, respectively, performed the corresponding duties devolving upon them, and it is not the province of the court to decide what particular facts will constitute negligence or diligence by either party, and thus restrict the jury in the exercise of their duty in this respect.

2. If a passenger has not been afforded a reasonable opportunity to purchase a ticket at the station where his journey began, he is not bound to leave the train at a station en route and purchase a ticket back to the station whence he started, and another to his destination. If he is rightly on the train without a ticket, it is his right to complete his intended journey by paying the ticket rate for his fare.

3. A passenger is not bound to comply with the rules of the company unless such rules are reasonable.

4. A railroad company has a right to employ a colored train hand and a conductor may properly call upon him to assist in ejecting a passenger who ought to be ejected from the train. If a white passenger is wrongfully ejected from a train, the fact that a colored train hand was called upon to assist in so doing will not make the company liable for greater damages than should be recovered if the train hand had been a white man.

5. If a passenger is wrongfully ejected from a railroad train, and entitled to damages, the jury, in fixing the amount of same may take into consideration "the inconvenience he was put to by being put off."

6. The verdict in this case was so excessive as to suggest bias or prejudice on the part of the jury, and cannot be sustained.

Error from superior court, Clayton county; R. H. CLARK, Judge.

Action by Henry P. Strickland against the Central Railroad & Banking Company of Georgia for ejecting plaintiff from its train. Verdict for plaintiff. Defendant's motion for a new trial was overruled, and it brings error. Reversed.

Hall & Hammond and W. L. Watterson, for plaintiff in error.

Dorsey & Howell, J. B. Hutcheson, and Harrison & Peeples, for defendant in error.

LUMPKIN J.

1. The motion for a new trial assigns error upon various refusals of the court to charge the jury, as set forth in the 4th, 5th 6th, 9th, and 11th grounds thereof, and also upon charges made by the court, as stated in the 12th and 13th grounds, all of which will appear in the reporter's statement. Without discussing these numerous grounds seriatim, we have endeavored, in the first headnote, to formulate and condense what we understand to be the law applicable. In the transaction of business between a railroad company and the public there should be an exercise of good faith on both sides, and each should conscientiously endeavor to deal fairly with the other. In the matter of keeping an office open for the sale of tickets the agent of the company should not so neglect the same as to subject passengers to unnecessary trouble, delay, and inconvenience in procuring their tickets; nor, on the other hand, should the temporary absence of the agent from his office on necessary business afford a passenger a pretext for failing to purchase a ticket when, by a little patience, he could easily have obtained one. Persons desiring tickets should exercise proper diligence in applying for them, but are not bound to wait upon the agent an unreasonable length of time,...