Chesapeake Ry Co v. Thompson Mag Co

• Citation: 46 S.Ct. 318,270 U.S. 416,70 L.Ed. 659
• Decision Date: 08 March 1926
• Docket Number: No. 178,178
• Parties: CHESAPEAKE & O. RY. CO. v. A. F. THOMPSON MAG. CO
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

270 U.S. 416

46 S.Ct. 318

70 L.Ed. 659

CHESAPEAKE & O. RY. CO.

v A. F. THOMPSON MAG. CO.

No. 178.

Argued Jan. 27, 1926.

Decided March 8, 1926.

Messrs. C. N. Davis and C. W. Strickling, both of Huntington, W. Va., for petitioner.

[Argument of Counsel from page 417 intentionally omitted] Messrs. Harry Simms and Lewis A. Staker, both of Huntington, W. Va., for respondent.

[Argument of Counsel from page 418 intentionally omitted] Mr. Justice STONE delivered the opinion of the Court.

The respondent, a corporation, brought suit in the circuit court of Cabell county, W. Va., to recover from petitioner, a common carrier, for damage to an interstate shipment of goods. The case was twice tried. See Thompson Manufacturing Co. v. Railroad, 115 S. E. 877, 93 W. Va. 3. The second trial before a jury resulted in a judgment for the respondent, which was affirmed by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, 123 S. E. 421, 99 W. Va. 670. This court granted certiorari. 45 S. Ct. 352, 267 U. S. 588, 69 L. Ed. 801; Judicial Code, § 237 (Comp. St. § 1215).

Petitioner supplied respondent, at its request, with two box cars for the transportation of a quantity of sheet iron gas stoves in carload lots from Huntington, W. Va., to Kansas City, Mo. The stoves were shipped by respondent in good condition on interstate bills of lading purporting to exempt the carrier from liability unless claims for damage 'be made in writing to the carrier within four months after delivery of the property.' Upon arrival many of the stoves were found to be damaged by rust and unsalable. Respondent brought the present suit more than four months after the delivery of the stoves, setting up in its amended declaration that the damage was caused by the negligent conduct of the petitioner. At the trial the respondent made no attempt to show compliance with the requirement of the bill of lading for written notice of its claim to the carrier, and relied wholly on proof of the delivery of the stoves to the carrier in good condition and the delivery by the carrier at destination in a damaged condition, to establish its right to recover. Petitioner proved that the cars supplied were in weather-tight condition, that after the goods were loaded on the cars they were sealed at the point of shipment, and that they arrived at destination in the same weather-tight condition, with seals unbroken.

The case turns on the meaning and application, in the circumstances, of the last proviso of the so-called Cummins Amendment. Act of March 4, 1915, 38 Stat. 1196, 1197, c. 176, amending the Interstate Commerce Act of February 4, 1887, c. 104, 24 Stat. 379, as amended by section 7 of the Act of June 29. 1906, c. 3591, 34 Stat. 584, 593 (Comp. St. §§ 8592, 8604a). The last two provisos of the act, as construed in Barrett v. Van Pelt, 45 S. Ct. 437, 268 U. S. 85, 69 L. Ed. 857, read as follows:

'Provided further, that it shall be unlawful for any such common carrier to provide by rule, contract, regulation, or otherwise a shorter period for giving notice of claims than ninety days and for the filing of claims for a shorter period than four months, and for the institution of suits than two years: Provided, however, that if the loss, damage, or injury complained of was due to delay or damage while being loaded or unloaded or damage in transit by carelessness or negligence, then no notice of claim nor filing of claim shall be required as a condition precedent to recovery.'

If respondent does not bring the case within the terms of the final proviso, its failure to give written notice of claim will bar it from recovery. See Georgia, Florida & Alabama Ry. Co. v. Blish Co., 36 S. Ct. 541, 241 U. S. 190, 60 L. Ed. 948; Barrett v. Van Pelt, supra; Davis v. Roper Lumber Co., 46 S. Ct. 28, 269 U. S. 158, 70 L. Ed. 209.

It was argued by petitioner in the state court, as it argues here, that, as respondent offered no direct evidence that the damage to the goods in transit was caused by negligence of petitioner, respondent did not show compliance with the requirements of the Cummins Amendment for relieving the shipper from the necessity of filing its claim in writing with the carrier. On the other hand, it is argued by the respondent that every carrier receiving goods for carriage in good condition, and returning them in bad condition, is conclusively presumed to have been negligent, and is liable for the damage resulting from its negligence, unless the injury was caused by the act of God, the public enemy, or the act of the shipper or the nature of the goods themselves; that, as the evidence and the verdict of the jury established that the damage was not due to any of these causes, the carrier's negligence was to be conclusively presumed, and no notice of claim was necessary under the provisions of the Cummins Amendment.

It is sometimes said that the basis of the carrier's liability for loss of goods or for their damage in transit is 'presumed negligence.' Hall & Long v. Railroad Companies, 13 Wall. 367, 372, 20 L. Ed. 594. But the so-called presumption is not a true presumption, since it cannot be rebutted, and the statement itself is only another way of stating the rule of substantive law that a carrier is liable for a failure to transport saferier goods intrusted to its care, unless the loss or damage was due to one of the specified causes. See Railroad Co. v. Reeves, 10 Wall. 176, 189, 19 L. Ed. 909; Railroad Co. v. Lockwood, 7 Wall....