Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Co. v. Ball & Philpot
| Decision Date | 29 April 1918 |
| Docket Number | 335 |
| Citation | 203 S.W. 284,134 Ark. 142 |
| Parties | CHICAGO, ROCK ISLAND & PACIFIC RAILWAY COMPANY v. BALL AND PHILPOT |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
Appeal from Pulaski Chancery Court; John E. Martineau, Chancellor affirmed.
Decree affirmed.
Thos S. Buzbee and Geo. B. Pugh, for appellant.
Demurrage was properly charged on the cars placed on the private switch and detained beyond the time. Kirby & Castle's Digest § 8180; 120 Ark. 572; 204 F. 757. Appellees misconceive the force of 243 U.S. 281. Demurrage is chargeable on privately owned cars on public tracks and on company cars on private tracks, but not on privately owned cars not in use by the railway company but being held by the private owner on his private tracks. 237 F. 347; 241 U.S. 55. See also 58 Pa S.Ct. 154.
2. As to the amount of recovery there is no conflict. The total amount is $ 262.
Taylor, Jones & Taylor, for appellees.
No cars were ordered from or furnished by appellant to appellee. All were ordered from and furnished by the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Company. The only service performed by appellant was the switching of cars to the spur track of appellees. The demurrage statute is operative only as between the railroad from which the cars are ordered and the shipper. If any demurrage was due it was to Iron Mountain Railway Company and not to appellant. K. & C. Dig., § 8180.
The decree is right and should be affirmed.
OPINION
This is a suit by appellants against appellees to recover demurrage charges on account of the detention of cars overtime by appellees. The total amount claimed was $ 273.
Appellees disclaimed the indebtedness and denied that they ordered any cars from, or that any cars were furnished by, appellants to appellees. They asserted that all the cars ordered by them were ordered from and furnished by the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Company; that appellant switched the cars thus ordered from an interchange track connecting the tracks of the two companies to appellee's private industrial spur line, which was connected with appellant's main line or track, but in which appellants had no interest, and over which no control; that for the switching service appellants were paid $ 3 per car by the St Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Company, which amount was collected by the last named company from appellees.
The court heard the case upon the pleadings and evidence, and disallowed the demurrage items, from which judgment of disallowance an appeal has been prosecuted to this court.
The facts are as follows: The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Company and the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Company are connected in the town of Benton by an interchange track owned by them jointly. About one mile from where the interchange track intersects the main line of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Company, a private industrial spur track, owned and controlled by appellees also intersects the main line of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Company. The cars upon which a demurrage charge is claimed were ordered by appellees from the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Company. That company placed them upon the interchange track and took receipt for them from the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Company. By private agreement between the companies the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Company paid the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Company fifty-five cents per day for the cars through its Chicago office. The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Company switched the cars from the interchange track to the private track of appellees to be loaded with gravel out of appellees' gravel pit situated near the private industrial line, and when they were loaded, switched them back to the interchange track. For the switching service, the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Company received $ 3 per car from the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Company, which latter company collected the $ 3 switching charge per car from appellees. When the loaded cars were returned to the interchange track, the freight and switching charges were paid and a bill of lading was issued to the appellees by the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Company. The cars were billed out by the agent of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Company to points on its line. While there was some dispute as to the amount of the demurrage charged, the correct amount established...
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