Ga. R.R. & Banking Co v. Murden

• Decision Date: 28 December 1890
• Parties: Georgia Railroad & Banking Co. v. Murden.
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court

12 S.E. 630

86 Ga. 434

Georgia Railroad & Banking Co.

v.Murden.

Supreme Court of Georgia.

Dec. 28, 1890.

Ejection or Passengers—Authority of Conductor.

1. Plaintiff entered a train at a flag station, and was told by the conductor that he would have to pay four cents per mile to the next station where tickets were sold, but that he could get off the train there, and board it again, and ride the rest of the way for three cents per mile, (the regular rate.) When the train reached the station in question, plaintiff got off and attempted to procure a ticket, but the ticket agent was not present. Held, that a judgment for plaintiff for damages on account of his ejection from the train, on refusing to pay four cents per mile for the rest of the way, would not be disturbed, as he had a right to rely on the conductor's statements.

2. Notice of the Georgia railroad commission rule, No. 9, which provides that "the regulation of the railroads as to passengers without tickets is a matter of police, with which the commission will only interfere upon complaint of abuse; an extra charge of more than one cent per mile, full fare, or one-half cent, half fare, is regarded as excessive, unless such extra charges would fall below the minimum above given, "—is not notice that a conductor had no authority to agree with a passenger, who got on the train at a flag station without a ticket, that he would have to pay the extra charges to the next station where tickets were sold, but that, if he would get off there and get on again, he could travel the rest of the way at the regular rate.

Error from superior court, Taliaferro county; Lumpkin, Judge.

Jos. B. Gumming, M. P. Reese, and Bryan Cumming, for plaintiff in error.

John W. Hixon and John C. Hurl, for defendant in error.

Simmons, J. The main ground relied on by counsel for the plaintiff in error, for reversal of the judgment of the trial judge in refusing to grant a new trial, is the third ground of the motion, which is as follows: "Error in charging as follows: 'If Murden got on defendant's train at Robinson, announcing to the conductor his intention to go to Augusta, and if in conversation between the conductor and Mr. Murden the conductor told Mr. Murden that if he, Murden, would pay four cents a mile to Crawfordville, and there get off the train, and get back again, then he, the conductor, would charge him only three cents a mile from there to Augusta, and, if Murden did these things, then the conductor had no right to charge him more than three cents a mile from Crawfordville to Augusta." The error assigned as to this charge is that, the conductor being the agent of the railroad, it was beyond the scope of his agency to make any such agreement with the passenger, especially as the conductor showed the passenger...