Houston & T. C. R. Co. v. Dumas

• Decision Date: 04 December 1897
• Citation: 43 S.W. 609
• Parties: HOUSTON & T. C. R. CO. v. DUMAS et al.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

43 S.W. 609

HOUSTON & T. C. R. CO. v. DUMAS et al.

Court of Civil Appeals of Texas.

December 4, 1897.

Appeal from Grayson county court; J. H. Wood, Judge.

Action by T. M. Dumas and others against the Houston & Texas Central Railroad Company. From a judgment in favor of plaintiffs, defendant appeals. Reversed.

Beaty & Culver, for appellant. A. W. Walker, for appellees.

RAINEY, J.

This suit was instituted by the appellees against appellant to recover the sum of $109, overcharges on a shipment of hogs from Van Alstyne, Tex., to East St. Louis, Ill. Appellees made a contract for the shipment of hogs, signed by appellant's agent at Van Alstyne, agreeing that appellees should have two single-deck cars at the rate charged for one double-deck,—four single-deck cars in all; that is to say, two single-deck cars were to stand as one double-deck. But when said shipment reached its destination the delivering carrier refused to settle upon the contract rates, but insisted on collecting the rate for four single-deck cars, making a difference of $109. A guarantied through rate of 39 cents per 100 pounds was agreed upon. At the time the contract was entered into and the shipment made, appellant and other common carriers, including the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Company, had agreed upon certain live-stock tariff and schedule of rates covering shipments of hogs from Van Alstyne, Tex., to East St. Louis, both in single and double deck cars, which had been filed and established in conformity with the law creating the interstate commerce commission, and had been duly published, printed, and posted by defendant in its depot in Van Alstyne, as by law provided in case of interstate commerce. The rate on hogs from Van Alstyne to East St. Louis, according to said schedule and tariffs, was 39 cents per 100 pounds in double-deck cars. The minimum weight for double-deck cars, 36 feet in length, was 37,000 pounds each. For single-deck cars the rate was 47 cents per 100 pounds, and the minimum weight was 17,000 pounds for each car. Before the contract of shipment was entered into, appellees asked appellant's agent at Van Alstyne if they could have two single-deck cars in place of one double-deck, and he replied that he would telegraph to headquarters, and see. He thereafter told appellees that he had heard, and that such could be done. The officer to whom appellant's agent telegraphed for instructions thought said agent was asking for instructions in reference to shipments wholly within this state. Appellant's line of railroad is wholly within...