Langford v. Vandaveer

• Citation: 254 S.W.2d 498
• Parties: LANGFORD v. VANDAVEER et al.
• Decision Date: 23 January 1953
• Court: United States State Supreme Court (Kentucky)

Page 498

254 S.W.2d 498

LANGFORD v. VANDAVEER et al.

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

Jan. 23, 1953.

Wm. L. Sullivan, Henderson, for appellant.

L. Allen Rhoads and Dorsey & Dorsey, Henderson, for appellees.

STANLEY, Commissioner.

The judgment for $4,644.68 is for reimbursement of expenses incurred by the appellees in the hospital care and medical treatment of their minor daughter who was severely burned in the explosion of a butane or propane gas heater in a cabin of a motor court operated by the appellant, Clyde B. Langford. The case was tried with that of the daughter for damages for personal injuries in which a verdict of only $900 was returned. We are not here concerned with her case other than to say that both causes of action were based on the allegation that she was occupying the room as a 'lawful guest for pay.'

The instructions, obviously, predicated liability to the parents upon liability to the daughter. It was thus defined:

'It was the duty of the defendant, Clyde B. Langford, on the occasion spoken of in the evidence to exercise ordinary care to maintain the hearing unit, its pipes and equipment in his tourist cabin No. 4 in a reasonably safe condition for use as such. If you shall believe from the evidence that he negligently failed to so maintain them, or any part of them, and that by reason of such failure on his part, if any there was, gas was permitted to and did escape from such unit, pipes or equipment into cabin No. 4, in such quantities as to ignite or explode, and that the defendant knew of this condition or in the exercise of ordinary care should have known of it, and shall further believe from the evidence that such accummulated gas, if any there was in said cabin, did explode or ignite and burn and do bodily hurt and injury to the plaintiff, Ruth Vandaveer, while in said cabin No. 4, then the law is for the plaintiff and you should so find. But unless you believe as above required, you should find your verdict for the defendant.'

It is to be noted that the instruction, in effect, holds as a matter of law that the relationship was that of innkeeper and guest. The appellant insists that the relationship did not exist and that his legal responsibility should have been measured by the duty to a trespasser, or, alternatively, that her status should have been submitted to the jury.

The term 'innkeeper' has become obsolete except in legal terminology. Originally, to constitute an inn it was necessary that there should be a stable provided for the accommodation of the horses of the travelers. Kisten v. Hildebrand, 9 B.Mon. 72, 48 Ky. 72; 43 C.J.S., Innkeepers, § 1. In process of time 'inn' and 'hotel' became synonymous. With the advent of automobile traffic came similar facilities called tourist camps, motor courts or the coined word 'motels.' These really come closer to the old inn than ordinary hotels for they furnish accommodations for the motor cars of the travelers. Of such was the defendant's place, which consisted of several cabins or rooms with spaces between for the shelter of automobiles. It is clear the character of the place as respects the relationship of guest and the legal responsibility of the operator as an innkeeper is not lost because of the type of structure or facility being called by a different name. The same rules of law have been applied in cases of injuries to occupants of motor courts. See Ritchie v. Thomas, 190 Or. 95, 224 P.2d 543; Crockett v. Troyk, Tex.Civ.App., 78 S.W.2d 1012; Holcomb v. Meeds, 173 Kan. 321, 246 P.2d 239; Graham v. North Carolina Butane Gas Co., 231 N.C. 680, 58 S.E.2d 757, 17 A.L.R.2d 881. Our present inquiry is whether the court property held as a matter of law the young lady was a guest.

On Sunday afternoon of January 22, 1950, four young people, C. P. Howe, Bill Nash, Ruth Vandaveer and Myna Walker, drove to Henderson, Kentucky, from Albion, Illinois, a distance of sixty miles or more. Miss Vandaveer, the daughter of the appellees, 17 years old, and Miss Walker, about 15, were students in the high school at Albion and the young men worked in the oil fields near Henderson. The men went into a hotel where Howe's brother was staying but could not procure accommodations. The party then drove to Langford's Motor Court, a short distance from the city. This was about 8:30 o'clock. The car was stopped in a well lighted place near the entrance of the office and restaurant. Howe met Langford at the door and asked for rooms for four oil men, saying that one of them was then at work but would return early enough to get some rest before checking out time. Langford and two other witnesses testified to this. Langford showed the cabins to the two men, lighted the heaters and explained to them how the valves worked. He and Howe returned to the office and Howe filled out a registration card, giving his address and an automobile license number and signed it, 'C. P. Howe and party.' He filled in the figure '4', showing the number of people in the party and paid $6 for the two rooms. Neither Howe nor Miss Walker testified. Miss Vandaveer and Nash testified he stood by the side of the automobile at all times. It is undisputed that Langford passed twice within ten or fifteen feet of the parked automobile. He says he looked at the car and could have seen anyone in it but saw no one. As the car started over to the cabins he noted that the license number was not the same as that registered and he entered the correct number on the card. (It appears that Howe had given the number of his own car instead of Nash's which he was driving.) Miss Vandaveer testified that when Langford passed the automobile she was sitting on the edge of the back seat looking into the small mirror in front, combing her hair, and Miss Walker was on the front seat doing the same thing. Both were erect and could be easily seen. Ewing Lowry testified that on leaving the office to go home he passed close to the automobile parked near the door and looked into it. He saw no one but if one had been hiding on the floor, she could not be seen.

According to Miss Vandaveer and Nash, the party entered one of the cabins and then the other where they spent some time together. Then the boys left about ten o'clock to go to work. They planned to return early enough to drive the girls back to Albion in time for school. After they had gone, she and Myna concluded to occupy separate cabins. She took No. 4 and retired about eleven o'clock. Neither had any baggage. On the contrary, Langford and his sister testified that about 11:15 Howe came to the restaurant, ate a sandwich, drank a cup of coffee and left with three coca colas. Nash testified he and Howe left the motor court about ten o'clock and worked until seven the next morning. However, there is evidence that immediately following the explosion Howe was there. A man in or about the cabin was heard to say, 'I told you not to do that.' One of these witnesses, according to Langford, first told him of the presence of the girls on the premises.

The relation of innkeeper and guest is a mutual contractual one, and the existence of intention by both parties is an essential element. It is an exceptional case where that...