Mexican Cent. Ry. Co. v. Goodman

• Decision Date: 03 January 1900
• Citation: 55 S.W. 372
• Parties: MEXICAN CENT. RY. CO. v. GOODMAN.<SMALL><SUP>1</SUP></SMALL>
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

55 S.W. 372

MEXICAN CENT. RY. CO. v. GOODMAN.¹

Court of Civil Appeals of Texas.

January 3, 1900.

Appeal from district court, El Paso county; A. M. Walthall, Judge.

Action by Cora Goodman against the Mexican Central Railway Company. From a judgment for plaintiff, defendant appeals. Affirmed.

Falvey & Davis, for appellant. Beall & Kemp, for appellee.

FLY, J.

This is a third appeal of this cause, decisions in the former appeals being found in 43 S. W. 580, and 48 S. W. 778. They are referred to for statement of the case. Appellee recovered $1,000.

We find that appellant illegally ejected appellee from its train, when she held a ticket entitling her to passage over its road to the City of Mexico, and she suffered damages in the amount found by the jury.

The first assignment of error is without merit. Fraud was not alleged against Goodman and his wife in the purchase of the tickets, and there was no evidence that tended to establish fraud on their part. The question of authority on the part of the Texas & Pacific Railway to sell the tickets was submitted to the jury, and was by them resolved in favor of appellant.

The questions raised by the second and third assignments of error have been settled adversely to appellant on a former appeal, and they need not again be discussed. 43 S. W. 582.

There was no testimony that tended to show that Samuel Goodman or Cora Goodman knew that the agent of the Texas & Pacific Railway Company had no authority to sell the tickets, or that he was perpetrating a fraud on appellant by issuing them. The fact that the tickets were marked "Exchanged" did not convey such knowledge to them in such a manner as that their knowledge was a matter of law, and not of fact. The question of fraud was fairly presented to the jury by the charge of the court and special instructions asked by appellant.

Over $100 were paid out by Goodman for the tickets rejected by appellant, and taking into consideration the mortification and humiliation endured by Mrs. Goodman in being ejected from the cars, and being compelled to spend the night in a low hotel in an obscure Mexican village, and forced to return to her starting point, we do not feel disposed to hold that the verdict is excessive.

This court has decided adversely to appellee on her cross assignments of error on a former appeal of this case (48 S. W. 778), and we adhere to that decision. We are still of the opinion that the cause of action instituted by Sam Goodman for damages to...