Ringwalt v. Wabash R. Co.

• Decision Date: 17 September 1895
• Citation: 45 Neb. 760,64 N.W. 219
• Parties: RINGWALT v. WABASH R. CO. ET AL.
• Court: Nebraska Supreme Court

45 Neb. 760

64 N.W. 219

RINGWALT

v.WABASH R. CO. ET AL.

Supreme Court of Nebraska.

Sept. 17, 1895.

Syllabus by the Court.

1. A common carrier undertaking to transport the baggage of its passenger is held by the law to the strictest accountability, and if the carrier receives such baggage, and undertakes its carriage, it cannot be relieved from liability therefor by anything save the act of God or the public enemy; but a carrier is not liable for the baggage of its passenger unless the evidence shows that the baggage claimed to be lost, and sued for, came into the possession of the carrier.

2. R. purchased from the Wabash Railroad Company, at Omaha, Neb., a ticket from that place to Lexington, Ky. In making the journey according to the terms of the ticket, R. traveled first over a line of the Union Pacific Railway Company, then over the line of the Wabash Railroad Company, thence over the lines of other carriers to Lexington. On the afternoon of the day she began her journey from Omaha, R. placed her jewelry in her trunk, locked it, and delivered it to a drayman, by whom it was transported from her residence to the depot of said Union Pacific Railway Company, whose agent then accepted the trunk, and checked it through to Lexington. The last carrier, at its depot in Lexington, delivered the trunk to a drayman, who hauled it to R.'s residence, where it was opened, and R. then discovered that her jewelry was missing. The trunk bore no indication of having been opened or tampered with. In a suit by R. against the Wabash Railroad Company for the value of said jewelry, held: (1) That the trunk, while in the possession of the draymen at Omaha and Lexington, was in the possession of R.'s agents; (2) until some evidence was introduced showing that the trunk was not opened or tampered with while in the possession of said draymen, the presumption would not arise that the jewelry was lost from the trunk while in the possession of any of the said railroad companies.

Error to district court, Douglas county; Keysor, Judge.

Action by Mary C. Ringwalt against the Wabash Railroad Company and others. To a judgment for defendants, plaintiff brings error. Affirmed.Morris & Beekman, for plaintiff in error.

John L. Webster, for defendants in error.

RAGAN, C.

In April, 1890, Mrs. Mary C. Ringwalt purchased of the Wabash Railroad Company, at Omaha, Neb., a railroad ticket from that city to Lexington, Ky. In the journey on the ticket, Mrs. Ringwalt traveled over the line of the Union Pacific Railway Company from Omaha to Council Bluffs, Iowa; from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to St. Louis, Mo., over the lines of the Wabash Railroad Company and the Omaha & St. Louis Railroad Company; from St. Louis, Mo., to Cincinnati, Ohio, over the line of the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad Company; and from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Lexington, Ky., over the line of the Cincinnati Southern Railway Company.On the day that Mrs. Ringwalt left the city of Omaha to make her journey, she delivered her trunk, containing certain articles of personal property, to the Wabash Railroad Company, for transportation as baggage to Lexington. The delivery of the trunk was made to the Wabash Railroad Company by delivering it to the Union Pacific Railway Company at its depot in the city of Omaha, the first carrier over whose line of road Mrs. Ringwalt would travel in making her journey, according to the terms of her ticket. The agent of the Union Pacific Railway Company examined the ticket held by Mrs. Ringwalt, punched the same, accepted the trunk or baggage of Mrs. Ringwalt, and checked the same through to Lexington, delivering at the same time to Mrs. Ringwalt the ordinary railroad check or receipt used by common carriers in this country, and the production of which at Lexington would authorize the delivery of the trunk to the holder of said check or receipt. Mrs. Ringwalt brought this suit to the district court of Douglas county, against the Wabash Railroad Company, to recover the value of certain jewelry...