Savannah, F. & W. Ry. Co. v. Collins

• Decision Date: 26 February 1887
• Citation: 3 S.E. 416,77 Ga. 376
• Parties: SAVANNAH, F. & W. RY. CO. v. COLLINS.
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court

3 S.E. 416

77 Ga. 376

SAVANNAH, F. & W. RY. CO. v. COLLINS.

Supreme Court of Georgia

February 26, 1887

Error from superior court, Decatur county; BOWER, Judge.

Action against a railroad company for loss of goods shipped by it.

The charge complained of in the twelfth ground of the motion for a new trial, referred to in the opinion, was as follows:

"It is true that if a contract is made, specifying the amount of damages that is to be paid in case the goods are lost in shipment, if the party had authority to make a contract as to the amount of damages to be paid in case the goods are lost, then the railroad would be liable only for the agreed amount of damages shown in the contract. You will look to the evidence to see if there was any such contract. If the only statement on the part of one of the parties was that 'If you lose these goods, you will have to pay me $25 for them,' and it was not accepted as the true damages by the other party, it would not amount to a contract; and further, it must appear that the agent had the authority to assess the damages, in case the goods were lost, at less than the real value of the goods. The mere fact of a party being agent to carry goods for another, and deliver them to a railroad for shipment, of itself does not authorize him to settle the value of the goods at less than their actual value in case the goods are lost. If you believe, from the evidence, that Collins specified that $25 should be paid for the goods in case the goods were lost, and the railroad failed to accept these terms; or if you believe from the evidence that the railroad agent had no authority to accept the goods for shipment at less than their actual value --it would not be a binding contract, so far as to fixing the damages by contract.

"Unless there is some evidence showing that J. D. Collins, as agent of the woman, had authority to make a contract making the damages below the actual value of the goods, no such contract made by him would be binding. The fact that Collins was only the agent of the woman to ship the goods, if you should find that to be the fact, would not authorize him to make a contract for damages, in case the goods are lost, at less than their actual value, and the shipper of the goods would not be bound by such a valuation."

D. A. Russell, for plaintiff in error.

John E. Donalson, contra.

BLANDFORD J.

There are several assignments of error in the record. The plaintiff in the court below relied upon the following writing to show the contract between herself and the railroad company:

"STATION NO. 23, October 15, '81.

"Received from J. D. Collins, in good order, the following articles for shipment to W. P. Jackson, Cedar Keys, Fla.: I bdl. bedding.

"[Name,] Care R. R. Agt., Callahan.

[Signed] "D. M. MITCHELL, Agt."

The defendant proposed to show by the agent the meaning of the words in said writing, "Care R. R. Agt., Callahan." This the court refused to allow; and this is the first assignment of error.

1. Whether a railroad company is liable to carry or transport goods to a point of destination over and beyond the terminus of its road depends upon the contract between ...