Schwartz v. The Missouri
| Decision Date | 09 July 1910 |
| Docket Number | 16,496. 16,494 |
| Citation | 83 Kan. 30,109 P. 767 |
| Court | Kansas Supreme Court |
| Parties | WILLIAM SCHWARTZ, Appellee, v. THE MISSOURI, KANSAS & TEXAS RAILWAY COMPANY, Appellant. HARRY NYE, Appellee, v. THE MISSOURI, KANSAS & TEXAS RAILWAY COMPANY, Appellant |
Decided July, 1910.
Appeals from Miami district court.
Causes remanded for modification.
SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.
1. RAILROADS -- "Freight Trains" -- Limitation of Liability to Passengers--Mixed Train Not a Freight Train. Chapter 274 of the Laws of 1907, which provides that all freight trains to which a caboose is attached shall transport passengers, and permits railroad companies to limit their liability to passengers on such trains, except for willful negligence, does not give the right to such companies to demand a release of their liability from a passenger upon a mixed train, consisting of freight cars, a passenger coach and a combination mail-and-baggage car, regularly operated carrying passengers, and stopping at passenger platforms as passenger trains usually do.
2. RAILROADS -- Expulsion of a Passenger -- Exemplary Damages. The expulsion of a passenger from a train such as is described above, for no other reason than that he refuses to sign such a release, is wrongful, but under the facts shown in these cases exemplary damages should not be awarded.
John Madden, and W. W. Brown, for the appellant.
Frank M. Sheridan, for the appellees.
The plaintiffs in these actions were passengers on one of the defendant's trains on the Kansas City division, between Paola, Kan., and Sedalia, Mo. No. 515 was a west-bound train, and No. 516 was an east-bound train, between the cities named. These trains were known as mixed trains, and each carried freight cars next to the engine, behind which were a combination mail, baggage and express car, and a passenger coach. These trains run on regular time and are scheduled to connect at Paola with passenger trains for Kansas City, and stop at the platforms at stations to receive and discharge passengers. They carry the mail and three-fourths of the passengers over that line, and have been so operated for thirteen years. The only other trains upon that division are two night freight trains, one running east and the other west.
The plaintiffs took passage on train No. 516 from Paola to Louisburg. Each had a round-trip ticket. Upon the demand of the agent at Paola, each signed a release limiting the liability of the company, as provided in chapter 274 of the Laws of 1907, for the trip to Louisburg. The conductor took up their tickets, leaving to them the return coupons. On the return passage upon train No. 515, while they were seated in the regular passenger coach with other passengers, the conductor took up the return coupons, and handed to each of them a release of liability for the return trip, in the same form as those they had signed in going, and asked for their signatures. They refused to sign, whereupon the conductor informed them that they must do so or leave the train at the next station. They remonstrated, but the conductor persisted, saying that he had orders to enforce. Schwartz said: "All right; put me off and we will investigate." At Somerset the train stopped at the platform and the conductor led Schwartz off the train. He then beckoned to Nye and said, "Come on"; but Nye refused to move, when the conductor took hold of his coat collar and pulled him into the aisle, and, as he still refused to move, pushed him to the door. The conductor then said, "Go on," but Nye said "No," and the conductor gave him a push. Nye's foot slipped on the steps and he fell, straining his back. These circumstances are substantially as shown by the plaintiffs' evidence. The conductor's testimony was somewhat different, but upon the general findings for the plaintiffs their evidence must be taken as true.
The plaintiffs obtained a carriage and reached their homes at Paola after a journey of three hours, at an expense of fifty cents each. The round-trip tickets cost seventy-five cents each.
The plaintiffs sued for damages for being put off the train. A verdict was rendered for Nye for $ 400. By the special findings it appears that $ 100 of this was for actual damages and $ 300 for exemplary damages. The verdict for Schwartz was for $ 205, of which $ 5 was for actual damages and $ 200 for exemplary damages. The defendant appeals.
The first question presented is whether the train was a "freight train" within the meaning of chapter 274 of the Laws of 1907 (superseded by Laws 1909, ch. 190, Gen Stat. 1909, §§ 7123, 7124). This statute requires railroad companies to carry passengers on "freight...
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