Smith & Hoyt v. Bangor & A. R. Co.

• Citation: 98 A. 737
• Parties: SMITH & HOYT v. BANGOR & A. R. CO.
• Decision Date: 28 September 1916
• Court: Maine Supreme Court

98 A. 737

SMITH & HOYT

v. BANGOR & A. R. CO.

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

Sept. 28, 1916.

On motion from Supreme Judicial Court, Aroostook County, at Law.

Action by Smith & Hoyt against the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad Company. Verdict for plaintiff, and defendant brings motion for new trial. Motion overruled.

Argued before SAVAGE, C. J., and CORNISH, KING, BIRD, HALEY, and PHILBROOK, JJ.

Hersey & Barnes, of Houlton, for plaintiff. J. F. Gould, of Bangor, and Powers & Guild, of Ft. Fairfield, for defendant.

SAVAGE, C. J. Action on the case for negligent delay in transportation of car of potatoes from Presque Isle, Me., to Onley, Va., in consequence of which some of the potatoes were frozen en route. The case comes up on the defendant's motion for a new trial.

The potatoes were in a refrigerator car furnished by the defendant, which was so fitted as to protect the potatoes from freezing for from 10 to 13 days in ordinary winter weather, and from 5 to 7 days in "cold snaps." The usual running time for freight trains from Presque Isle to Northern Maine Junction, where the potatoes were to be delivered to the succeeding carrier, the Maine Central Railroad, is about 24 hours. And the usual time of transportation from Presque Isle to Onley is about 11 days.

The car was loaded at Riverview siding, 3 miles north of Presque Isle, on Friday, February 6, 1914, but too late to be taken by any regular freight train that day. But on February 7th it was moved by the defendant to Presque Isle, the billing point, but too late for the regular day freight trains. In fact a bill of lading had been issued February 6th. This car was one of 22 cars of potatoes which made up train "Extra 70." The train left Presque Isle at 12:15 a. m. February 8th. It encountered various troubles from drifting snow on the track. Apparently, under the conditions, the load was too heavy for the locomotive. And this car with three others was set off during the forenoon of February 8th at Mapleton, 6 miles from Presque Isle, where it remained until 6 p. m. February 9th, when it was picked up by the first regular freight train that passed. It reached Northern Maine Junction at 11:20 p. m. February 13th, one hour short of 6 days from Presque Isle. The distance was 184 miles. In the meantime it had stood on sidings at Oakfield 37 1/2 hours, and at Millinocket 36 hours.

But for the delay at Mapleton, there is nothing in the case to show that the car would not probably have run through to Northern Maine Junction, and to a warmer climate in ample time to prevent the potatoes from freezing, though it would probably have been unable to make schedule time, for the track conditions were undoubtedly bad.

By reason of the delay, the car got in behind a derailed passenger train at Belvidere, on February 10th, and two stalled freight trains south of Millinocket, February 12th, and got into a severe storm, accompanied by extreme cold, which caused it to be laid up at East Newport, on the Maine Central Railroad from 5:15 p. m. February 14th to 11:55 a. m. February 16th. We think it unnecessary to discuss in detail the misadventures of the car after it left Mapleton. The delay at Mapleton, as we have seen, brought the car into the teeth of cumulative troubles further on.

The defense is that the potatoes were unavoidably delayed in transit by wind and snow storms of great severity, and that the defendant and its connecting carriers used all reasonable diligence in the transportation.

It is certain the weather conditions on February 7th and 8th were bad, unusually bad, but it is not shown that they were unprecedented, phenomenal, or extraordinary, in the sense that they should not have been anticipated, in an...