The Savannah v. Bonaud

• Decision Date: 31 January 1877
• Citation: 58 Ga. 180
• Parties: The Savannah, Skidaway and Seaboard Railroad Company, plaintiff in error. v. A. Bonaud, defendant in error.
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court

58 Ga. 180

The Savannah, Skidaway and Seaboard Railroad Company, plaintiff in error. v. A. Bonaud, defendant in error.

Supreme Court of the State of Georgia

(Atlanta, January Term, 1877.)

Railroads. Damages. Before Judge Tompkins. Chatham Superior Court. May Term, 1876.

Reported in the decision.

Geo. A. Mercer, for plaintiff in error.

R. R. Richards, for defendant.

Warner, Chief Justice.

The plaintiff sued the defendant to recover damages which he alleged he had sustained by reason of the defendant's failure to run its train on its railroad from the Isle of Hope to the city of Savannah, on the 23d of April, 1874, in accordance with its previously published schedule. On the trial of the case, the jury found a verdict in favor of the plaintiff for the sum of $63.75. The defendant made a motion for a new trial, on the ground that the verdict was contrary to the evidence, and contrary to law, which was overruled by the court, and the defendant excepted.

It appears from the evidence in the record, that the plaintiff was a dancing master by profession, that he resided at the Isle of Hope, eight miles from Savannah; that he had a class of forty-five scholars to whom he gave lessons in the city, at seventy-five cents a lesson, that he had purchased a five dollar ticket from defendant, which entitled him to go upon any of the defendant's trains from the Isle of Hope to the city of Savannah, was in thehabit of going to the city to give his dancing lessons, on the train which, according to *the defendant\'s regular published schedule, left the Isle of Hope for the city at 12:53 p.m.; went to the depot to take that train on the 23d of April, 1874, but no train started, and he was unable to get to the city; no notice of any change of this schedule was published; had no notice of any change of schedule; saw a newspaper containing notice of a special schedule for the celebration at Bethesda on that day, but supposed the regular schedule would be continued in force as usual on that day, and had no notice that it would not. The lesson which he failed to give on the 23d of April to his forty-five scholars, at seventy-five cents, amountedto $33.75; did give the lesson he lost on the 23d of April next week; made no deduction from his bills for the loss of said lesson on the 23d, but collected the same amount from his pupils as he would have done if he had not lost that lesson. The plaintiff also stated that it was his custom to give a ball to his pupils at the end of the...