Western Union Tel. Co. v. Du Bois

• Decision Date: 05 April 1889
• Citation: Western Union Tel. Co. v. Du Bois , 128 Ill. 248, 21 N.E. 4 (Ill. 1889)
• Parties: WESTERN UNION TEL. CO. v. DU BOIS.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

128 Ill. 248

21 N.E. 4

WESTERN UNION TEL. CO.

v.DU BOIS.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

April 5, 1889.

Appeal from appellate court, Third district.

Gross & Broadwell, for appellant.

Tipton & Moffett, for appellee.

MAGRUDER, J.

In the fall of 1887 appellee kept a restaurant and hotel in Gibson, Ill. He had bought a car-load of apples at some time during the fall, from I. H. Moore of North Java, N. Y., at $1.50 per barrel. About October 1, 1887, he wrote a letter to Moore, asking if another car-load could be furnished at the same price. On October 5, 1887, Moore answered the letter by sending a telegram. The telegram so sent, when received by appellee, read as follows: ‘Letter received. Can load car-load of best winter fruit at $1.55. Answer.’ Appellee replied on the same day that he would accept the offer contained in the telegram, and sent Moore a draft for $200 to apply on the purchase,-Moore requiring such a deposit to insure the consummation of the bargain. The telegram, as delivered by Moore to the appellant company for transmission to the appellee, read as follows: ‘Letter received. Can load car-load of best winter fruit at $1.75. Answer.’ The error by which the figures were made to read $1.55 instead of $1.75 was the fault of appellant. Appellee did not discover the mistake until after the $200 had been paid, and after Moore had shipped the apples. When the car arrived at Gibson, it contained 187 barrels of apples, which were green fruit. Moore sent to the bank at Gibson a draft for the balance of the purchase price at $1.75 per barrel with the bill of lading attached. The bill of lading was to be delivered to appellee upon payment of the draft, so that appellee could not get the bill of lading, or possession of the apples, without paying the draft. Thereupon he paid the draft, which, with the amount previously paid, was 20 cents per barrel more than the price at which he had bought the apples as stated in the telegram received and acted upon. Appellee brought this suit before a justice of the peace for damages resulting to him from the mistake of the appellant in transmitting the message, and recovered $37.40, being 20 cents per barrel on the 187 barrels. On appeal to the circuit court, where the trial was had before the court without a jury, judgment was entered in favor of appellee for one cent damages. Both parties excepted to the judgment of the circuit court, and prayed an appeal to the appellate court, where errors were assigned on both sides. The appellate court reversed the judgment of the circuit court upon the cross-errors assigned by the appellee, and remanded the cause. Thereupon appellant made a motion to modify the judgment of reversal so as to make said judgment final, and with directions to the circuit court to render judgment against appellant for $37.40 and costs, which motion was allowed, and judgment entered accordingly. Upon petition by appellant the appellate court granted a certificate that the case involves questions of law of such importance, on account of collateral interests, as that the same should be passed upon by the supreme court, and allowed an appeal to this court. In England the doctrine is that the receiver of a telegraphic dispatch cannot sue the telegraph company, on the ground that the obligation of the company springs entirely from contract, and that the contract for the transmission of the message is with the sender of it. This doctrine, however, has never prevailed in the United States. Here it is well settled that the receiver of the dispatch may maintain an action against the telegraph company, through whose negligence the message has been altered or changed, for such loss or damage as he has sustained by reason of having been led to act upon the dispatch. Proof of the...