Western Union Tel. Co. v. Watson

• Decision Date: 08 December 1902
• Citation: Western Union Tel. Co. v. Watson, 82 Miss. 101, 33 So. 76 (Miss. 1902)
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court
• Parties: WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY v. ELIZABETH WATSON

33 So. 76

82 Miss. 101

WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY v. ELIZABETH WATSON

Supreme Court of Mississippi

December 8, 1902

FROM the circuit court of, second district, Panola county. HON PERRIN H. LOWREY, Judge.

Mrs Watson, appellee, was plaintiff, and the telegraph company appellant, defendant, in the court below.

John Watson, the husband of appellee, in his lifetime, lived with his family, seven or eight miles from Batesville, in Panola county, Mississippi. He suffered from a cancer, and in November, 1900, went to Birmingham, Ala., to be medically treated. He grew worse, and died on Wednesday, December 12 1900. His brother-in-law, at whose house he died, telegraphed Mrs. Watson, widow of decedent, at about 7 o'clock Thursday morning, and asked what to do with the corpse. This telegram was not delivered to Mrs. Watson until about a week after it was sent from Birmingham, and several days after her husband had been buried, near Birmingham. She brought this suit to recover damages caused by the negligence of the telegraph company, in failing to deliver the message. The testimony showed the following facts: Mr. Hagood, the sender of the message, called at the Western Union Telegraph office at North Birmingham early Thursday morning, December 13, and delivered the message to the telegraph operator, and paid for same the price charged; he called twice again that day, and once on December 14, and was told that nothing had been heard from the message; he called again in the evening of December 14, and was then informed that the message could not be delivered; the body of John Watson was interred December 15 nothing having been heard from Mrs. Watson. John Watson, son of Mrs. Watson, called at the Western Union Telegraph office at Batesville twice on the 13th of December, the day the message was received, and asked if there was anything there for Mrs. Watson, and was told that there was not; he called again on Decemebr 14, and asked if there was anything for Mrs. Watson, and was again told that there was not; he and his brother were in Batesville nearly every day, and were well known to the people in Batesville and had an aunt living there who was also well known, named Watson. The message was not delivered until the plaintiff's son, John, went to the operator at Batesville and told him he had a letter from Birmingham, telling him that a telegram had been sent to Mrs Watson, when the operator hunted it up...