Woods v. Jacob Dold Packing Co.

Decision Date09 March 1935
Docket Number31994.
Citation41 P.2d 748,141 Kan. 363
PartiesWOODS et al. v. JACOB DOLD PACKING CO. et al.
CourtKansas Supreme Court

Syllabus by the Court.

Whether death of traveling salesman killed in automobile collision arose out of and in course of employment, notwithstanding longer route on which son lived was chosen, held for trial court.

Workmen's Compensation Act is complete in itself and its remedies are exclusive.

Allowance of interest on amount of funeral expenses under Workmen's Compensation Act held error (Rev. St. Supp. 1933, 44-510 subd. 2 (d); 44-534).

1. In an appeal from a judgment affirming an award of compensation to the dependent widow and minor daughter of a traveling salesman employed by the respondent, the record examined, and no error of law on the main issue disclosed.

2. The Workmen's Compensation Act is complete in itself; its remedies are exclusive; and they do not sanction the imposition of an interest charge upon a specific item of the award allowed for burial expenses of the deceased employee.

Appeal from District Court, Sedgwick County, Division No. 1; Ross McCormick, Judge.

Proceeding under Workmen's Compensation Act by Adelaide Hughes Woods and Ruth Seay Woods for the death of Ernest Woods, husband of Adelaide Hughes Woods and father of Ruth Seay Woods claimants, opposed by Jacob Dold Packing Company, employer and New Amsterdam Casualty Company, insurance carrier. From a decree affirming compensation award and allowing claimants interest on one item, the employer and insurance carrier appeal.

Remanded for elimination of interest charge, and affirmed.

W. A Ayres, Austin M. Cowan, C. A. McCorkle, J. D. Fair, W. A. Kahrs, and Robt. H. Nelson, all of Wichita, for appellants.

H. W. Hart, Glenn Porter, Enos E. Hook, and Getto McDonald, all of Wichita, for appellees.

DAWSON Justice.

This was a compensation case.

It appears that on and prior to October 24, 1933, the late Samuel Ernest Woods of Clovis, N. M., was a traveling salesman for the Jacob Dold Packing Company of Wichita, Kan. His contract of employment was made in Kansas, although his field of operations was partly in Northwest Texas, and included the cities of Amarillo and Dalhart. His compensation included an allowance for traveling expenses, which was calculated on the exact mileage by the most direct route between points within the trade territory to which he was assigned, but he was privileged to choose his own route of travel.

In the late afternoon of October 24, 1933, Woods had completed his canvass of customers in Amarillo and was due to call on the trade in Dalhart the next day. There were three practical routes between Amarillo and Dalhart: One which bore north, west, and angling northwest, a total distance of 90 miles; a second route which ran mainly northward to the south line of Sherman county, Tex., and thence due west into Dalhart, a distance of 125 miles; and a third but more circuitous route over a paved road running northeastward from Amarillo through towns or villages named Panhandle, Borger, and Stinnett, thence west to Dumas, where it merged with the second route, a total distance of 150 miles. These latter points en route were not within Woods' trade territory, but he had a son living in Borger whom it would be convenient for him to visit and with whom he perhaps intended to stay overnight. On the shortest route there was a considerable amount of construction and repair going on at two different stretches of the highway, so that there was that additional reason why Woods might choose one of the longer routes.

In the evening of October 24 Woods started for Dalhart on the long circuitous route...

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17 cases
  • Watson v. Marshall's U. S. Auto Supply
    • United States
    • Kansas Court of Appeals
    • January 22, 1945
    ... ... 165, 115 S.W.2d 172, 178; ... Snorgrass v. Cudahy Packing Co., 229 Mo.App. 944, 83 ... S.W.2d 226; Metting v. Lehr Const. Co., 225 ... Co. v. Durham ... (Tex.), 222 S.W. 275; Woods v. Jacob Dold Packing ... Co., 141 Kan. 363, 41 P.2d 748; Mitchell v ... ...
  • Watson v. Auto Supply, Inc.
    • United States
    • Missouri Court of Appeals
    • January 22, 1945
    ...Crown Market, 208 App. Div. 267, 203 N.Y.S. 355; Hartford Accident & Ind. Co. v. Durham (Tex.), 222 S.W. 275; Woods v. Jacob Dold Packing Co., 141 Kan. 363, 41 Pac. (2d) 748; Mitchell v. Mitchell Drilling Co., 154 Kan. 117, 114 Pac. (2d) 841; Federal Mutual Liab. Ins. Co. v. Industrial Acci......
  • Taylor v. Centex Const. Co.
    • United States
    • Kansas Supreme Court
    • March 2, 1963
    ...evidence disclosed to be not only the 'normal route' but the 'fastest route' from Topeka to the project. In Woods v. Jacob Dold Packing Co., 141 Kan. 363, 41 P.2d 748, it was '* * * Woods was privileged to choose his own route in going from Amarillo to Dalhart, and he was none the less abou......
  • Gray v. Hercules Powder Co.
    • United States
    • Kansas Supreme Court
    • January 26, 1946
    ... ... Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co., 138 Kan. 117, 23 P.2d 471; ... Woods v. Jacob Dold Packing Co., 141 Kan. 363, 365, ... 41 P.2d 748; Brower ... ...
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