Barber v. Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee Railway Co.

164 N.W. 377, 197 Mich. 643, 1917 Mich. LEXIS 641
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 27, 1917
DocketDocket No. 11
StatusPublished

This text of 164 N.W. 377 (Barber v. Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee Railway Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barber v. Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee Railway Co., 164 N.W. 377, 197 Mich. 643, 1917 Mich. LEXIS 641 (Mich. 1917).

Opinion

Moore, J.

Thomas S. Barber, Gilbert Ayers, Win-field S. Allen, and Charles E. Huhn, copartners doing business under the name of the Saranac Produce Corn[644]*644pany, brought this action May 8, 1915, seeking to recover damages for a loss through the freezing of potatoes shipped during the winter of 1911-1912; two cars were consigned to Norfolk, Va., and two to Pitts-burg, Pa. From a judgment for the plaintiffs of $1,-324.27, the case is brought here on writ of error.

The errors relied upon are discussed under the following heads:

(1) The judge erred in refusing to direct verdict for defendant as requested.
(2) The judge erred in holding there was a question for the jury as to whether there has been a deviation from the route which had orally been agreed upon or understood between the carrier and Mr. Huhn, manager for plaintiffs.
(3) It was error to submit the question of whether there had been an oral agreement as to the routing which the Norfolk shipments should take.
(4) It was error to hold that the burden of proof was on defendant to show the plaintiffs understood the routes inserted in the bills of lading covering the Norfolk shipments.
(5) It was error to submit to the jury the question of defendant’s liability for the Pittsburg shipments.
(6) It was error for the trial judge to charge the jury that demurrage is an extension of freight rates.

It was the claim of the plaintiffs that they had shipped produce in refrigerator cars furnished by defendant which was carried through to Norfolk in the same car into which it was loaded at Saranac. They claim they ordered two refrigerator cars for potatoes to go to Norfolk, and that the agent knew for what purpose they were ordered; that the cars were furnished and were loaded with potatoes, and the plaintiff in each instance made out a bill of lading in triplicate, giving the number of the car, its contents, and the destination of the shipment, but did not put in the route by which the shipment would be made. The bill of lading was then turned over to the local agent of [645]*645the defendant, who put in the route the shipment was to take and signed the triplicates, retaining one and returning the other two to the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs claim that the two cars were ordered and loaded as through cars to Norfolk, Va., and that the agent should have so routed them, and that instead of doing so he routed them so that the cars went only to Baltimore, where the potatoes were transferred to a packet steamer which conveyed them to Norfolk. Defendant claims plaintiffs knew just how the potatoes were routed. This claim will be stated more in detail later.

We quote from the brief of counsel for the plaintiff:

“Plaintiffs claim from the above statement of facts, that, they having selected the mode of transportation, to wit, in refrigerator cars, such mode should not be changed by the defendant, and while the defendant was entitled to send the refrigerator cars over any line which could transport such cars, and which would be equally advantageous to the plaintiffs, it was not authorized to send said potatoes, unprotected by refrigerator cars, on a packet line, and defendant was not authorized to use a line over which cars could not be sent, and therefore the defendant wrongfully changed the mode or manner of shipment, and used that as an excuse to ship the produce over a line not authorized, and by reason of the change of mode of shipment, defendant became an insurer, and that while the plaintiffs should conduct themselves as an ordinary prudent man would to make the damages as small for the defendant as they reasonably could, still the entire net loss occasioned by the change of method and route of shipment must fall upon the defendant.”

The trial judge charged the jury in part as follows:

“One of the first things for you to consider in this case and determine is: What was the contract between the plaintiff and the defendant relative to the shipments made to Norfolk, Va.? If you find from the evidence that the plaintiff ordered refrigerator cars to ship potatoes in to be delivered on the railroad [646]*646tracks at Norfolk in the cars, and that the defendant by its agent furnished the cars for that purpose, and that they were loaded with potatoes as agreed by the parties, and that after they were loaded and the cars closed the plaintiff took to the defendant’s agent a statement containing the contents of the cars, or car, as the case might be, one at a time, and that the defendant knew that the plaintiffs intended and had directed that the cars should be shipped by rail to Norfolk, then It was the duty of the defendant to ship the cars by rail to Norfolk, and the defendant would have no right to ship them any other way without the knowledge or consent of the plaintiffs. The fact, if you find it to- be a fact, that the agent of the defendant inserted a different routing in the bills of lading and turned the same over to the plaintiffs, or their agent, would have no force or effect in this, cáse, unless you find that before the goods were shipped the effect of such routing, and that such routing would amount to sending the cars part of the way by rail and the contents the rest of the way by water, was understood and known to the plaintiffs, and they consented thereto (when I say plaintiffs I mean Mr. Huhn; whatever was done by Mr. Huhn was done by the plaintiffs he represented). That is to say, if the plaintiffs had made an oral contract or agreement where and how these cars should be shipped and they loaded the cars with that intention and- under such contract, then they had the right to rely on- the oral contract, and if the defendant by its agent inserted a different routing without the knowledge or consent of the plaintiffs, such routing in the bill of lading would have no force or effect in this case; and in such case it would be the duty of the defendant to ship these cars all of the way by rail and deliver them at Norfolk, Va., with the contents in the cars, or else be liable for such damage as might occur by reason of their deviation from the understanding that had been made. * * *
“In determining who is right' concerning the oral contract, you should take into consideration all of the surrounding circumstances, the time of the year, the object and the purpose for which refrigerator cars were ordered, the manner in which they were protected and. loaded, the rights of the parties concerning [647]*647the use of the cars at Norfolk on their arrival, and all ■other facts that will show you what the object and purpose of these parties were at the time the refrigerator cars were ordered and furnished, and from such facts and the papers you are to determine whether there was a prior oral agreement, and whether the defendant did agree to ship the cars all rail to Norfolk.
“The printed matter which appears upon the back of the contract that was made in this case must be taken as a part of the conditions of the contract, and by which it appears these parties had 48 hours as a reasonable time in which to take the potatoes from the car after it reached Norfolk, and as much further reasonable time as they might desire by paying demur-rage fees of so much for each day.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
164 N.W. 377, 197 Mich. 643, 1917 Mich. LEXIS 641, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barber-v-detroit-grand-haven-milwaukee-railway-co-mich-1917.