Boyd v. McCleskey

515 S.W.2d 25, 1974 Tex. App. LEXIS 2651
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 2, 1974
DocketNo. 6404
StatusPublished

This text of 515 S.W.2d 25 (Boyd v. McCleskey) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Boyd v. McCleskey, 515 S.W.2d 25, 1974 Tex. App. LEXIS 2651 (Tex. Ct. App. 1974).

Opinion

OPINION

WARD, Justice.

The Appellant, C. E. Boyd, Sr., sued the Appellees as a common carrier for hire to recover the value of fifty bales of cotton which were destroyed by fire while Appel-lees were engaged in hauling the cotton from Seminole to Sudan, Texas. The carrier defended itself by allegations and proof that all transportation services were performed without negligence on its part, that the loss was caused by two of the excepted perils recognized at common law, to-wit: the fault of the shipper and the inherent nature of the goods being shipped. Jury findings being secured favorable as to all defensive issues, judgment was entered that the plaintiff take nothing and that the Appellees recover on their cross-action from the Appellant for the stipulated fire damages to the Appellees’ float. We affirm.

The parties operate competing gin companies in Seminole. During the early part of the 1972 ginning season, an agreement was made by them that during the first part of the ginning season the Appellees would haul all of the early baled cotton of both gins to the compress at Sudan. In the late afternoon of November 6, 1972, [27]*27the Appellees’ driver loaded fifty bales of the Appellant’s cotton from the Appellant’s yard and then drove to the Appellees’ gin yard where the truck and load were left for the night. Later that night, it was discovered that the cotton on the float of the truck was on fire and the float and the fifty bales of cotton were destroyed. It was the Appellant’s contention that the cotton caught fire after it was picked up by the Appellees’ driver. However, the Appellees successfully maintained that one or two of the Appellant’s bales were “fire packed bales,” at the time they were loaded at the Appellant’s gin, and that this inherent vice and the Appellant’s negligence in his handling of them caused all of the loss.

Appellant’s first and third points complain of the negative finding by the jury to the special issue inquiring if the Appellees were operating their vehicle as a common carrier. He asserts that Appellees were a common carrier as a matter of law and liable for damages on the undelivered cargo as an insurer. The position taken by the Appellant is readily conceded by the Appellees and they admit that they owed the legal duty and responsibility of a common carrier to the Appellant-shipper on the load in controversy. Having conceded the status of a common carrier, the negative finding of the jury becomes immaterial. But see Beck v. Lasater, 286 S.W.2d 957 (Tex.Civ.App.—Amarillo 1956, writ ref’d n.r.e.).

It is established that the shipper of goods by common carrier makes a prima facie case of carrier liability by showing that the shipment of inanimate property was in good condition when delivered to the carrier at the place of origin and in damaged condition or destroyed in transit. The carrier cannot then exonerate itself by showing that all transportation services were performed without negligence but it must go further and establish that the loss or damage was caused solely by one of the excepted perils recognized at common law such as the fault of the shipper or the inherent nature of the goods themselves. Missouri Pacific Railroad Company v. Elmore & Stahl, 368 S.W.2d 99 (Tex.Sup.1963), aff’d by United States Supreme Court, 377 U.S. 134, 84 S.Ct. 1142, 12 L.Ed.2d 194 (1964); Missouri Pacific Railroad Company v. Whittenburg & Alston, 424 S.W.2d 427 (Tex.Sup.1968).

A “fire packed bale” of cotton is recognized as a defect or vice in the property shipped so as to qualify as a defense for the burning of a load of cotton. “Obviously, fire packed in a bale of cotton is a defect or latent infirmity of the commodity, and such loss or damage resulting therefrom is not actionable.” Gulf, C. & S. F. Ry. Co. v. Downs, 70 S.W.2d 318 (Tex.Civ.App.—Dallas 1934, writ ref’d).

“No evidence” points are presented regarding the defensive issues answered favorably to the Appellees. By Special Issues Nos. 4 and 5, the Appellees affirmatively submitted and received favorable answers that the destruction of the cotton was without negligence on the part of the carrier and its destruction rendered its delivery impossible. By answers to Special Issue No. 9 and following issues, the jury found that at least one of the bales of cotton furnished by the plaintiff contained a concealed fire, which was negligence and a proximate cause of the loss. By answers to Special Issue No. 6 and following issues, the jury found that the plaintiff failed to isolate the bales of cotton preceding and following the detection of a “hot bale” at the plaintiff’s gin, which was negligence and a proximate cause of the loss. In considering these points as to the legal insufficiency of the evidence and which raise the question of law, we will consider only the evidence and the inferences therefrom tending to support the findings and disregard all evidence to the contrary.

Both the plaintiff, Mr. Boyd, and the principal defendant, John E. McCleskey, were qualified ginners and testifying as experts agreed as to the probable cause of a “hot bale” around a gin and as to the necessary precautions to be adopted when a rib fire is detected in the ginning process. [28]*28They both agreed that a “hot hale” is a bale that has some burning or smoldering cotton inside of it and depending upon the size and location of the fire it might be anywhere from an hour to three days before the bale will break into an observable fire. The most probable cause of a “hot bale” is a rib fire. In the gin stands, there are rib saws which are circular saws that rotate pulling the lint away from the seed. If a wad of green cotton catches in the ribs and hangs, the saws’ movement through the cotton will create enough friction through continued movement to build to the ignition point and other cotton passing by it will catch on fire and will be sent into the press and baled. There was testimony undisputed that one hundred percent of rib fires are the fault of carelessness on the part of the ginner or his helper by not catching them before the fire commences. They are supposed to watch under the stands and see that there is a continual drop of seed and if there is an area where the seed is not dropping that indicates a clogged area where a rib fire will break out. Once a rib fire starts, it will always be ultimately discovered by the ginner because it will continue to burn until somebody puts the fire out. It is possible that four or five bales may be ginned before the rib fire is located in which event there can be four or five “hot bales.” A customary safety procedure has been adopted by all ginners that once a rib fire is discovered prudent ginners will hold out the bale being ginned, the bale preceding it, and the bale following it, because of the risk that the fire may not have been cleaned out of the lint flue, the condensers and all other places that are concealed between the stands and the press. The bales that are pulled out are kept separate from all other bales and watched for a period of at least seventy-two hours to be sure that they do not burn. Mr.

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Related

Missouri Pacific Railroad v. Elmore & Stahl
377 U.S. 134 (Supreme Court, 1964)
Beck v. Lasater
286 S.W.2d 957 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1956)
Missouri Pacific Railroad Co. v. Elmore & Stahl
368 S.W.2d 99 (Texas Supreme Court, 1963)
Roberts v. K-Mart Foods, Inc.
470 S.W.2d 751 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1971)
Missouri Pacific Railroad v. Whittenburg & Alston
424 S.W.2d 427 (Texas Supreme Court, 1968)
Team v. Texas & P. Ry. Co.
199 S.W.2d 274 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1947)
Gulf, C. & S. F. Ry. Co. v. Downs
70 S.W.2d 318 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1934)

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Bluebook (online)
515 S.W.2d 25, 1974 Tex. App. LEXIS 2651, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/boyd-v-mccleskey-texapp-1974.