Farmers Bank v. St. Louis & Hannibal Railway Co.

95 S.W. 286, 119 Mo. App. 1, 1906 Mo. App. LEXIS 191
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 8, 1906
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 95 S.W. 286 (Farmers Bank v. St. Louis & Hannibal Railway Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Farmers Bank v. St. Louis & Hannibal Railway Co., 95 S.W. 286, 119 Mo. App. 1, 1906 Mo. App. LEXIS 191 (Mo. Ct. App. 1906).

Opinion

BLAND, P. J.

The suit is to recover loss on account of shrinkage caused by unreasonable delay in transporting over defendant’s road, two hundred and twelve head of fat cattle, delivered to it at Perry, Missouri, by the plaintiff for carriage and delivery to the National Stock Yards, at East St. Louis, Illinois, and for loss of a better market. Defendant’s road does not run to East St. Louis. It connects with the Wabash railroad (which runs into East St. Louis) at Gilmore, Missouri, and freight received by the defendant at Perry, consigned to East St. Louis, is hauled to Gilmore and there delivered to the Wabash railroad to be carried to its destination. This course was pursued with the shipment of cattle in question. The suit was brought against both the defendant and the Wabash Railroad Company. On the trial an instruction, in the nature of a demurrer to plaintiff’s evidence, was sustained as to the Wabash Railroad Company and the suit as to it was dismissed.

It appears from the plaintiff’s evidence that the cattle were loaded in ten of defendant’s cars at Perry on Sunday, June 5, 1903, between ten and eleven o’clock a. m., and were started for Gilmore between twelve and one o’clock on the same day. They arrived at Gilmore at nine or ten o’clock of that day and laid over there until after daylight the following Monday morning, when they were picked up by a Wabash train and carried to East St. Louis, arriving at the National Stock Yards at 12:30 o’clock. On their arrival they were immediately unloaded into yards and sold before two o’clock, the hour then fixed for closing live stock sales for the day. The evidence tends to show that, ordinarily, and by the exercise of ordinary diligence, live stock loaded and shipped at Perry at the hour these cattle were loaded, should arrive [7]*7at East St. Louis between seven and eight o’clock on the morning of the following day; and on account of the delay at Gilmore the cattle lost, by shrinkage, from twenty-five to forty pounds in weight per head more than they would have lost had there been no delay. The evidence further tends to show that on account of the cattle arriving so near the hour of closing sales for the day, their sale had to be rushed and they brought a less price per hundred pounds then they would have brought if they could have been put upon the market in the morning.

The jury found the issues for the plaintiff and assessed his damages at five hundred dollars.. Defendant appealed to this court, after taking the usual steps to preserve its exceptions.

1. It appears from the evidence, and it is admitted, that the defendant railroad does not enter Audrain county (the county where the suit was brought and tried) and has no office, officer or agent in said county; for these reasons, on the dismissal of the case against the Wabash Eailroad Company, defendant moved the court to dismiss the suit against it for the want of jurisdiction of the person of the defendant. Want of jurisdiction of the person of a defendant, if it appears on the face of the petition, should be taken advantage of by demurrer ; if it does not appear on the face of the petition, it should be raised by the answer ;'and if not taken advantage of either by demurrer or by answer; the objection is deemed to have been waived. But it is contended that the want of jurisdiction did not appear until the case was dismissed against the Wabash Eailroad Company, and that the defendant did not know, and could not know, the Wabash Eailroad Company was made a party defendant for the purpose of bringing the defendant within the jurisdiction of the court, and that the objection was raised at the earliest possible moment. Conceding this to be so, as jurisdiction of the person may be [8]*8waived, the following letter of defendant’s attorney, in answer to one written to him by plaintiff’s attorney, we think clearly shows that jurisdiction of the Audrain Circuit Court over the person of the defendant was waived, in this particular suit, in advance of its commencement:

“Dear Sir and Friend: Your favor to hand relative to your proposed suit against the St. Louis & Hannibal and Wabash for Edgar Wilburn. I am aware of the outstanding claim and we have always contended that the delay was on the Wabash if at all, and as between the two companies, the Wabash is liable. I would like for you to look to the Wabash for your claim, but if you think you want to join our company as a defendant, I would just as soon have it at Mexico as anywhere and will raise no point on jurisdiction of our company.
“Yours,
“J. D. Hostetter.”

That Mr. Hostetter, as the attorney of the defendent had authority to waive jurisdiction of the person of the defendant is settled by the case of Markey v. Railroad, 185 Mo. 848; and we think too, that the appearance of the defendant by filing its answer and participating in the trial to its conclusion conferred jurisdiction on the court. [Banker’s Life Ass’n v. Shelton, 84 Mo. App. 1. c. 639, and cases cited.] Parenthetically, it should be stated that Mr. Hostetter was not present at the trial of the case, did not participate in it, and the attorneys who appeared for the defendant were unaware of his letter until it was introduced in evidence.

2. There are two lines of testimony in the record in respect to the interest of the plaintiff bank in the cattle ; one tends to prove that it purchased the cattle outright for the purpose of making a profit; the other tends to show that a Mr. Wilburn, a customer of the bank, purchased the cattle for himself on his own account, but not having money in the bank, or elsewhere, sufficient to [9]*9pay the purchase price, drew a draft on the bank for something over thirteen thousand dollars, in part payment of the cattle, and when the bank wasi informed of the draft, it agreed to honor it, provided Wilburn would agree the cattle might be shipped in the name of the bank, and Wilburn consented that they might be so shipped, and they were shipped under this agreement and the proceeds of the sale deposited in the Bank of Commerce, in the city of St. Louis, to the credit of the plaintiff bank, by its direction. The bank was incorporated under the laws of the state. Section 1291, article 8, entitled “Banks of Deposit and Discount” (R. S. 1899) provides as follows:

“No corporation now existing nor any hereafter organized under any law of this State, whether general or special, as a bank or to carry on a banking business, shall employ its jnoneys, directly or indirectly, in trade or commerce, by buying and selling ordinary goods, chattels, wares and merchandise, or by owning or operating industrial plants: Provided, that it may sell all kinds of property which may come into its possession as collateral security for loans, or in the ordinary collection of debts.”

Defendant contends that the bank being prohibited by this statute to buy cattle for a profit, the contract of purchase was ultra vires, and that the shipment was a continuation of the unlawful act of the bank, and for this reason it cannot recover. On this feature of the case the court gave the following instruction at the request of the defendant:

“2. The court instructs the jury that if you believe from the evidence in this case that the plaintiff bank was the owner of the cattle shipped on the fifth day of June 1904, from Perry, Missouri, to the National Stock Yards, then you will return a verdict for the defendant.”

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Bluebook (online)
95 S.W. 286, 119 Mo. App. 1, 1906 Mo. App. LEXIS 191, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/farmers-bank-v-st-louis-hannibal-railway-co-moctapp-1906.