Galveston, H. &. S. A. Ry. Co. v. Tullis

8 S.W.2d 247, 1928 Tex. App. LEXIS 652
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 13, 1928
DocketNo. 8029.
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 8 S.W.2d 247 (Galveston, H. &. S. A. Ry. Co. v. Tullis) 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
Galveston, H. &. S. A. Ry. Co. v. Tullis, 8 S.W.2d 247, 1928 Tex. App. LEXIS 652 (Tex. Ct. App. 1928).

Opinion

COBBS, J.

Appellant’s statement of the case is:

“The appellee, R. A. Tullis, as owner, doing business under the trade-name of Tullis & Co., sued appellant, the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Railway Company, in the district court, Victoria county,' Tex., on the 22d day of January, 1927, for alleged damages to a carload shipment, consisting of 50 bales of mill-run cotton linters, shipped from Victoria, Tex., in the name of the South Texas Cotton Oil Company, as consignor, on the 8th day of October, 1925, to Crittenden & Eastman Company, as consignee, of Burlington, Iowa, at which place the shipment arrived some seven or eight days later, and was delivered on, to wit, the 17th day of October, 1925. The South Texas Cotton Oil Company rendered invoice, dated October 8, 1925, to Tullis & Co., covering the cotton lint-ers so shipped, and in turn Tullis & Co. rendered invoice to Crittenden & Eastman at Burlington, Iowa, for the shipment of linters, subject to deduction of freight charges from Victoria, Tex., to Burlington, Iowa. The shipment was refused for alleged defects therein by Crittenden & Eastman Company upon arrival at Burlington, and such shipment was reconsigned and reshipped October 30', 1925, in the same car by Tullis & Co., to the Globe Bedding Company at Winnipeg, Manitoba.”

Appellant filed proper responsive pleadings.

Plaintiff brought bis suit, alleging the delivery of the 50 bales of linters to the defendant at Victoria, Tex., and that.they were dry and clean and in suitable and proper marketable condition, and that they arrived at destination wet and musty and unfit for market at said point. In the nature of things it was impossible for plaintiff to know where, when, and how his goods were damaged, for they were within the exclusive management, custody, and control of defendant, and its common and connecting carriers from the *248 time of delivery at Victoria until they reached destination, and the manner in which said linters were permitted to get wet was purely within the knowledge of defendant. In other words, plaintiff declared on his cause of action strictly under the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur, which, literally translated, is, “the thing speaks for itself,” and is merely a short way of saying, that the circumstances attendant upon accident are themselves of such a character as to'justify a jury in inferring negligence as a cause of the accident.

The case was tried throughout without a hill of exceptions being taken by defendant, and the only bill of exceptions in the record is one taken by the plaintiff to the charge of the court; his alleged purpose being to have the record show that the plaintiff attempted to have the court in his charge define inherent vice and to limit the inherent vice to that pleaded by the defendant, and offered a special charge covering those matters, which charge was objected to by the defendant and was refused by the court, although plaintiff contends its effect would have been to set the case before the jury from the defendant’s standpoint and preclude defendant from taking any exceptions to the charge as given to the jury.

There is no controversy as to the amount of the judgment; it being the exact difference between the amount plaintiff had his linters sold for at Burlington and what he eventually received.

The ease was submitted to the jury upon only two issues, and, the jury finding those issues in favor of appellee, a judgment was entered thereon against appellant for a total sum of $1,789.62, with legal interest thereon from. date.

The evidence shows that the 50 bales of mill-run' cotton linters were loaded into the carrier’s car at appellant’s station at Victoria, Tex., in a dry, clean, and marketable condition, and reached Burlington, Iowa, in a “wet, musty, and worthless” condition; unfit for the purposes for which it was shipped. Under such circumstances the law infers negligence on the part of the carrier.

It was the duty of the carrier to transport the shipment with care and to cause an inspection of the ear and its contents at reasonable times and at reasonable periods during its entire transportation and up to the time of its delivery. There is no sufficient proof' of any proper inspection thereof, and the failure to do so shows a disregard to do its duty and a lack of ordinary care. G., H. & S. A. R. Co. v. Templeton, 87 Tex. 48, 26 S. W. 1066.

In this ease it is shown that the linters were dry and clean when loaded", but when they reached their destination were wet and musty, and the floor of the car in which the cotton was shipped was wet. It is no defense to this negligent act to say that the goods were shipped in a new car, for it is the duty of the carrier to furnish proper cárs. Of course, that is a- circumstance to be passed upon by the jury, but it does not prove that the doors may not have fallen open from vibration, severe windstorm, or some other cause of negligence that permitted the rain, somewhere along the route, to pour into the ear and wet the floor of the car as well as the contents. Appellant failed to meet this issue. It is true it was a new car, modernly equipped, but appellant failed to show that it was properly inspected from time to time, or that the doors had not been opened en route, or were still sealed on arrival at destination, or, if ever opened or found open for any purpose, were closed and resealed without damage to the contents. In the absence of any proof or circumstance to negative any presumable negligence on the part of the carrier, the jury were allowed to settle the question and draw every necessary inference of fact from the testimony to aid them in returning a verdict.

The special issues submitted to the jury for their finding are very clear and comprehensible and unmistakable in their meaning. We do not see any prejudicial suggestion on matters- not justified by the evidence, and therefore no comment on the weight of evidence, by the trial court.

It is clear from the evidence that the cotton linters were 'dry, clean, and marketable at the place of delivery, where they were receipted for, and were in wet, musty and worthless condition upon arrival at their destination. The court therefore would not be justified in submitting to the jury any issue as to the condition óf the linters on arrival, so that the only issue that should have been submitted was submitted, whether or not their condition on arrival was brought about by the negligence of the carrier or its connecting carriers, and as to whether the condition of the linters on arrival was caused by any inherent vice or defects or condition or hidden damage of said linters existing at the time they were loaded on the car at Victoria. These issues were clearly and properly submitted, and both issues were resolved by the jury from the evidence before them, and will not be disturbed. The issues submitted to the jury and their answers are as follows:

“Issue No. 1: Was the condition of the bales of linters in question on their arrival at Burlington, Iowa, caused by the negligence of the defendant or any of its connecting carriers in permitting said bales of linters to get wet or soaked with water while in transit? Answer ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’ ” The jury answered “Yes.”
“Issue No.

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Bluebook (online)
8 S.W.2d 247, 1928 Tex. App. LEXIS 652, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/galveston-h-s-a-ry-co-v-tullis-texapp-1928.