Heilman v. Chicago & Northwestern Ry. Co.

167 Iowa 313
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedNovember 21, 1914
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 167 Iowa 313 (Heilman v. Chicago & Northwestern Ry. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Heilman v. Chicago & Northwestern Ry. Co., 167 Iowa 313 (iowa 1914).

Opinion

Gaynor, J.

Plaintiff filed his petition in this suit on the 2d day of February, 1912, and therein claims: That on or about the 1st day of July, 1911, he delivered to the defendant at Arthur, Iowa, sixty-two head of hogs to be transported [315]*315over its lines, as a common carrier, to tbe Union Stockyards at Chicago, 111. That the hogs, when delivered to and received by the defendant, were in good health and in first-class shipping condition. That the hogs so shipped constituted a car load, and were shipped in ear No. 17975. That, at the .time they were received and accepted by the defendant, the defendant, for a valuable consideration, executed and delivered to the plaintiff a bill of lading or shipping receipt providing for the transporting of said shipment over its line of railway, and with all connecting carriers, promptly, with due care, and within a reasonable time, to the Union Stockyards. That thereby the defendant became liable to the plaintiff, as the holder and owner of ■ said bill of lading, for any loss or damage or injury to said shipment as might be negligently, carelessly, or wrongfully caused by the defendant while in its possession or in the possession of the connecting carriers. That, in transporting said hogs from Arthur, Iowa, to the Union Stockyards, the defendant neglected to properly water the hogs, and otherwise so negligently and carelessly handled said shipment that forty-eight of the hogs so delivered to it died while in transportation, and immediately after being loaded.

On the 9th day of December, 1912, the plaintiff filed the following amendment: “There was no caretaker with the stock mentioned in the petition” — and attached a copy of the bill of lading referred to, which, so far as material, is as follows:

Liability limited to the declared valuation by shippers, but not exceeding the following:

Each horse or pony (gelding, mare or stallion, mule or jack)...................$100 00

Each ox or bull......................... 50 00

Each cow, steer, or yearling............... 30 00

Each calf .............................. 10 00

Each hog............................... 10 00

Each sheep or goat ..................... 3 00

[316]*316Agents are not permitted to receive or ship animals of a higher value than as stated above, unless by special agreement noted hereon and a proper contract or release is signed by the owner or shipper thereof. And it is agreed between the owner and shipper of these animals and the said railroad company that in case of accident resulting in injury to said animals, the value thereof shall in no ease exceed the valuation named above.

Shipments of live stock in ear loads or less than car loads, will only be taken at' the rates named herein, after this contract or agreement shall have been signed by the company’s station agent and the owner or shipper, by which it is agreed and understood that such owner or shipper shall load, feed, water, and take care of such stock at his own expense and risk, and will assume all risk of injury or damage that the animals may do themselves or each other or which may arise by delay of trains.

To this petition the defendant interposed a general denial, admitting, however, that it received the car load of hogs for transportation from Arthur, Iowa, to the Chicago Stockyards ; that they were received in pursuance of a contract set out in plaintiff’s amendment to this petition, and makes said contract a part of the answer. Defendant alleges further that it was the duty of the plaintiff, under said contract, to load, feed, and water and care for said hogs and to prepare the car for receiving the same; that the plaintiff assumed the said duty and took charge of and placed the hogs in the car, but failed to properly bed and prepare said car for shipment. Defendant further says, that if said hogs died in transit, their death was the result of the negligence of the plaintiff in failing to properly care for, feed, water, and protect the said hogs prior to their being loaded in its ear, and further says that their death, if any died, was due to an inherent weakness of the hogs themselves, and because of the negligence of the plaintiff in failing to properly prepare the car for receiving the hogs. Defendant further says that the hogs were in a weakened condition when placed in the ear, and their death was due to such weakness and unfit condition for transportation, [317]*317and that their death, if any, was without any fault or negligence on the part of defendant.

Upon the issues thus tendered, the cause was tried to a jury, and a verdict returned in favor of the plaintiff for the fair and reasonable market value of the hogs shown to have died during transportation or immediately upon delivery in Chicago. Upon the judgment, a verdict was rendered for the plaintiff.

After a careful examination of the record in this case, we are of the opinion that the verdict of the jury upon the record actually made should be permitted to stand, and, unless the court er-red in the making of the record in the following particulars, the verdict and judgment ought not to be disturbed: (1) In its analysis of the issues actually tendered by the parties, upon which the controversy should be presented to the jury. (2) In the rejection of testimony offered by the defendant in support of the issue, which it claims was tendered by the pleadings. (3) In the rejection of testimony claimed to support the allegations of the answer that the loss complained of by the plaintiff was due to the negligence of the plaintiff, as set out in the answer. (4) In the refusal to give instructions asked by the defendant, and in submitting instructions to the jury on its own motion.

As to the first proposition above stated, it seems to be the contention of the plaintiff that the action is a common law for tort, for a breach of the common-law duties of the defendant as a common carrier; that the plaintiff had a right to and did ignore the contract, and the provisions of the tariff and the federal statute governing shipments of this kind.

The contention of the defendant, however, is that the release valuation provided for in the contract was made to secure the lower rate in the official tariff; that the tariff rate for transportation was based on such valuation; that the consideration for the-released valuation in the contract was the tariff rate fixed for such shipments, which became and was, as a matter of law, a part of the contract; 'that, in so far as it provides [318]*318for a certain fixed valuation of the property shipped, it is not intended to and does not change the nature of the undertaking of the common carrier, or limit its obligation in the care and management of that which is entrusted to it. It rather defines the subject-matter of the contract,.fixes the value of the thing which the carrier is required under the law to transport, and for which he must account in the performance of his duty as a carrier'; and it is claimed it does not exempt him from liability for damage, loss, or injury to the property, but simply determines the value of the thing for which the common carrier must account in case of loss or injury to the thing shipped, and fixes the compensation to be received by the carrier for the risk assumed. This question is considered in Graves v. Lake Shore & M. S. R. Co., 137 Mass. 33, reported in 50 Am. Rep. 282, in which it is said:

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Taylor v. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Co.
227 N.W. 407 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1929)
Klotz v. Western Union Telegraph Co.
187 Iowa 1355 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1920)
Baldwin v. Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co.
173 Iowa 524 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1916)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
167 Iowa 313, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/heilman-v-chicago-northwestern-ry-co-iowa-1914.