Kansas City, S. & G. Terminal Co. v. Interurban Motor Transp. Co.

95 So. 258, 152 La. 1093, 1922 La. LEXIS 2500
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedMay 1, 1922
DocketNo. 24832
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 95 So. 258 (Kansas City, S. & G. Terminal Co. v. Interurban Motor Transp. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kansas City, S. & G. Terminal Co. v. Interurban Motor Transp. Co., 95 So. 258, 152 La. 1093, 1922 La. LEXIS 2500 (La. 1922).

Opinions

DAWKINS, J.

The Kansas City, Shreveport & Gulf Terminal Company is the' owner of the Union Passenger Depot in the city of Shreveport, and operates the same under a contract (to which we shall hereafter refer) for the benefit of some half a dozen railroads leading into that city. The Eeatherstone Transfer Company is engaged in the transfer business; that is, the carriage of passengers and baggage for hire within the city, including such as arrive and depart from the said station. These two, as plaintiffs, brought an injunction suit to prohibit defendant, which is a competitor of the Eeatherstone Company, from soliciting business on the said depot premises, the pertinent allegations of which were substantially as follows:

That the Terminal Company, in order to provide suitable facilities for the transportation of passengers arriving and departing at said station at a reasonable rate, had entered into a contract with the other plaintiff, the Eeatherstone Company, for that purpose; that it had given the latter company the use of space for a desk and other, necessary equipment, and “the exclusive right and access to the depot platform and inclosures of said depot premises, to solicit customer patronage and to render services to arriving and departing passengers or conduct them to the trains”; that petitioner, the Eeatherstone Company, had made contracts with the several railroads using said depot to transport passengers and baggage between said station and two other railroad stations within said city for a reasonable charge, and, by virtue thereof, had been given “the exclusive privilege of meeting all trains arriving at said depot, for the purpose above stated, and for the purpose of soliciting other transfer business” ; that defendant “is engaged in the business of operating vehicles for transporting-passengers and baggage to and from your petitioner’s depot to various parts of the city”; that “petitioner has repeatedly warned the said defendant not to enter upon the said premises” for said purposes, and has placed a large sign thereon warning all persons that said premises were private property, but notwithstanding said notice and warning-defendant had entered the same for the purpose of soliciting business, and would continue to do so unless enjoined; that to permit defendant to continue such acts “would amount to a trespass and cause irreparable injury to petitioner,” and would hinder and harass the patrons of said depot; that petitioner, the Terminal Company, has the legal right to make said contract with petitioner, the Eeatherstone Company, and that the orderly administration of its said station requires that it make such an arrangement for the benefit of its patrons.

Defendant excepted that the petition disclosed no cause or right of action, which was overruled after the filing by plaintiff Terminal Company of the following stipulation:

By Attorney Wilkinson:
“In so far as the K. C., S. & G. Railroad is concerned, it consents to a modification of the injunction so as not to infringe the supplemental contract between the plaintiff and the [1097]*1097V., S. & P. Railway Company and so as to permit them to comply with said contract.”

Defendant answered, denying mainly the allegations of the petition, and averring that it had made a contract with the V., S. & P. Ry. Co. “a tenant line running to the depot operated by plaintiff Terminal Company, by which it was given the right of soliciting patronage from the passengers arriving on all of the said railway company’s trains, and had operated thereunder until restrained by the injunction in this suit”; that said Terminal Company was a nominal party to said suit, being joined therein to “bolster up” the suit of the Featherstone Company, and had “practically withdrawn”; and defendant claimed damages to the amount of several thousand dollars as the result of said injunction. It prayed that the writ be dissolved and for damages, including attorney’s fees.

The lower court dissolved the injunction, reserved plaintiff’s right to sue for damages, and rejected the demands of defendant for damages. Plaintiff Featherstone Transfer Company appealed, and defendant answered the appeal by praying that the judgment be amended “so as to hold said injunction invalid from the date it issued,” and that defendant be allowed damages as prayed for in its original answer, and plaintiff be required to pay costs.

On Motion to Correct or Remand Record.

A motion has been filed in this court, joined in by both the Terminal Company and the Featherstone Company, asking that the stipulation filed by the former consenting to the modification of the injunction (quoted herein above) be reformed “so as to read about as follows”:

“In so far as the Kansas City, Shreveport & Gulf Terminal Company is concerned, it consents to modification of the injunction, should said injunction be inconsistent with its (the said Terminal Company’s) contract with the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific Railway Company.”

In the alternative, appearers pray that the record be sent down for the purpose of taking evidence contradictorily on the question, all because the counsel who dictated the stipulation did not have before him the said contract between the Terminal Company and the V., S. & P. Ry. Co., and was not familiar with its provisions at the time the said stipulation was made, the purpose being to have the “agreement” conform to the true intent and understanding of the parties.

In the first place, the Terminal Company neither appealed nor answered the appeal, and the judgment of the lower court cannot be modified as between it and the defendant.

It would be impossible for us to make such a change as an original proposition, for we have no power to hear or consider any proof for that purpose, the matter not involving in any way our own appellate jurisdiction. And, as to the request to remand, the effect would be to have us send the ease back to afford the Terminal Company an opportunity to bring a proceeding contradictorily with defendant, not to correct a clerical error of the clerk or other officer in making or copying the transcript, but to reform the stipulation upon the ground of error on-the part of the Terminal Company or its counsel who made it, as to the nature of an agreement between it and a third person which he did not then have before him.

As to the Terminal Company, for the reasons above given (not having appealed or answered the appeal), it has no standing to seek for any cause a modification of the judgment between it, and the defendant; and, as to the appellant Featherstone Company, we know of no precedent or other good reason which would justify such an extraordinary proceeding.

On the Merits.

We are relieved from going into the question of the right of the Terminal Company to [1099]*1099exclude defendant from going upon the depot premises for the purpose of soliciting business, for the judgment dissolving the injunction against the exercise of the right is now final, and the case is left to be determined -upon the issues raised by the pleadings and facts found in the record as between the Feather-stone Company and the defendant.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
95 So. 258, 152 La. 1093, 1922 La. LEXIS 2500, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kansas-city-s-g-terminal-co-v-interurban-motor-transp-co-la-1922.