Missouri & North Arkansas Railroad v. Pullen

118 S.W. 702, 90 Ark. 182, 1909 Ark. LEXIS 438
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedApril 19, 1909
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 118 S.W. 702 (Missouri & North Arkansas Railroad v. Pullen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Missouri & North Arkansas Railroad v. Pullen, 118 S.W. 702, 90 Ark. 182, 1909 Ark. LEXIS 438 (Ark. 1909).

Opinion

Frauenthal, J.

On February 15, 1907, the plaintiff, B. B. Pullen, delivered for carriage at Mayfield, Ky., to the Illinois Central Railroad Company household goods and a number of of head of livestock, and on that day that company, in consideration of $100 then paid to it by plaintiff, executed to him a written contract, by which it agreed to carry said goods and stock from Mayfield, Kentucky, to Harrison, Arkansas. The goods and stock were shipped in one car, and were transported to Memphis, Tennessee, by the Illinois Central Railroad Company, and thence to Seligman, Missouri, by the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad. Company, and from that point they were carried by the defendant, the Missouri & North Arkansas Railroad Company, to Harrison, Arkansas, the place of destination. The plaintiff in his complaint alleged that the defendant on its line of railroad unnecessarily and unreasonably delayed the carriage of said stock and negligently failed to provide facilities for watering and feeding same, from which causes the stock was greatly damaged; and for these damages he seeks a recovery.

The defendant, in its answer, alleged that the plaintiff had ai: agent in charge of the stock whose duty it was to feed and water the same. It further alleged that the plaintiff shipped the stock under a contract limiting the liability of the defendant in this: that in consideration of reduced rates the plaintiff agreed that, as a condition precedent for any damages for delay, loss or injury to the livestock, he would give notice in writing of his claim in the manner as will hereinafter be more specifically set out, and on failure to comply with said condition of the agreement he should be barred from a recovery of any such claim; and defendant charged that he did not give such notice as he had contracted to do.

The case was tried by the court sitting as a jury upon an agreed statement of facts; and a finding was made and judgment was given in favor of plaintiff for $125.

From this agreed statement of facts it appears that the stock was damaged in the sum of $125 by reason of the delay in shipping, which occurred on the line of defendant’s railroad.

The answer of the defendant presents two propositions, the determination of which will decide whether there is any valid defense to a recovery for these damages.

1. The defendant urges that the plaintiff or his agent was by the terms of the contract given free transportaion and under the testimony did accompany the stock; that by one of the provisions of the contract, in consideration of such free transportation, it was the duty of the plaintiff to feed and water the stock; and that thereby the defendant was exempted from liability for failure to water and feed the stock. But in its answer the defendant did not set forth the alleged provision of the contract exempting it from liability in this regard, and did not specifically plead such provision. “If the company held a contract limiting its liability, and relied as a defense upon the failure of the plaintiff to comply with the contract, it should not only have set up the contract, but should have stated the particulars in which plaintiff had thus failed.” Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad Company v. Pace, 69 Ark. 256. It should in its pleadings not only refer to the contract, but also set forth the terms thereof specifically whereby its liability is limited. And in its answer the defendant has not set forth any provision of the contract that exempted it from liability by reason of the plaintiff or his agent accompanying the stock; and in its abstract it has not set forth any such provision. St. Louis, I. M. & S. Ry. Co. v. Randle, 85 Ark. 127; St. Louis & N. Ark. Rd. Co. v. Wilson, 85 Ark. 257; 1 Hutchinson on Carriers (3d Ed.) § 444.

But, even though this defense had been properly pleaded, it is not sustained by the evidence. The agreed statement shows that the car was delayed and held at Eureka Springs, Arkansas, by the defendant for an unreasonable time, and that plaintiff requested defendant to give him permission to unload his stock so as to attend to their wants and save them from injury on account of the delay, and the defendant would not give him that permission. The plaintiff attempted to and did all he could to give the stock the attention that was necessary and which the stock required, and the defendant failed and refused to furnish him the opportunity and facilities for the performance of that duty. The defendant thereby became liable for the injury which thus resulted to the stock; and it was agreed in the statement of facts that the stock was damaged by reason of the delay that occurred on defendant’s line at that place. The mere fact that plaintiff accompanied the stock and agreed to water and feed same did not absolve defendant from all responsibility. The dedefendant owed the plaintiff the duty to furnish him the ways and means to water and feed the stock. In 2 Hutchinson on Carriers (3d Ed.), § 641, it is said: “But, even though, by virtue of the contract under which the animals are carried, it is the duty of the shipper to attend the animals, provide for their wants and protect them from injury to themselves, yet if the carrier fails or refuses to furnish the shipper reasonable opportunities and facilities for performing the duties which he has undertaken, the carrier will be liable for the injury thereby sustained.” 6 Cyc. 439. The defendant is therefore liable for the damages to the livestock thus caused by the unnecessary and unreasonable delay in their carriage and the negligent failure to furnish facilities for watering and feeding said stock while same was being transported by the defendant on its line of railroad.

2. It is urged by the defendant that by the contract of shipment it was provided: “That, as a condition precedent to a recovery for any damage for delay, loss or injury to livestock covered by this contract, the second party will give notice in writing of the claim therefor to some general officer or the nearest station agent of the first party, or to the agent at desti-, nation, or some general officer of the delivering line, before such stock is removed from the point of shipment, or from the place of destination, and before such stock is mingled with other stock such written notification to be served within one day after the delivery of such stock at destination; to the end that such claim shall be fully and fairly investigated; and that a failure to fully comply with the provisions of this clause shall be a bar to the recovery of any and all such claims.”

The defendant contends that this provision of the contract was made upon sufficient consideration, and was therefore valid; and that the plaintiff did not give the above notice, and is therefore barred from a recovery herein. From the agreed statement ,of facts it appears that when the plaintiff delivered his property for carriage at Mayfield, Ky., he received from the carrier at that point a contract for through shipment to Harrison, Ark., for which he paid the full rate that was required, and that in that contract the above provision as to notice did not appear; but, on the contrary, that contract provided that the claim for damages should be made to the agent of the company at the point of destination within ten days from the time said stock was removed from the cars. When the car arrived at Memphis, Tenn., it was turned over to the St.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
118 S.W. 702, 90 Ark. 182, 1909 Ark. LEXIS 438, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/missouri-north-arkansas-railroad-v-pullen-ark-1909.