Smith v. Hines

196 P. 1032, 33 Idaho 582, 1921 Ida. LEXIS 28
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 24, 1921
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 196 P. 1032 (Smith v. Hines) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Smith v. Hines, 196 P. 1032, 33 Idaho 582, 1921 Ida. LEXIS 28 (Idaho 1921).

Opinion

BUDGE, J.

This action was brought by respondent to recover damages for the loss oí and injury to certain sheep transported by the Oregon Short Line Railroad from Horseshoe Bend to Parma, Idaho.

It is alleged in the complaint that respondent was the owner and in possession of 2,003 strong, healthy ewes, in splendid condition, with good fleeces of wool, and ready for breeding, which he offered for shipment at Horseshoe Bend, consigned to himself at Parma, and which were loaded by respondent into seven cars and were received and accepted by the carrier for shipment at about 4 P. M., November 14, 1918, and the usual bill of lading issued therefor; that the shipment arrived at Nampa about 8:30 P. M., where respondent discovered that a few of the sheep were down, and “would have insisted upon his said sheep then and there being unloaded, if upon inquiry he had not been informed by the tram dispatcher at Nampa, who was an agent and servant of the” appellant “that his sheep would be immediately taken to their destination at Parma, 24 miles ivestward, and there unloaded immediately upon their arrival”; that the shipment reached Parma about 11 P. M., whereupon respondent notified appellant’s agents and servants and the persons in charge [585]*585of the train that some of the sheep were down and in danger of being killed unless immediately unloaded, and demanded that an engine then and there available, or some other engine, be used to move the cars to the chutes in order that they might be unloaded at once, but appellant, its agents and servants, failed and neglected so to do, and carelessly and negligently failed and neglected to spot the cars containing respondent’s sheep at the stock chutes there provided for unloading stock; that as a consequence thereof respondent and one of his employees were obliged to spot the cars by hand, and, as a result of the delay occasioned thereby, 65 sheep, of the reasonable value of $20 each, were killed and a large number of other sheep were seriously and permanently injured and crippled, and their usefulness and market value lessened and depreciated to the extent of $1,500.

The answer puts in issue all the allegations of the complaint, and as a further answer and additional defense it is alleged that whatever injury was sustained by the sheep and whatever damage was suffered by respondent was caused and- directly contributed by his negligence and carelessness in overloading the cars, and that respondent knew and was advised by persons employed by the railroad that the sheep could not be safely transported unless a smaller number was loaded in each car.

Appellant contends that respondent’s right to recover damages, if any, is founded upon an oral contract made with the dispatcher at Nampa, as set out in that portion of his complaint italicized above, upon the theory, as we understand it, that respondent had elected to rest his case not upon the carrier’s liability as generally obtaining, but upon a specific oral agreement; hence the burden was upon him to sustain the averment by proof. Appellant’s contention is best exemplified in its requested instruction No. 2, which was refused by the court and assigned as error, as follows:

"You are instructed that the plaintiff bases his suit solely on the alleged agreement of the train-dispatcher 'at [586]*586Nampa, that the plaintiff’s sheep would be immediately taken to their destination at Parma, and there unloaded immediately upon their arrival, 'and the further averment that upon the arrival of the sheep at Parma the defendant negligently failed and neglected to spot or place the cars containing the sheep at the unloading chute of the stock pens or yards of the carrier at Parma, and alleges that he sustained' damages in consequence thereof. He is not entitled to recover on any other theory, and unless he establishes all of these averments by a preponderance of the evidence he is not entitled to recover, and your verdict will be in favor of the defendant.”

The complaint states a good cause of action, in the absence of that portion italicized above, and that language was designed only to enable respondent to prove conversations had with certain of appellant’s agents and employees regarding the fact that some of the sheep were down at Nampa, and that it would be necessary to unload them immediately upon their arrival at Parma.

It is not to be inferred from the complaint that the terms of the contract of shipment were changed, modified or waived, either by the carrier or the shipper; but rather that the acts and statements of the carrier’s agents and servants justified respondent in permitting the shipment to go forward, notwithstanding some of the sheep were down at Nampa. Bespondent might have exercised his option to stop the sheep in transit, but he did not choose to do so after being informed by agents and employees of appellant that they would be immediately unloaded upon arrival at Parma.

Bespondent’s right to recover, as clearly appears from the complaint when considered as a whole cannot be said to be based upon an oral contract, but rather upon the carelessness and negligence of appellant in failing to properly spot the ears at the chutes at Parma, in order that the sheep might be unloaded without unreasonable delay.

Upon the trial, respondent failed to offer proof of any conversation with the train dispatcher at Nampa, but tes[587]*587tified to conversations with the yardmaster and the conductor and brakeman in charge of the train. Appellant objected to the admission of any conversation with the yardmaster for the reason that respondent had alleged in his complaint that the conversation was had with the dispatcher. The court overruled this objection and admitted the testimony, but subsequently struck it out and instructed the jury that it should entirely disregard such testimony. Appellant contends that the admission of this testimony was highly prejudicial, and that the subsequent action of the court in striking it out failed to cure the error or remove the prejudice from the minds of the jury. Certainly there cannot be any such error in this regard as to require the ease to be reversed. "We think the well-founded ruléis that errors of this character may be corrected by proper admonitions or instructions from the court to the jury, and unless it is affirmatively shown, or we are otherwise convinced that the admonitions and instructions have failed in their purpose, the judgment will not be reversed. (Bayers v. Bwry et al. (Wash.), 194 Pac. 998, and cases therein cited.)

The court correctly instructed the jury that:

“It was” appellant’s “duty to place the cars in proper position, with reasonable promptness so they could be unloaded without unreasonable delay. If the time of unloading was unreasonably delayed by the acts of the” appellant “under all the facts and circumstances proven, such unreasonable delay would constitute negligence for which the” appellant “would be liable, providing damage to” respondent “resulted.....In determining what, was reasonable under the circumstances the carrier had a right to take into account the urgency of” appellant’s “other business, the length of time the sheep had been on the cars, the circumstances of whether it was feasible to unload them in the night-time and the necessity therefor, and the question of whether or not an engine was reasonably necessary to move the ears along the unloading track.-. ...” The respondent “does not charge” the appellant “with negli[588]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
196 P. 1032, 33 Idaho 582, 1921 Ida. LEXIS 28, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-hines-idaho-1921.