Southern Pacific Co. v. Larrimore

190 P. 564, 21 Ariz. 509, 1920 Ariz. LEXIS 146
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedJune 18, 1920
DocketCivil No. 1778
StatusPublished

This text of 190 P. 564 (Southern Pacific Co. v. Larrimore) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Arizona Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Southern Pacific Co. v. Larrimore, 190 P. 564, 21 Ariz. 509, 1920 Ariz. LEXIS 146 (Ark. 1920).

Opinions

BAKER, J.

(After Stating the Facts as Above.)— The undisputed evidence shows that the appellant received sixty-nine mules from the appellee at Nogales, Arizona, destined to Buckeye, Arizona, a station on the [512]*512line of the Arizona Eastern Railroad Company, and loaded them into two cars, and carried them to Tucson, Arizona, and thence to Maricopa, Arizona, where the cars containing the mules were delivered to the said Arizona Eastern Railroad Company, a connecting carrier, and was by the last-named company carried to Phoenix, Arizona. The Arizona Eastern Railroad Company was unable to transport the animals any farther towards Buckeye, Arizona, their destination, owing to a washout on its road, and they remained in Phoenix for several days in a crowded, muddy and filthy corral, where they were prevented from lying down and resting. The appellee finally receipted for the mules at Phoenix and drove them himself to Buckeye. The delay in transportation of the animals and their ill treatment at Phoenix resulted in damages to the appellee. The question is whether the appellant is liable for these damages. Independent of contract, the appellant was under no duty or obligation to transport appellee’s mules beyond its own terminus. 1 Hutchinson on Carriers, § 226. Then, since appellant was not- by law a common carrier as to the mules at the time of the occurrence of the alleged damages on the line of the Arizona Eastern Railroad Company, its liability depends solely upon its contract with appellee. 3 Wood on Railroads, par. 452a. The written contract between the parties for the shipment of the mules called for through transportation from Nogales, Arizona, to Buckeye, Arizona. If this were all of the contract, the appellant would be liable for the damages occurring to the mules because of the default of the Arizona Eastern Railroad Company, but the contract for through transportation contained the express stipulation that—

“The responsibility of the first party, whether as common carrier or otherwise, shall cease and utterly determine upon the arrival of said livestock at the [513]*513station where the said livestock is to leave the road of the first party in the course of transportation to destination. ’ ’

The undisputed evidence shows that the station referred to in the contract was Maricopa. This stipulation in the contract was binding upon the appellee. It is well settled that the obligation of a carrier to transport goods beyond the terminus of its own line being a matter of contract, and not a legal duty, the carrier may if he contracts for through transportation, by the contract limit his liability to his own line; for such a limitation does not relieve him from his common-law liability safely to carry and deliver to the connecting carrier. 1 Hutchinson on Carriers, § 233; 4 Elliott on Railroads, par. 1438; Myrick v. Railway Co., 107 U. S. 102, 27 L. Ed. 325, 1 Sup. Ct. Rep. 425 (see also, Rose’s U. S. Notes); Atlantic Coast Line Ry. Co. v. Riverside Mills, 219 U. S. 186, 31 L. R. A. (N. S.) 7, 55 L. Ed. 167, 31 Sup. Ct. Rep. 164; Dodge v. Chicago, St. P., M. & O. Ry. Co., 111 Minn. 123, 126 N. W. 627; Little Rock & Ft. S. Ry. Co. v. Odom, 63 Ark. 326, 38 S. W. 339; Jones v. Railway Co., 89 Ala. 376, 8 South. 61; Railroad Co. v. Shomo, 90 Ga. 496, 16 S. E. 220; Hoffman v. Railway Co., 8 Kan. App. 379, 56 Pac. 331; Railroad Co. v. Bourne et al., 15 Ky. Law Rep. 445; Fremont etc. Ry. Co. v. New York etc. Ry. Co., 66 Neb. 159, 59 L. R. A. 939, 92 N. W. 131; Harris v. Railroad Co., 36 Misc. Rep. 181, 73 N. Y. Supp. 159; Bird v. Railway Co., 99 Tenn. 719, 63 Am. St. Rep. 856, 42 S. W. 451 ; Hunter v. Railroad Co., 76 Tex. 195, 13 S. W. 190; Tolman v. Abbot, 78 Wis. 192, 47 N. W. 264; Illinois Cent. R. Co. v. Frankenberg, 54 Ill. 88, 5 Am. Rep. 92.

In Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Riverside Mills, supra, Mr. Justice Lurton, speaking of a provision in a contract exempting the initial carrier from lia[514]*514bility for a loss or damage not occurring on its own portion of the route, says:

“Such a provision is not a contract for exemption from a carrier’s liability as such, but a provision making plain that it did not assume the obligation, of a carrier beyond its own line, and that each, succeeding carrier in the route was but the agent of the shipper for a continuance of the transportation. It is therefore obvious that at the common law an initial carrier under such a state of fact would not be liable for a loss through the fault of the connecting carrier to whom it had, in due course, safely delivéred. the goods for further transportation” — citing Railroad Co. v. Pratt, 22 Wall. 123, 22 L. Ed. 827; Myrick v. Railroad Co., 107 U. S. 102, 27 L. Ed. 325, 1 Sup. Ct. Rep. 425; Southern Pac. Co. v. Interstate Commerce Commission, 200 U. S. 536, 554, 50 L. Ed. 585, 26 Sup. Ct. Rep. 330 (see also, Rose’s U. S. Notes).

The allegation in the appellee’s amended complaint that “plaintiff is informed and believes, and therefore alleges, that the line of the Arizona Eastern Railroad Company aforesaid from Maricopa to Buckeye, Arizona, is under the control of the said defendant Southern Pacific Company,” remained wholly unproven. The undisputed evidence shows that the Arizona Eastern Railroad Company was an independent line not under the control of the appellant, and owned, operated, and controlled its own railroad and auxiliary property. There is therefore no reason to charge the appellant with liability for the damages on the ground that the Arizona Eastern Railroad Company was under its control, or that any partnership relation existed between the appellant and that company.

Enough has' been said to show that the .appellant was not liable for the damages resulting from the default of the Arizona Eastern Railroad Company in the transportation and ill treatment of the mules.

[515]*515But the appelleer insists that the appellant was responsible for negligence occurring on its, own line.

The complaint does not charge any unreasonable delay in transporting the mules over the line of the appellant. The facts set forth in the complaint as constituting a breach of the contract of carriage are as follows:

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

Related

Philadelphia & Reading Railroad v. Derby
55 U.S. 468 (Supreme Court, 1853)
The Steamboat New World v. King
57 U.S. 469 (Supreme Court, 1854)
York Company v. Central Railroad
70 U.S. 107 (Supreme Court, 1866)
Walker v. Transportation Co.
70 U.S. 150 (Supreme Court, 1866)
Express Co. v. Kountze Brothers
75 U.S. 342 (Supreme Court, 1869)
Railroad Co. v. Manufacturing Co.
83 U.S. 318 (Supreme Court, 1873)
Railroad Co. v. Pratt
89 U.S. 123 (Supreme Court, 1875)
Railway Co. v. McCarthy
96 U.S. 258 (Supreme Court, 1878)
Myrick v. Michigan Central Railroad
107 U.S. 102 (Supreme Court, 1883)
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad v. Riverside Mills
219 U.S. 186 (Supreme Court, 1911)
Mynard v. Syracuse, Binghamton & New York Railroad
71 N.Y. 180 (New York Court of Appeals, 1877)
Holsapple v. Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburgh Railroad
86 N.Y. 275 (New York Court of Appeals, 1881)
Hunter v. Southern Pacific Railway Co.
13 S.W. 190 (Texas Supreme Court, 1890)
Sager v. Portsmouth, S. & P. & E. Rail Road
31 Me. 228 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1850)
Fillebrown v. Grand Trunk Railway Co.
55 Me. 462 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1867)
Harris v. Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie R. Co.
36 Misc. 181 (Appellate Terms of the Supreme Court of New York, 1901)
Berry v. Cooper & Boykin
28 Ga. 543 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1859)
Richmond & Danville Railroad v. Shomo
16 S.E. 220 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1892)
Central Railroad v. Hasselkus
17 S.E. 838 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1893)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
190 P. 564, 21 Ariz. 509, 1920 Ariz. LEXIS 146, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/southern-pacific-co-v-larrimore-ariz-1920.