St. Louis-San Francisco Ry. Co. v. J. W. Myers Commission Co.

185 S.W.2d 288, 208 Ark. 1032, 1945 Ark. LEXIS 633
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedFebruary 19, 1945
Docket4-7543
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 185 S.W.2d 288 (St. Louis-San Francisco Ry. Co. v. J. W. Myers Commission Co.) 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
St. Louis-San Francisco Ry. Co. v. J. W. Myers Commission Co., 185 S.W.2d 288, 208 Ark. 1032, 1945 Ark. LEXIS 633 (Ark. 1945).

Opinion

Robins, J.

Appellants, J. M. Kurn and John Gr. Lonsdale, trustees in bankruptcy of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company, seek by this appeal to reverse judgment recovered by appellee against them, based on verdict of trial jury for $676.46, in a suit instituted by appellee, a produce merchant of Van Burén, for damages alleged to have been sustained by appellee for delay in the delivery of a carload of green corn shipped by appellee from Van Burén, Arkansas, to View, Texas, for delivery to an army camp there.

Appellee alleged in his complaint that on July 17, 1942, he sold the War Department a. carload of green corn, for $1.49 per bag, to be delivered on July 24, 1942 ; that appellee was advised by the agent of appellants at Van Burén that, if the carload of corn was loaded there by 9:30 p.m. on the evening of July 22, for shipment via appellants’ line, delivery thereof could be made at View, Texas, on July 24; that appellee thereupon proceeded to load a freight car with 454 sacks of green corn, which was accepted for shipment from Van Burén to View, Texas, by appellants at 9:00 p.m. on July 22, and that appellee prepaid freight and icing charges in the sum of $196.28; that the invoice price of said shipment was $676.46; that if the information which appellants’ agent gave appellee, as to the proper time to load said car for it to be delivered on July 24 was not correct, such fact was known or should have been known to appellants and their agent; that by the exercise of care and diligence the delivery of said car could have been made at its destination on July 24, but -that appellants failed to make said delivery until 4:00 p.m. on July 25, 1942, at which time the consignee refused to accept the shipment and refused to pay therefor.

Appellants in their answer denied the material allegations of the complaint and alleged that appellee’s rights were defined and fixed by the tariffs and schedules on file with the Interstate Commerce Commission and also by the terms of the bill of lading issued by appellants to cover the shipment.

Appellee testified that he had a conversation with the local agent of appellants at Van Burén on July 21 in regard.to the proposed shipment and that this agent told appellee that he should load the car on July 22 for arrival at destination on July 24; that he, appellee, could have loaded earlier but relied on “that contract” and loaded on the 22d; that he informed the agent that it was a shipment to the government and had to be there on time; that he did not sign the bill of lading, but took it from the agent and put it in his files; that the car in question was destined to Camp Barkeley, at View, Texas; that if the car had moved over the line of the Texas & Pacific Railway Company “from Fort Worth” he could have made delivery in the required time.

The agent of appellants denied the conversation in regard to the time at which it was necessary to load the shipment in order to be delivered on July 24 as detailed by appellee. The assistant superintendent of appellants testified that the regular routing of the shipment was from Van Burén to Monette and thence to Fort Worth over appellants’ line and from Fort Worth to View over the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway Company; that the distance from Fort Worth to Yiew via “Santa Fe” is 220 miles, and from Fort Worth to Yiew by the “Texas & Pacific” it is 238 miles.

There was introduced in evidence an agreed statement of facts which, in part, is as follows:

“2. The published tariff operating schedule of defendants in effect at the time of said shipment, provided for departure from Van Burén, Arkansas, at 9:30 p.m. July 22,1942, and arrival via defendants’ railroad at Fort Worth, Texas, at 5:30 a.m. July 24, 1942.

“3. The published tariff operating schedules of the Texas & Pacific Railway Company, in effect at the time of said shipment, provided as follows: Train 69 left Fort Worth at 5:30 a.m. July 24, 1942, and arrived at Sweet-water, Texas, at 2:55 p.m. the same date; train 67 left Fort Worth at 2:30 p.m. July 24, 1942, and arrived at Sweetwater at 10:40 p.m.. the same date; train 53 left Fort Worth at 8:30 p.m. July 24, 1942, and arrived at Sweetwater at 3 a.m. July 25, 1942. The only connection at Sweetwater to Yiew, Texas, the destination of said shipment, and which is 36.2 miles from Sweetwater, was via Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Ry. Co., and under the published operating schedules in effect on said dates its first train, No. 52, left Sweetwater at 1 p.m. and arrived at Yiew at 2 p.m.

“4. The published tariff operating schedules of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Ry. Co. in effect at the time of said shipment provided as follows: Train 51 left Fort Worth, Texas, at 8:25 p.m. July 24, 1942, and arrived at Brownwood, Texas, 2:15 a.m. July 25, 1942; train 33 left Brownwood at 9:20 a.m. July 25,1942, and arrived at Yiew, Texas, destination of said shipment, at 2:30 p.m. the same date.

“5. The said car departed from Van Burén, Arkansas, in the first section of train 732 of defendants at 10:30 p.m. July 22, 1942, and arrived at Fort IVorth, Texas, at 6:56 a.m. July 24, 1942. Upon arrival at Fort Worth said car and the waybill thereof were promptly delivered there to Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway. Said car left Fort Worth in Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe train 51 at 8:54 p.m. July 24, 1942, and arrived in the same train at Brownwood, Texas, at 2:50 a.m. July 25, 1942. It departed from Brownwood in Santa Fe train extra 4050 at 9 :45 a.m. July 25,1942, and arrived at View, Texas, its destination, at 1:05 p.m. the same date. ’ ’

The court, over the objection of appellants, gave, among others, the following instruction:

“4. Gentlemen of the jury, the business of carrying freight and passengers in this country is mostly done by corporations who must, of necessity, act through their' agents, and you are instructed that such agents have the general authority to bind the carrier and to make all reasonable contracts of carriage, within the scope of their apparent authority.

“You are instructed then, that if you find from a preponderance of the evidence that J. IT. Henson, an agent of the defendant company, entered into a contract with the J. W. Myers Commission Company for the delivery of the car in-question upon a certain definite date, and that such a contract was within the scope of the apparent authority of J. H. Henson, and that said agreement, if any, was not later changed or modified by the parties, and if you further find that there was a breach of said contract of delivery, you will find for the plaintiff. ’ ’

In other portions of instructions given by the court reference was made to the duty of the carrier to comply with a special agreement as to delivery of goods within a specified time.

The shipment involved here was an interstate one, and, as such, was governed by the various acts of Congress and by the published tariffs and schedules filed in accordance with the Interstate Commerce Act, 49 U.S.C.A., § 1 et seq.; Railway Express Agency, Inc., v. J. W. Myers Commission Company, 184 Ark. 1123, 45 S. W. 2d 14.

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295 F. Supp. 121 (D. Massachusetts, 1968)

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Bluebook (online)
185 S.W.2d 288, 208 Ark. 1032, 1945 Ark. LEXIS 633, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/st-louis-san-francisco-ry-co-v-j-w-myers-commission-co-ark-1945.