Walton v. Luther Transfer & Storage Co.

286 S.W.2d 280, 1955 Tex. App. LEXIS 2344
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 31, 1955
DocketNo. 6549
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 286 S.W.2d 280 (Walton v. Luther Transfer & Storage Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Walton v. Luther Transfer & Storage Co., 286 S.W.2d 280, 1955 Tex. App. LEXIS 2344 (Tex. Ct. App. 1955).

Opinion

PITTS, Chief Justice.

Appellants, Mrs. W. H. Walton, Newton Walton and G. E. Walton, filed suit against appellee, Luther Transfer & Storage Company, a corporation, for alleged damages done to appellants’ merchandise consisting of men’s clothing and supplies by reason of high water on or about May 6, 1949, while the said merchandise was being kept in storage by appellee for a valuable storage fee in its public warehouse located in Lubbock, Texas. The case was tried to a jury upon special issues submitted and judgment was rendered upon the jury verdict for appellee denying appellants any recovery, from which judgment appellants perfected an appeal. Appellants predicate their principal rights for recovery upon the jury findings which convicted appellee of negligence that proximately caused the flooding of waters which resulted in appellants’ damages.

In their pleadings the parties joined issues on the question of appellee’s liability to appellants for alleged damages by reason of appellee’s negligence in caring for appellants’ merchandise under the terms of a warehouseman and depositor relationship agreement between the parties. The case was accordingly tried and the evidence heard after which the material issues raised by the pleadings and the evidence were submitted to a jury, which acquitted appellee of certain alleged acts of negligence not necessary to mention here but, among other findings, the jury found that appellee constructed its warehouse in a low area where ground waters would accumulate after rains; that appellee was negligent in constructing its warehouse with storage basement and outside ramp in a low area where ground waters would accumulate after extensive rains and that such resulting negligence was a proximate cause of the flooding waters. The jury further found that appellee failed to construct the ramp leading to the warehouse basement and the retaining walls to a suffi[282]*282cient height above the surrounding ground level to prevent flood waters from passing over the said ramp and retaining walls into the basement of appellee’s warehouse; that such a failure was negligence which was a proximate cause of the flooding of ap-pellee’s basement. The jury likewise found that the alleged damages were not caused by an unavoidable accident but it was found that the rainfall on the night of May 6, 1949, was unprecedented, and that the cash market value of appellants’ merchandise, before it was damaged, was $23,000 and was $17,000 after it was damaged. In connection with its charge to the jury the trial court gave any number of definitions and instructions to guide it in its deliberations. Oral testimony of 12 witnesses was heard filling two large volumes of the statement of facts, in addition to any number of original exhibits, among which are several photographs revealing some of the buildings in question, a portion of the construction work, flooded conditions on the occasion in question and other physical facts.

After the evidence closed each party filed a motion for judgment upon the jury verdict. Appellants sought judgment for $6,000, the amount of damages found by the jury, because of appellee’s negligence found by the jury to be a proximate cause of the flooding waters which resulted in their damages. Appellants likewise asked that the jury finding of unprecedented rainfall on May 6, 1949, be disregarded. Appellee sought judgment upon the findings of the jury and upon the undisputed facts. In the alternative appellee moved the court to disregard jury findings convicting it of negligence which proximately caused the floods and the finding that appellants’ damages by reason of the flood was not an unavoidable accident and render judgment for it. The trial court overruled appellants’ motion for judgment but granted the first part of appellee’s motion for judgment upon the jury findings and accordingly rendered a “take nothing” judgment against appellants upon the verdict of the jury without setting aside or disregarding any of its findings.

Appellants contend that the evidence was insufficient to support the jury finding of unprecedented rainfall on May 6, 1949, but notwithstanding such finding they still sought judgment for their damages. Ap-pellee contends that the evidence was insufficient to support the jury findings on the issue of unavoidable accident and convicting it of the two acts of negligence which the jury further found to be a proximate cause of the floods, for which reason its motion for an instructed verdict should have been sustained and contends further that its said motion should have been sustained for the reason that appellants’ damages were caused by the unprecedented flood, which was an act of God. The trial court did not sustain either of the contentions made concerning the insufficiency of the evidence, but rendered its judgment upon the jury findings.

The evidence reveals that ap-pellee’s warehouse in question was located near the intersection of 23rd Street and Avenue E in Lubbock. In considering the contentions of insufficiency of evidence made by the parties respectively, we must consider all of the evidence and surrounding circumstances in a light most favorable to the challenged jury findings, disregarding all evidence and circumstances to the contrary. Applying these necessary rules to the facts and circumstances presented we do not feel that we would be justified in holding that the evidence concerning the issues challenged by the two parties is so one-sided and so conclusive against the issues challenged that reasonable minds of jurors could not differ. Without fully detailing the lengthy evidence it reveals that appellee’s president, H. T. Luther, and vice-president and general manager, D. O. Daw-kins, were men of long experience in the warehouse and storage business in Lubbock during which time their business establishment had been near the present location which they had occupied for several years before the alleged damages occurred and that appellants had been customers of theirs in the storage business for several years prior to the occurrence in question. They had known of previous big rains which re-[283]*283suited in water accumulating and standing for a period of time in areas surrounding their place of business. They likewise knew of the flood conditions of their warehouse on the occasion in question before the rain ceased and they knew also of the damages done to appellants’ merchandise by reason of the flood waters.

Appellee’s architect and engineer, L. H. Kirby, who prepared the plans and supervised the construction of the warehouse building in question, testified that he had been engaged in such business in Lubb'ock for many years and he was familiar generally with the previous rainfall in and around Lubbock and the topography of the land in that area. He likewise knew of previous rainfalls, the flat areas and the danger of flood waters from big rainfalls.

J. G. Wilkerson, who operated a business near appellee’s warehouse, testified of his long business experience and observations in and around Lubbock, and particularly of the rainfall on May 6, 1949, and previous local rains.

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Related

Luther Transfer & Storage, Inc. v. Walton
296 S.W.2d 750 (Texas Supreme Court, 1956)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
286 S.W.2d 280, 1955 Tex. App. LEXIS 2344, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/walton-v-luther-transfer-storage-co-texapp-1955.