Yorton v. Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western Railway Co.

11 N.W. 482, 54 Wis. 234, 1882 Wisc. LEXIS 29
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 7, 1882
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 11 N.W. 482 (Yorton v. Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western Railway Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Yorton v. Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western Railway Co., 11 N.W. 482, 54 Wis. 234, 1882 Wisc. LEXIS 29 (Wis. 1882).

Opinion

Cole, C. J.

It is an admitted fact that the plaintiff purchased a ticket at Marion for transportation over the defendr ant’s road to Oshkosh, and took the train at the former place. For the purposes of this appeal, it is assumed that he- delivered that ticket to the first conductor, Sherman, and , asked for a stop-over ticket at Clintonville, an intermediate station, and that through the fault or mistake of the conductor he received a trip or train check instead of a stop-over ticket, which jhe asked for, and which the conductor undertook to give him. It may further be assumed that he was not bound to read the check, and was guilfy of no negligence in not reading it (though it would certainly have notified him that it only entitled him to ride on that train), and then calling the attention of the conductor to the mistake he had made.

These facts being assumed in the plaintiff’s favor, we may further assume that his account of the circumstances attending his ejection from the train is, in the main, correct. lie says, in substance, that the next morning, when he took another train at Clintonville, under charge of another conductor, when asked for his ticket, he’ presented the check which Sherman had given him. The second conductor properly told him that he could not ride on his train on that check; that it was only good with Sherman; and that he must either pay his fare to Oshkosh or leave the train. This was said to the plaintiff while upon the cars at Clintonville, before the train started, and while he had ample opportunity to leave the train. Indeed, the plaintiff testified that this same conversation was repeated before the train started from Clintonville, the conductor all the time telling him that the check gave him no right to ride on his train, and that he must either pay hiis fare or leave the train, while he asserted his right to go on that train, because he had once paid his fare. Thus the mat[237]*237ter stood when the train left Olintonville, the plaintiff remaining on the ears; and, as the train approached the next station, upon his fare -being again demanded by the conductor, and refused, he was forcibly ejected from the train at the Bear Creek station, more than six miles from Olintonville. He was left at the station at about 3:30 o’clock in the morning on the 28th of October; the depot was closed, and he was unable to obtain shelter; he was exposed to cold, damp winds, contracted a violent cold, and became sick. This exposure and sickness resulting from being ejected from the train at the time and in the manner he was, constituted his principal claim for damages.

On the question of damages the learned county court charged the jury that, if they found the facts relating to the purchase and surrender of the ticket by the plaintiff, and his expulsion from the train, to be as detailed by the plaintiff’s witness, then the plaintiff was entitled to recover full compensatory damages for the defendant’s acts; that in assessing such damages the plaintiff was entitled to recover not only for the mere pecuniary loss and expense, loss of time, and inability to attend to his business, directly resulting from said acts, but also for bodily suffering, mental pain and disquietude, and the sense of injury and humiliation felt from the indignity inflicted in being so unjustly expelled from the cars; that this would include all bodily ailments, lameness, suffering, and fatigue resulting from his being so ejected, or from the exposure to the weather in the night; that in considering the question of damages the jury might take into account the manner and time of the plaintiff being ejected from the cars, the situation and surroundings of the place where he was so ejected, and all circumstances which had been shown going to aggravate the injury, and assess full damages therefor.

This is the substance of the charge on the question of damages, and it manifestly goes upon the hypothesis that the plaintiff had a right to ride upon the train on the facts detailed [238]*238by him, and that his expulsion therefrom was unlawful. In this view we think the learned county court erred. The learned counsel for the defendant insists that no claim for any damages whatever was shown or established. He says the ticket first bought was for a continuous passage from Marion to Oshkosh, and that, as the plaintiff .voluntarily left the train at Clinton ville, the company was under.no obligation to give him a stop-over check or transport him on another train. Rut the conductor, Sherman, testified that he was accustomed to give these stop-over checks when requested by passengers, and he was doubtless authorized to give them. The reason why he did not give one to the plaintiff when he took up his through ticket, he says, was because the plaintiff did not ask for one, being then uncertain whether he would stop at Clintonville or not; consequently he gave him a trip or train check only. This was Sherman’s understanding in the matter, and a stopover check was not given because it was not asked for, and not for the reason that it was unusual-to give them. Without attempting to settle the conflict in the testimony upon this point, we assume that a stop-over check was asked for by the plaintiff when he surrendered his ticket, and that it was the conductor’s fault that he did not receive one. Then the question arises, Was the plaintiff entitled to ride on a subsequent train, not having a proper stop-over check, or was the second conductor justified under the circumstances in putting him off the train when he refused to pay his fare? The court below held that a rule or regulation of a railway company requiring passengers who ride upon its trains to procure from the conductor, or person in charge of the train, a stop-over check if they desire to stop before concluding their journey or before reaching the point to which they have purchased a ticket', is a reasonable rule and binding on passengers riding on its trains. The correctness of this proposition is hardly debatable. Now it is practically conceded that the defendant company had such a rule or regulation for the guidanqe of its conduct[239]*239ors. If it had, it would necessarily follow that it was the clear duty of the second conductor to obey and enforce the rule or regulation. Consequently he was perfectly justifiable in ejecting the plaintiff from his train when plaintiff had no proper voucher, produced no sufficient evidence of his right to ride thereon and refused to pay fare, and he himself was ignorant of the transaction between the plaintiff and the conductor Sherman. It seems to us there was no other course for him to pursue under the rules of the company, for he was certainly not bound to take the plaintiff’s word that he had paid his fare, and that Sherman had made a mistake in not giving him a stop-over check.

It is apparent that the right of the plaintiff to ride on the train without a proper voucher, and the right of the second conductor to eject him for want of said voucher, were inconsistent rights, which could not co-exist at the same time. Therefore, under the rule of the company, the second conductor was clearly authorized and required to put the plaintiff off his train when he refused to pay fare, using no more violence than was necessary to accomplish his object; for the plaintiff had no right to remain on the train without a proper voucher, or producing some evidence showing he was entitled to carriage on that train without paying additional fare.

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Bluebook (online)
11 N.W. 482, 54 Wis. 234, 1882 Wisc. LEXIS 29, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/yorton-v-milwaukee-lake-shore-western-railway-co-wis-1882.