38 S.C. 429 | S.C. | 1893
The opinion of the court was delivered by
The question presented by this appeal is whether the Circuit Judge erred in refusing the motion to dismiss the complaint, upon the ground that it did not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action.
The allegations of the complaint are substantially as follows: “That on or about the 16th day of August, 1891, the plaintiff was at Hampton, a station on the Port Royal and Augusta Railway, from which tickets are sold to stations on the Charleston and Savannah Railway, and bought a ticket to Hardeeville, a station on the said Charleston and Savannah Railway, intending to get off said train at what is known as Ferebee’s switch or Mews’ Crossing, a flag station on the said Charleston and Savannah Railway, being informed that, under the rules of the said road, persons desiring to get off at flag stations were required to pay fare to next station beyond, and at which flag station, on previous occasions, plaintiff had taken the train and gotten off same, paying as aforesaid — said station being notoriously regarded and known as a flag station;” that when plaintiff presented her said ticket to the conductor of the Charleston and Savannah Railway, she informed him that she desired to get off at the flag station, where she had boarded the train when she left home, giving as her reason for wishing to get off at the flag station, that her husband would meet her there with a conveyance; that if he could not put her off at the flag station, she begged him to return the money which she had paid for passage between Ridgeland and Hardeeville; to which the conductor replied, “that he would either carry her to Hardeeville, or permit her to get off at Ridgeland, but could not put her off at the flag station named, or return her money, as she requested;-’ that “plaintiff, preferring Ridgeland to Hardeeville, allowed herself put off there,” from which point, with much inconvenience and suffering, she made her way home; “that by reason of the negligence and refusal of the agents and servants of the said Charleston and Savannah RailAvay Company to carry out the obligations of the said company, guaranteed as public carriers to the patrons of said railway company, and advertised by the past custom of said company,
It seems to us, therefore, that, as there was a total absence of any allegation of any breach of the contract under which she claimed the right to be transported, as well as of any allegation of any wrong done to the plaintiff, the complaint did not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action, and that the Circuit Judge erred in holding otherwise.
The judgment of this court is, that the judgment of the Circuit Court be reversed, and that the complaint be dismissed.