72 Mo. App. 111 | Mo. Ct. App. | 1896
This is an action for dam ages alleged to have resulted to plaintiff on account of the defendant failing to deliver the following dispatch: “B. P. Rutledge, Clarence, Mo. If possible come to Shelbina in the morning. J. H. Melson.” The plaintiff recovered judgment for $200 damages.
This rule has been approved in a vast number of cases relating to questions of damages, and in a great number of telegraph cases involving messages quite similar to the one in question. Abeles v. Western Union, 37 Mo. App. 554; Western Union v. Parlin, 25 S. W. Rep. (Tex.) 40; Western Union v. Hall, 124 U. S. 444; Western Union v. Cornwell, 31 Pac. Rep. (Col.) 393; United States Tel. v. Gildersleeve, 29 Md. 232, 251; Baldwin v. Tel. Co., 45 N. Y. 744; Barrett v. Western Union, 42 Mo. App. 542.
The plaintiff’s recovery should have been limited to the price paid for sending the message. The judgment will be reversed and cause remanded.