55 Kan. 525 | Kan. | 1895
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Three principal questions are presented by the record which include all the various matters discussed in the briefs, and will be all it will be necessary for us to consider.
I. Did the defendant company incur the liability of a common carrier under the facts of this case? The sugar was consigned by the Louisiana Sugar Refining Company at New Orleans to the plaintiff at Wichita, and transported over the Texas & Pacific and St. Louis
II. Did the defendant deliver the sugar to the plaintiff? It is earnestly insisted that when the railroad company placed the cars at the rear of the plaintiff’s warehouse, at the exact place where the plaintiff was accustomed to receive and unload its freight, it had per formed its whole duty, and that from the time it uncoupled its engine from the cars the property was in the possession of the plaintiff, and at its risk. It is shown that the plaintiff was accustomed to break the seals of
“The extraordinary liability of a railroad company as a carrier of goods extends not merely to the termination of the actual transit of the goods to the place of destination, but also until the consignee has a reasonable time thereafter to inspect the goods, and remove them in the usual hours of business and in the ordinary course of business.”
In the opinion in that case the cases holding a different doctrine are referred to, but the court declined to follow them, deeming the better rule to be the one announced, and also that it was best supported by au
Ill. Original bills of lading issued by the Texas & Pacific Railway Company to the consignor, under which it is claimed that not only the receiving company but all connecting carriers were exempted from liability for loss by fire, were offered in evidence by the defendant. The court excluded them. We think they-were inadmissible under the pleadings in this case. The allegations of the petition wTere that the sugar was delivered to the defendant by the St. Louis & San Francisco Railway Company at the point of intersection of the railroads at Wichita, to be transported to the plaintiff at Wichita, and that the defendant failed to deliver. The answer consisted, first, of a general denial, and, second, of an allegation that the plaintiff’s loss, if any, occurred by reason of its own negligence. The contract for shipment from New Orleans to Wichita was
The judgment is affirmed.