113 Ky. 526 | Ky. Ct. App. | 1902
Opinion oe the court by
Aeeirmtno.
The appellee shipped 68 head of cattle at Sonora, on the line of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company, to be transported to Indianapolis. The cattle appear to have been injured in the course of transportation, but not while on the line of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. Suit was broughi by the shippers against the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company and the Pittsburg;, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Company for damages for the injury to the cattle in transportation. The Louisville
The action of the circuit' court in sustaining the demurrer of the Louisville A Nashville Railroad Company to the reply was correct. The provision of the contract is not one limiting the company’s common-law' liability. At common law the carrier was under no liability .beyond its own line. Such liability could be created by contract. If so, it was the result of the contract, and was not imposed by the common law. Therefore, whether the company contracted to be liable or to be exempt from liability, the contract was not in reference to any common-law liability, and section 396 of the Constitution can have no application. This was distinctly recognized in Ireland v. Railroad Co. (105 Ky., 400) (20 R., 1586) (49 S. W., 188), where, in an opinion by Chief Justice Hazelrigg, it was said: “It is urged that the clause is an attempted limitation of the carrier’s common-law liability, and is therefore void. We do not think so. A't the common law, without a contract to the contrary, there was no liability beyond the carrier’s own line. About this there is no dispute. The carrier, however,
The appellant, the Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Company, pleaded to the jurisdiction. It also answered, traversing practically all the averments of the petition, except the averment of the contract with the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company; and a trial was had, resulting in a verdict for appellees for $425, on which judgment was entered.
The principal question presented upon this appeal is as to the jurisdiction of the court. The contention for appellant is that it had no agent or office in Hardin county, where the contract of shipment was made, and that theappellees can not give jurisdiction to the Hardin circuit court of an aci ion against the Pittsburg-, Cincinnati, Chicago ■Sc St. Louis Railway Company by joining the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company as a defendant, — it being a resident of nardin county, — unless it shows a cause of action against the resident defendant. Meguiar v. Rudy, 7 Bush., 432; Fernold v. Speer, 3 Metc., 459; Stamper v. Lumber Co. (9 R., 175) (4 S. W., 330); Eichhorn v. Railroad Co. 112 Ky., 338 (23 R., 1640) (65 S. W., 797). This conten
The contract, which is on the form of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company, and signed by the agent of the company and by the. appellees, begins:
“Received by the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company the following described live stock, to be transported in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract entered into below:
“Tariff rate on this shipment from Sonora to/ Louisville is |32.00 per car.
“Contract for transportation of live Stock. Sonora, Ky.. Station, Dec. 28th, 1899. This agreement, made between the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company audits connecting lines, of the first part, and Yiers and Patterson, or the second part, witnesseth,” etc.
Then follows a provision for transportation to Louisville-
Clause IB of the contract is as follows: ■“And it.is further agreed that, when necessary for said animals to be transported over the line or lines of any other carrier or carriers to the point of destination, delivery of such animals may be made to such other carrier or carriers for transportation upon such terms* and conditions as the carrier may be willing to accept; provided, that the terms and conditions of this bill of lading shall inure to such cariler or carriers, unless they shall otherwise stipulate, but in no event shall one carrier be liable for the negligence' of another.’’
Now appellant insists that this contract does not undertake to cover the transportation of the stock beyond Louisville; that its application is limited to the terminus of the Louisville A Nashville road at Louisville; that the charges stipulated did not cover any transportation beyond that point; that there is no agreement that the stock should go over the appellant’s road; that the agent at Sonora had no authority to contract for it, and never undertook to do so, and that no traffic arrangement or agreement existed or was shown which authorized the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company to make a contract of this or any other kind, binding upon the appellant; that there was no express contract by the appellant regarding this shipment, but that it received the cattle from the Louisville Bridge Company, to which company they had been delivered by the Louisville A Nashville Railroad Company, transported them fo the nearest point on its line to the Union Stock Yards, at Indianapolis, and there delivered them to the Belt Railroad Company, which collected from the consignees freight at the rate of 10 cents per 100 pounds for the trans
Appellees contend that this response shows a ratification of the contract made for the connecting lines by the Louisville- & Nashville Railroad Company in Hardin county, and that this ratification is the equivalent of a previous direction, and renders appellant liable upon! the written contract as made in Hardin county. In support of this contention, the case of Railroad Co. v. Carrico, 95 Ky., 489 (16 R., 66) (26 S. W., 177) is relied on. In that case it appeared that the contract was> made with the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company, “which undertook to transport the animals to Nashville, Tennessee, to be carried' from there by the latter company [the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway Company], which appears to either own, or have in its possession and control, a ■ continuous 'kne of railway to Atlanta. It is, in substance, alleged that the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Company agreed to transport appellant’s mules from Nashville to Atlanta, receiving therefor a proportion of the whole amount fixed in the contract with the Louisville & Nashville Company for the whole distance, but, by negligence of its agents in operating the train on which the animals were placed, they were greatly injured.” The action was dismissed as to the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company, and the same question arose which is presented here,.
For the reasons given, the judgment is affirmed
Petition by appellant for rehearing overruled.