141 Ga. 69 | Ga. | 1913
J. W. Fleming brought suit against the Southern Railway Company, alleging, in his petition as originally filed, that he had been wrongfully ejected from the train upon which he was a passenger. He tendered the conductor upon the train his fare at the ticket rate of three cents a mile, but the conductor refused to accept fare at that rate, and demanded fare at the rate of four cents a mile. This the plaintiff refused to pay, insisting that he went to the ticket-office at the station where he boarded the train, for the purpose of buying a ticket, "something like fifteen minutes before the train arrived,” but the defendant’s agent was not in the office at that time; that he went again to the ticket-office a little after the arrival of the train, but could not procure a ticket on account of the absence of the agent from the office, he being elsewhere engaged in checking freight. The plaintiff contended that his failure to procure a ticket was in no way due to an omission upon his part to exercise proper diligence, but that it was owing entirely to the failure of the agent of the railway company to be in his office. In an amendment offered and allowed the plaintiff alleged that in expelling him from .the train the agents and employees of the company used a greater degree of force than was necessary, and in this way committed a tort against.him, for which he was entitled to recover damages.
There were some inaccuracies in other parts of the court’s charge to the jury; but the charges complained of, except in the respect indicated above, were substantially correct and contained no errors requiring the grant of a new trial.
Judgment reversed.