This is an action in assumpsit brought by plaintiff consignee of an interstate shipment to recover for alleged damage to transported goods. Defendant, Southern Pacific Company, is the initiating carrier of the shipment while defendant, Delaware, Lackawanna and Western R. R. Co.,
The complaint alleges that on December 3, 1951, 1105 lugs of grapes were delivered in good condition by the consignor at Sanger, California, to the Southern Pacific Company, the initial receiving carrier, for transportation in a refrigerator car to plaintiff consignee in Scranton, and that a through bill of lading was issued thereon for the shipment, that the shipment was transported by means of connecting carrier to defendant, Delaware, Lackawanna and Western R.R. Co., the delivering carrier, and arrived at destination in Scranton on December 12, 1951, in a frozen condition, that after due notice, protest and inspection of the goods in the hands of the delivering carrier, the grapes were transshipped to New York and sold at auction to mitigate damages and a loss occurred for which suit was brought. The action was instituted under the provisions of the Interstate Commerce Act of February 4, 1887, 24 Stat. at L. 386, as amended, 49 U. S. C. §20(1).
The objections of the Southern Pacific Company aver an absence of venue and a want of personal jurisdiction because of improper service. The objections of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western R. R. Co. allege a lack of capacity in plaintiff to sue for failure to properly register a fictitious name under the Fictitious Names Act of May 24, 1945, P. L. 967, sec. 1, 54 PS §28.1, and includes a motion for a more specific complaint.
Objections of Southern Pacific Co.
The sheriff’s return of service represents that the complaint was served “upon Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company and Southern Pacific Company, by handing to and leaving with J. E. Flynn, personally, as secretary to Superintendent W. G. Dorsey, a certified copy of the complaint ... at their
Objections of Delaware, Lackawanna & Western R. R. Co.
This defendant asks, by way of preliminary objections, (a) to have the action dismissed because of noncompliance with the Fictitious Names Act and (b) for a more specific statement of the cause in the complaint.
(a) From defendant’s preliminary objections and plaintiff’s answer the factual situation in respect to the alleged noncompliance with the Fictitious Names Act may be summarized as follows: The alleged cause
The single question on this point is: Where two persons register a fictitious name under the statute and one dies, is the survivor precluded from instituting suit for breach of a subsequent agreement because the withdrawal of the deceased registrant was not noted of record?
Concededly plaintiff was properly registered to do business as Scranton Produce Company and unless the death of his coregistrant and the failure to record his withdrawal vitiated the registration it must stand as a compliance with the statute. This point has not been before our appellate courts but it has been decided by
(b) We find no merit in the contention that the claim is not sufficiently and specifically pleaded. Pa. R. C. P. 1019(a) requires that the material facts on which a cause of action is based must be “stated in a concise and summary form”. The material allegations we have recited plead a sufficient cause of action under the provisions of the Interstate Commerce Act, 49 U. S. C. A., sec. 20(11) and are informative to an extent which calls for an answer from the delivering carrier. Evidential material need not be incorporated into pleadings and, indeed, to do so is improper. Shipping and diversion orders, dates thereof and other matters in respect thereto, prices of goods and names of persons to whom sold, payments of freight charges and individuals connected therewith and similar matters are evidential and are properly omitted from pleadings. A party who desires such information may have resort to the Rules of Civil Procedure governing depositions and discovery, Pa. R. C. P. 4001, et seq.
Now, June 13, 1955, the preliminary objections of defendant, Southern Pacific Company, are sustained,
