Powell v. Seaboard Air-Line Railway
Powell v. Seaboard Air-Line Railway
Opinion of the Court
The 1st and 2d grounds of the amendment to• the motion for a new trial are merely amplifications of the general grounds, attacking the sufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict, and will be considered under the general grounds. The 3d ground of the amendment to the motion for a new trial is expressly abandoned in the brief of counsel for the plaintiff in error.
1. Complaint is made in the motion for a new trial that the court failed to instruct the jury that if they determined that the
2. Exception was taken to the following charge of the court: “One of the chief differences between the parties in this case is as to the contention prevailing between the Southern Cotton Oil Company and the Seaboard as to deliveries—whether there was demur-rage collectible in advance, or advance charges in- the nature of demurrage, which the property brought along with it from the connecting carrier. Now I charge you, the defendant railroad company had a right to hold freight for advance charges of that character, and not deliver it until paid or an agreement is entered into between the parties for the assumption of them by the Consignee.” While there was no direct evidence as to whether the demurrage charges accrued before or after the cottonseed was loaded in the ear, yet when the evidence as to the manner in which the loading was done is considered, a fair inference therefrom is that the demurrage accrued after the loading was begun, and certainly that at least a portion of the charges so accrued. Moreover the bill of lading issued by the initial carrier, coming from the possession of the plaintiff and introduced in evidence by him, showed upon its face that there were demurrage charges on this
3. It is complained that the verdict is contrary to law and the evidence because it appears, from the evidence, that there was an agreement between the consignee and the defendant that all cars of cottonseed billed to the consignee were to be delivered without regard to any freight or demurrage that might be charged against such cars, and because the evidence was insufficient to show that this agreement did not apply (as contended by the defendant) to cars upon which demurrage charges had accrued before the arrival of the car in Savannah, and because the evidence was insufficient to show that the defendant had notified the consignee of the arrival of the' car in question, carrying demurrage charges. While it was undisputed that the above-mentioned agreement had existed for some time, it is also undisputed that the defendant, subsequently to that agreement, adopted a different rule, whereby it did not deliver to the consignee cars which came in with demurrage charges, unless the consignee, after being notified of the arrival of the ears carrying such charges, specifically agreed to pay the same. There was, however, an acute conflict in the evidence as to whether this last-mentioned rule was in existence at the time the car in question arrived in Savannah, and as to whether the defendant had promptly notified the consignee of the arrival of the car and of the demurrage charges thereon. There was enough evidence, however, to authorize the jury to find that the latter rule was in effect at the time of the arrival of the car in Savannah, and that the consignee had been promptly notified by the defendant of the arrival of the car and of the demurrage charges thereon.
4. The verdict was supported- by the evidence, and the court did not err in overruling the motion for a new trial.-
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.