F. W. McNeely & Co. v. Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Co.
F. W. McNeely & Co. v. Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Co.
Opinion of the Court
This is a suit by appellant against appellee for damages caused by delay in the shipment of two automobiles from Detroit, Michigan, to Evansville, Indiana, over the lines of appellee and other railroad companies. The complaint was in two paragraphs, each of which was answered by general denial. The court made a general finding for appellee, overruled appellant’s motion for a new trial and rendered judgment accordingly. The error assigned and relied on for reversal is the overruling of appellant’s motion for a new trial.
The complaint charges that appellant was a dealer in automobiles in the city of Evansville, Indiana, and that on January 28, 1913, the Studebaker Corporation delivered to appellee'at the city of Detroit in the state of Michigan, two automobiles for transportation to appellant at Evansville, Indiana; that appellee accepted the same and undertook to so transport them; that appellee and its connecting carriers negligently failed to transport and deliver said automobiles to appellant in a reasonable time and negligently delayed such transportation for the period of sixteen days beyond such reasonable time.; that appellant was damaged by such delay in shipment. Facts are averred to show how such damage resulted from the delay in delivering the automobiles. The paragraphs are substantially alike, except in the first it is alleged that appellant was the lawful holder of the bill of lading for the automobiles, and in the second that it was the owner thereof.
There seems to be no dispute in the evidence as to the material and controlling facts of the case. The Studebaker Corporation on January 28, 1913, consigned the automobiles to the “order of Studebaker Corporation of America, Indianapolis Branch. Destination, Evansville, Ind. — Notify F. W. McNeely & Co.” The bill of lading, duly signed by appellee, was attached to
Numerous questions are discussed, the principal one of which is whether the appellant had such interest in the property at the time of the alleged delay as will enable it to maintain this action for damages. Appellee contends that 'the evidence shows that appellant was neither the holder of the bill of lading nor the owner of the two automobiles, when the alleged delay in shipment occurred; that without proof of one or the other of such facts there can be no recovery; that there is no evidence tending to prove either of such facts, but on the other hand the undisputed evidence shows that the bill of lading was made to the order of the 'Studebaker Company with draft attached and that the draft was not paid and the bill of lading obtained by appellant until the day the automobiles arrived in Evansville. Appellant contends that it was and is the real party in interest and that by paying the draft and obtaining the bill of lading as above shown, it has the unquestionable right to maintain this suit for damages resulting from the unreasonable delay in shipment as alleged and that it is otherwise entitled to recover under the evidence.
The grounds of the motion for a new trial relied on by appellant are: (1) The decision of the court is not sustained by sufficient evidence; (2) The decision is. contrary to law.
In Mechem on Sales, (Vol. 1, §774) the author-says: “Where the seller takes a bill of lading which expressly stipulates that the goods are to be delivered, at the point of destination, to himself or agent, or to his order or assigns, there is the clearest possible evidence upon the face of the transaction that, notwithstanding such an appropriation of the goods as might have been sufficient to transfer the title to the buyer, the seller has determined to prevent this result by keeping the goods within his own control. This evidence, however, is not absolutely conclusive; though, as stated by the Supreme Court of the United States, fit is held to be almost conclusive.’ ”
In Dows v. Nat. Exchange Bank, supra, the Supreme Court of the United States said: “It is true, they sent invoices. That, however, is of no significance by itself. The position taken on behalf of the defendants, that the transmission of the invoices passed the property in- the wheat without the acceptance and payment of the drafts drawn against it, is utterly untenable. An invoice is not a bill of sale, nor is it evidence of a sale. It is a mere detailed statement of the nature, quantity, and cost or price of the things invoiced, and it is as appropriate to a bailment as it is to a sale. It does not of itself necessarily indicate to whom the things are sent, or even that they have been sent at all. Hence, standing alone, it is never regarded as evidence of title.’’
In Sohn v. Jervis (1885), 101 Ind. 578, 582, 1 N. E. 73, 75, the court by Elliott, J., said: “Counsel for appellant is correct in asserting that a seller ordinarily delivers the goods when he places them in the hands of the carrier, duly consigned at the place of sale. Here,
In Forcheimer & Co. v. Stewart (1885), 65 Iowa 593, 22 N. W. 886, 54 Am. Rep. 30, the Supreme Court of the state of Iowa considered a case for damages caused by the elements after the goods were in the possession of the carrier. The bill of lading was in the name of the shipper and was forwarded with draft attached, drawn on the purchaser, for the-amount of the purchase price of the shipment. The draft was paid and the bill of lading obtained by the purchaser while the goods were in transit. In considering the question of when liability attached, the court said: “Having reached the conclusion that the goods were not delivered by this defendant to the plaintiffs by delivery to the carrier at Council Bluffs, we come to inquire whether they were delivered by delivery to them, later, of the indorsed bill of lading. In our opinion they were. The defendant, from the time of such delivery, had no right or interest in the goods, and the jus disponendi, or right of disposing of the goods, had become absolute in the plaintiffs. The goods could not be sold nor encumbered by the defendant, nor properly taken upon attachment or execution by his creditors. This being so, it would seem to follow that the risk of damage from the elements, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, should be
St. Louis, etc., R. Co. v. Allen, supra, in its essential facts is quite similar to the case at bar. In that case the purchaser paid the draft and procured the bill of lading for a carload of coal after the car had arrived at its place of destination. According to the bill of lading the car should have contained 76,800 pounds of coal, but when unloaded was found to contain only 67,880 pounds. The purchaser sued the railway company for damages, alleging that the shortage was due to its negligence in making the shipment, and recovered judgment, which on -appeal was reversed because the loss occurred before the draft was paid and the bill of lading obtained by the purchaser. The Supreme Court of Oklahoma held that the purchaser could not recover damages for the loss of property to which he had no title when the loss occurred. It said there was no at
Note. — Reported in 115 N. E. 954. Carriers: liability for delay, 11 Am. St. 360; right of one that is to be notified of arrival of goods consigned to another to maintain action against carrier, 39 L. R. A. (N. S.) 309. See under (1) 10 C. J. 297.
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