Kansas & Colorado Pacific Railway Co. v. Curry
Kansas & Colorado Pacific Railway Co. v. Curry
Opinion of the Court
This action was commenced in the .District Court of Franklin County, Kansas, by
“ The measure of damages in this case is the value of a pass for the plaintiff over the entire Missouri Pacific system of railroads in the United States from the first day of January, 1888, during the probable time of his life in which he would desire it, and until he should cry ‘ enough.’”
The court erred both in permitting the introduction of evidence and in its instructions, because of this theory of the measure of damages.
, A contract to issue or procure the issuance of an annual pass to be renewed from year to year during the pleasure of the promisee, is a divisible contract, and the measure of damages for the Breach thereof is the value of the transportation to such promisee during the years the breach has occurred ; and an action may be maintained by the promisee for only such breaches as have occurred at the time of the commencement of the action.
This doctrine is laid down by our Supreme Court in Curry v. Railway Co. (58 Kan. 6, 48 Pac. Rep. 579). pounsel for the defendant in error contend that the statements of the Supreme Court upon this point in
Á more complete statement of the facts in these cases is contained in the opinion of the Supreme Court in Curry v. Railway Co., supra, which is an action upon the same contract sued on in this case, and most of the questions argued in this case are decided there. The others can be corrected by a new trial, which must be ordered.
The judgment of the District Court is reversed, and the cause remanded for a new trial.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.