Joy v. Lee
Joy v. Lee
Opinion of the Court
— Plaintiff in this case, with his wife, was a passenger on a steamboat owned by defendants, the boat operated in the carrying of passengers and freight along the Mississippi river between the ports of St. Louis, Missouri, and Memphis, Tennessee. According to the testimony of plaintiff, when he boarded the boat he had about $140 in bills in his possession. After paying for the passage of himself and wife for the round trip from Memphis to St. Louis, he had $115 in paper and a dollar and some odd cents in silver. He testified that he placed
Plaintiff accordingly brought suit for the amount before a justice of the peace, suing by attachment on the ground that defendants were nonresidents of the state. Defendants appearing, the attachment was dissolved. Prom a judgment in favor of defendants before the justice, plaintiff appealed to the circuit court where the cause was tried anew before the court, a jury being waived. At the conclusion of the testimony in the case the trial court found for defendants.
At the conclusion of the trial plaintiff asked five instructions or declarations of law. The court gave four of them and refused one. The instruction given at the instance of plaintiff correctly stated the law as to the liability of a common carrier for the care and safety of the ordinary baggage of a passenger, declaring as a matter of law that a common carrier could not exempt itself from liability for loss of valuables taken by a passenger to his stateroom and that such regulation is unreasonable “as to such articles of necessity and convenience as are usually carried by the passenger and does not relieve the carrier from liability for the loss of same occurring by reason of his failure to exercise reasonable care for the protection of such valuables, unless the loss occurred through
The relevancy of this instruction and of others covering the matter of notice arose from the introduction in evidence by defendants of two notices which it was testified'had been posted up in the stateroom of plaintiff, to the effect that defendants, owners of the line of steamers to which this one belonged, would not be responsible for valuables or personal belongings of the passengers while on board; that valuables should be deposited in the office safe and that passengers must not leave valuables in their staterooms but must put the same with the clerk in the office. The court further declared that if it found from the evidence that plaintiff retained in his possession in his stateroom only such a sum of money as was a reasonable amount for him to carry, taking into consideration his station in life, the length of his journey and the purposes for which it was made, then plaintiff had a right to retain such sum in his possession in his stateroom, notwithstanding he may have seen the notices above referred to and that defendants are liable for the loss of the same occurring on account of their failure to use reasonable care to protect that sum from loss, provided the loss was not due to the negligence of plaintiff. Plaintiff had testified as to his condition and circumstances and that the money he had was the amount usually carried by him to meet current traveling expenses of the length and character of the trip upon which he and his wife were embarked. The refused declaration defined the term baggage as meaning such articles of necessity and convenience as travelers usually carry for their personal use, instruction or amusement, having regard to the length of their journey, the purpose for which it is made, the position
We have read all of the testimony in the case and on consideration of that and of the declarations of law given as well as that refused, find no reason to disturb the finding of the learned trial court. He had the principal witness before him; had before him substantial testimony warranting him in finding that plaintiff’s loss was occasioned by his own negligence, and his action in passing upon the declarations of law asked shows that he clearly and correctly understood the principles of law applicable to a case of this character. The declaration of law which was asked by plaintiff and which the court refused was correctly refused. The law announced in it was correctly given in another instruction, of which we have given a summary. The judgment of the circuit court is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.