Howze v. New Orleans & Northeastern Railroad

Mississippi Supreme Court
Howze v. New Orleans & Northeastern Railroad, 91 Miss. 695 (Miss. 1907)
45 So. 837
Mates

Howze v. New Orleans & Northeastern Railroad

Opinion of the Court

Mates, J.,

delivered the opinion of the court.

If there is any merit in the contention that the railroad may make a valid stipulation in the contract of affreightment that no suit shall be maintained for damage, unless brought within six months after the cause of action accrues, the delay in handling this claim has operated as a waiver. We have upheld reasonable regulations of this nature, but different, in that it has been applied only to the time in which suit could be maintained after notification of damage. This case in its facts is unlike any' of the cases cited by appellee. In the case of I. C. R. Co. v. Davis & Levy (Miss.), 43 South., 674, the only fact on which it was attempted to hold the railroad liable was simply that the mule was found dead in the car. There was no unnecessary delay, and nothing to show what caused the death; and the court held that under these circumstances the company was not liable. In the case of Y. & M. V. R. R. Co. v. Cox (Miss.), 40 South., 547, the mules were allowed to stand in the ear overnight, instead of being turned into the pen. Some of the mules were injured, and one of them badly skinned and bruised. There was a broken place in the car, but nothing to indicate how the injury oc*701curred, and no testimony showing that the car was in a bad condition; and the court held that the company was not liable. In the cases of Railroad Co. v. Teams, 75 Miss., 147; 21 South., 706, and L., N. O. & T. Ry. Co. v. Bigger, 66 Miss., 319; 6 South., 234, the facts readily distinguish them from the case now before the court. In this case there is proof tending to show, at least, that the car in which these mules were shipped was in a bad átate of repair, and that it was because of this that the mule was injured. Several slats were broken, and it was testified to that the car was in a dilapidated condition. We think it was a question for the jury whether or not this injury occurred by reason of the negligence of the railroad company in failing to provide a suitable car for the transportation of the mules. A peremptory instruction for defendant was improper.

Reversed and remanded:

Reference

Full Case Name
Samuel T. Howze v. New Orleans & Northeastern Railroad Company
Status
Published
Syllabus
1. Railroads. Gamers. Contract for carriage of live stock. Time to sue. Contractual limitation. Waiver. A carrier may waive a provision in a contract for the carriage of live stock, providing that a suit should not he maintained for damages resulting from its breach unless begun within six months after the arrival of the cause of action. 2. Same. Facts showing waiver. The defendant carrier waived the provision in its contract of affreightment exempting it from suit after six months from the accrual of the cause of action, where, after receiving from the delivering carrier plaintiff’s demand for damages, it remained silent four months and twenty-seven days before advising the delivering carrier that it rejected the demand and thereafter neglected for six days to own receipt of a letter from plaintiff’s attorney touching the claim and then answered only that the demand had been returned to the delivering carrier.