United States v. Delaware, L. & W. R.
United States v. Delaware, L. & W. R.
Opinion of the Court
“1. That a car loaded with 20 horses, consigned to the order of the Winters & Prophet Canning Company, at the village of Mt. Morris, N. Y., by a consignor named Omer Van Winkle, of the city of Anderson, Ind., was delivered by the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad Company, as initial carrier, and the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company, as connecting carrier, on December 18, 1910, to the defendant, the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company, at Buffalo, N, Y.
“2. That said car was delivered as aforesaid and was received by the defendant upon a side track which is called an ‘interchange track,’ and which is a track set apart for the common use of both said Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company and the defendant company to accomplish the interchange of through traffic.
“3. That said car was delivered as aforesaid to the defendant company at 12:30 o’clock in the afternoon of December 18, 1910.
“4. That in making said delivery as aforesaid the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company also delivered to the defendant company a waybill showing destination, route, etc., of said car, and also showing, by a statement indorsed thereon, that said horses had been loaded at 4 p. m., on December 16, 1910, at Anderson, Ind., and also showing, by a statement indorsed thereon, that said horses had been fed and watered in transit, between Anderson, Ind., and Buffalo, N. Y.
“5. That at the time defendant received said car as aforesaid said horses had been already confined by the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad Company, the initial carrier thereof, and the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company, the connecting carrier, in a railroad car without unloading them for food and water and for rest, in violation of law, for a period of 44% hours.
“6. That the horses in said car were accompanied by the consignor thereof and were subject to the 36-hour period under said law, and the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St Louis Railroad Company and the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company had exceeded said period by 8% hours.
“7. That when delivery of said car was tendered to defendant by its connecting carrier, the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company, upon said interchange track, under the conditions as aforesaid, there were but two courses for this defendant to follow: One course was to refuse to accept the said car, which would have compelled its said connecting carrier, the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company, to haul said car back on its own line to its nearest stockyard for unloading said horses; and the other course was to accept the car and assume the duty, of hauling said car with*947 reasonable promptness, under all the circumstances, to its own nearest stockyard for unloading.
“8. That this defendant company accepted the car and thereby accepted whatever responsibilities and duties in relation thereto which, under the circumstances then present, were placed upon defendant by the federal statute regulating the transportation of live stock.
“9. That said car was delivered to the defendant at 12:30 o’clock in the-afternoon of December 18, 1910, by the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company, as connecting carrier, at the said interchange track in Buffalo, and defendant took said car from said interchange track in the afternoon of said date, and moved it to East Buffalo stockyard, -defendant’s nearest facility for unloading, where the horses were unloaded for food, water, and rest at 3 p. m. on December 18, 1910.
“10. That between the time of delivery of said car to the defendant company by its immediate connecting carrier on said exchange track and the time when defendant unloaded the horses as aforesaid 2% hours elapsed.
“11. That said haul from the interchange tracks to the stockyards of the terminal, was a movement through an exceedingly busy and active railroad yard.
“12. That defendant did not carry said car from the interchange tracks in any main line movement towards destination prior to unloading. That said car was handled in a separate movement from the said interchange track to said stockyards by a yard engine.
“13. That the actual running time of the car from Buffalo to East Buffalo, exclusive of the necessary switching movement, was 1 hour and 5 minutes.
“14. That the maximum temperature on said December 18, 1910, was 40 degrees, the minimum temperature 23 degrees, and the mean temperature was 82 degrees.
“15. That no penalty has been collected from the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad Company, nor the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company on account of the handling of said car by them or either of them, and no action for such purpose has been brought.
“16. That after said horses had been fed, watered, and rested from 3 p. m. on December 18, 1910, until 6 p. m. on the same day, said horses were, at the request of the consignor thereof and attendant, Omer Van Winkle, reloaded and forwarded from East Buffalo on December 18,1910, at 6:45 p. m., easterly to their destination at Mt. Morris, N. Y., a distance of 57 miles, where they arrived at 9:45 p. m. on said December 18,1910, and they were immediately unloaded.
“17. That the defendant is a corporation organized under the laws of Pennsylvania.”
This car load of horses came to the defendant, Delaware, Lacka-wanna & Western Railroad Company, after the horses contained therein had been confined without rest, food, or water for 8% hours in excess of the statutory period of 36 hours, to which provision of the law it was subject, and of this fact the defendant company had knowledge. If, therefore, the defendant company had moved the car forward towards its destination without first unloading for the statutory time, it would have made itself a party to the illegal confinement, and would be liable to the penalty imposed by law. However, it did not do this, but after the lapse of 2y2 hours actually unloaded the horses at its nearest point for performing this service for rest, food, and water.
From the thirteenth conceded fact it appears:
“That the actual running time of the car from Buffalo (where it was received by the defendant) to East Buffalo (which was the defendant’s nearest unloading point), exclusive of the necessary switching movement, was 1 hour and 5 minutes.”
“That said haul from the interchange tracks (where the car was received) to the stockyards of the terminal (unloading point) was a movement through an exceedingly busy and active railroad yard.”
It is also stipulated and conceded:
“That the maximum temperature on said December 18, 1910 (the day in question) was 40 degrees, the minimum temperature 28 degrees, and the mean temperature was 32 degrees.”
Deducting the actual running time from the receiving point to the unloading point, 1 hour and 5 minutes, from the time unloading was delayed, we have 1 hour and 25 minutes’ delay unaccounted for, except that the temperature may have had some influence and switching operations may have had, and probably did have, something to do with this delay of about 1% hours in the unloading. However, there is neither stipulation nor evidence showing the probable or approximate time necessarily used up by reason of weather or switching. The distance from the receiving point to the unloading point is not given, but the running time is. I do not think the court can find, without evidence, that 1 hour and 25 minutes 'was necessarily used in switching operations and movements, or in such movements interfered with and delayed by weather conditions.
Judgment is directed accordingly.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- UNITED STATES v. DELAWARE, L. & W. R. CO.
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published