New York Court of Appeals, 1867

Hunt v. Michigan Southern & Nothern Indiana Railroad

Hunt v. Michigan Southern & Nothern Indiana Railroad
New York Court of Appeals · Decided September 5, 1867 · Porter
37 N.Y. 162; 35 How. Pr. 287

Hunt v. Michigan Southern & Nothern Indiana Railroad

Opinion of the Court

Porter, J.

There is nothing in the evidence to justify the claim that the property was injured after it passed from the custody of the defendants. The mildewed condition of the blankets indicated that the goods were drenched at an early stage in their transportation. If the fact was otherwise, the appellants had the means of proving it. They furnished no explanation of the detention of the property for three days on the way from Rolling Prairie to Toledo, and it is fair to infer that the injury occurred within that period. This inference is not repelled by the circumstance that they procured a third party to sign a receipt, without examination, describing the packages as in good order on their re-shipment at Toledo. This simply confirmed the evidence of the plaintiff, that there was nothing in the exterior appearance of the boxes to indicate the damaged condition of the ■contents. The question was one of fact. No error of law was committed on the trial, and the court below was right in affirming the judgment.

All the judges concurring.

Judgment affirmed.

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