Hasseltine v. Southern Ry.
Hasseltine v. Southern Ry.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting. I think there should be a new trial in this case.
1. The only reasonable inference from the testimony is that plaintiff was informed by defendant’s agents that his passage from Jacksonville, Fla., to Columbia, S. C., would probably be interrupted because of quarantine regulations unless he had a health certificate, and plaintiff was willing to take passage subject to that risk.
A. A. Morrison, a flagman of defendant, testified, at folios 221-224: “I am-stationed at the train there (Jacksonville), to see that passengers have the right tickets for our train, and he (plaintiff) came there to board the train. I asked him1 where he was going, asked him to see his ticket. He showed me his ticket, and I asked him if he had a health certificate. He said he could have gotten one at Miami if he had known it, but they told him1 he didn’t need a health certificate, and on his arrival in Jacksonville he would have to have a health certificate. Q. And that he was told in Miami he wouldn’t need one? A. Yes, sir. Q. And he had been informed after he'reached Jacksonville? A. Yes, sir. And he asked me what I thought about his getting through. I told him I didn’t think he would be able to get through ; and he asked me if I knew whether Columbia was quarantined or not. I told him I did not, not that I knew of. I asked him to' go and talk with the conductor in regard to the quarantine of Savannah. So1 went then to see the conductor. After talking with the conductor — ■ Q. You say he went off to talk, as you supposed, with the conductor? A. Yes, sir. I showed him the conductor. Q. How long before he came back? A. I think between five and ten minutes. Q. Did he have anything to say then? A. Yes, sir. When he came back the baggage master was there at that time. He and I were talking about it, and I asked him if he had made any arrangements to get a health certificate. He said no, that he had not. Said he was going to chance it through any way; and the baggage master told him his ticket was good on train 34 the' next morning. Q. Now, what time was this conversation when he came to you ? A. When he first came to the train it was about 7.10. Q. About 7.10 ? A. Yes, sir. Q. And it was' soon after that that he had the conversation? *147 A. I notified him that he had thirty-five minutes before the train left. Q. What time does that train leave Jacksonville? A. 7.55. Q. When does the next Southern leave for Columbia? A. 9.10. Q. The next day? A. Yes, sir. Q. 9.10 the next morning? A. Yes, sir. Q. After talking with you and the baggage master, then what did he do ? A. Well, he said he was. anxious to: goi through, and said he was going to' chance it.”
R. B. Price, the conductor of defendant, testified, at folios 237-288: “Q. Do you remember seeing the plaintiff, Mr. Hasseltine, here, in Jacksonville? A. Yes, sir. Q. Where did you first see him? A. Well, about twenty-five or thirty minutes before leaving time. Q. Twenty-five or thirty minutes before leaving, what conversation did you have with him, if any? Just state. A. He asked me if that was the Southern train*to Columbia. I told him it was. Asked him if he had a health certificate. He said no', he didn’t. I told him they would require him to get one before he could get through Savannah. He said, well, he didn’t have one, he didn’t know what he would do; and he walked across the platform, I suppose about twenty or thirty feet, and engaged in conversation with a couple of gentlemen standing there for about five minutes. Q. Were those gentlemen he went off talking to employees or strangers? A. No, sir. 'They were strangers to- me. In about five minutes he came back to me and .said, well, he guessed 'he could get through all' right, he guessed he would chance it. That was all that was said.”
J. V. Nichols, baggage master of defendant, testified, at folio: 248: “Q. Do you remember seeing Mr. Hasseltine, the plaintiff here,' at Jacksonville? A. Yes, sir. Q. Where did you first see him, and what took place between you ? A. Why, he came up to the train to get on the train, and asked the flagman if that was the train for Columbia. The flagman says, ‘Yes.’ I was- standing there at the time. The flagman says ‘Yes,’ and asked him if he had a health certificate. He says, ‘No; they informed me in Miami I didn’t *148 need any.’ The flagman says, ‘Well, I don’t think you can get through here without one.’ And I told him, T think you will have trouble getting through without a health certificate.’ He says, T am going to chance it.’ ” This witness further testified that he told plaintiff that Savannah was quarantined.
H. R. Cramer, a quarantine inspector, testified that he had a conversation with plaintiff at Jessup, the next day, in which the plaintiff said, “When I left Miami, I didn’t know anything about it; and when I reached Jacksonville I was informed that I would need a health certificate to get to Columbia, to go through Savannah. I told him, well, personally I felt sorry for him, but as an official I couldn’t sympathize with him, he couldn’t blame us. He said, ‘No, I don’t blame any of you. It was my fault. I should have a health certificate.’ ”
The plaintiff, in reply, did not dispute any o*f the foregoing testimony for defendant, except to say that he did not tell the quarantine inspector, Mr. Cramer, that it was all his (plaintiff’s) own fault.
The Court charged the jury: “I charge you, that if the plaintiff, by exercising the care of a man of ordinary care and reason, knew, or ought to have known, of these quarantine regulations and did not do it, it is his own fault. If you find from the testimony that the plaintiff had notice or knowledge of the fact, or knowledge of such facts that a man of ordinary care and prudence would have drawn that inference ; that a man of ordinary care and prudence would have been led by the information to the fact that quarantine was in vogue, then it was his own lookout.” The jury must have disregarded this charge, as the evidence left no reason to doubt that plaintiff, when he boarded the train in J acksonville for Columbia, received notice that his continuous passage would be interrupted by reason of quarantine regulations unless he had a health certificate. Under such circumstances the Circuit Court erred in not granting a new trial. Buist Co. v. Lancaster Mercantile Co., 68 S. C., 526, 47 S. E., 978.
*149
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
The plaintiff, a passenger on the defendant railroad on his way from Jacksonville, Fla., to Columbia, S. C., for lack of a health certificate was required by the quarantine officers of the city of Sayannah to- leave the train at the village of Burroughs, where he was unable to obtain food or lodging for the night; was forced to incur the *143 expense of traveling to Jessup; fifty miles in the opposite direction, and resume his journey to’ Columbia from that point; and was delayed twenty-four hours in reaching his destination. For all this he recovered a judgment against the defendant railroad company for $1,000 damages, under the allegations that he was ignorant of the Savannah quarantine, while the defendant company which sold him the through ticket had full knowledge of it and the requirement of a health certificate by the Savannah health authorities; that the ticket agent who1 sold the ticket failed to. stamp it subject to quarantine or to' notify plaintiff of the quarantine being in force; that the conductor while informing plaintiff of Columbia quarantine said nothing of the Savannah quarantine. There was evidence on the part of the plaintiff tending to> sustain all these allegations. On the contrary, the conductor and other employees of the defendant testified to giving plaintiff express notice of the quarantine and that a health certificate would be required of him. before he could pass through the city of Savannah, and received the reply from him. that he would take his chances of getting through without the certificate. There is, therefore, no dispute that the conductor, defendant’s agent in charge of the train, undertook to inform the plaintiff as to- quarantine; and the issue of fact was whether, knowing of the Savannah quarantine, he misled the plaintiff by failing to tell him- of it, or the plaintiff took the risk of the quarantine after full notice. This issue was submitted to the jury, and 'the finding was against the defendant.
It is the judgment of this Court, that the judgment be affirmed.
Reference
- Cited By
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- Syllabus
- I. Appeal — Jury.—Appellant is not entitled to a new trial because the jury disregarded an instruction which would be applicable to one view of the evidence when the evidence is susceptible of another inference. Mr. Justice Jokes thinks the evidence here susceptible of no other reasonable inference than the one applicable to the instruction dis- 3. Liability of Railroad Company for Failure to Instruct Passenger of Quarantine. — Where a railroad company is fully advised of a quarantine, and undertakes, through its conductor, to give information on the subject to passengers, it is liable for the consequences of failure to give information as to a quarantine which would manifestly make an uninterrupted journey impossible. Mr. Justice Jones thinks the expulsion of plaintiff from defendant’s train and its consequent expense, annoyance and delay was proximately caused by the acts of quarantine officers, cmd that sufficient notice was given plaintiff by defendant’s servants to make it his own negligence not to have provided himself■ with a health certificate.