McMeekin v. Southern Ry.
McMeekin v. Southern Ry.
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
In this action the Circuit Court affirmed the judgment of the magistrate in favor of the plaintiff McMeekin against the defendant Southern Railway Company for the value of a part of a shipment of flour and *382 meal lost in the course of transportation from Estill Springs, Tennessee, to- Wallaceville, South Carolina, and for $50.00 penalty for failure to adjust and pay the claim within the time allowed by the statute.
There was evidence tending to prove that the goods were lost before the shipment was delivered to the Southern Railway at Atlanta, and under this evidence the magistrate found as a fact that the goods were never delivered to the Southern Railway Company. This finding of fact was not disturbed by the Circuit Court.
Erom this finding of fact it also follows that the defendant was not liable for the penalty of $50.00’ under the statute of 1903 (24 Stat., 81), which provides for the recovery of a penalty for failure to adjust and pay “for loss or damage to property while in the possession of such common carrier.” Venning v. A. C. L. R. R., supra.
The judgment of this Court is that the judgment of the Circuit Court be reversed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- McMeekin v. Southern Railway
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- 1 case
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- Syllabus
- 1. Carrier — Freight.—Presumption' that a connecting carrier has received an entire shipment from reception by it of a portion of a single shipment does not apply where the fact is found to be the carrier never received the missing portion. 2. Ibid. — Ibid.—Penalty.—Under a bill of lading stipulating “no carrier shall be liable for loss or damage not accruing on its own portion of the route,” a carrier is not liable for a portion of a single shipment lost by its connecting carrier, nor for penalty under 24 Stat., 81. 3. Ibid. — Ibid.—Ibid.—Consignee of lost freight cannot recover the penalty provided in section 1710, Code, 1902, under a hill of lading which does not provide that the responsibility of each or any carrier shall cease upon delivery to the connecting carrier “in good order.”