McKeown v. Southern Railway Co.
McKeown v. Southern Railway Co.
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
The plaintiff, who lives in Chester county, had an engagement to attend a convention that met in Greenville on the 18th of March, 1913. From his home he called over the phone the Southern depot at Chester and asked for information as to routes and rates from Chester to Greenville, stating that he wanted to reach Greenville about midday of 18th. There was a choice of routes and rates offered. The agent advised the longest route and the highest rate by Charlotte. There were special excursion rates .to the convention. The plaintiff asked the agent if he knew of any one else who was going, and the agent replied that Mr. Douglas was going, and the plaintiff told the agent he would communicate with Mr. Douglas and get him to1 get the ticket for him. He did so. Mr. Douglas bought two excursion *341 tickets, one for himself and one for' the plaintiff. Mr. Douglas was informed that the route by Charlotte would require the payment of Pullman fare extra. The Pullman tickets were purchased in Charlotte. The -train these gentlemen took at Charlotte made only three stops between'' Charlotte and Greenville, to wit, Gastonia, Blacksburg and Spartanburg. Between Charlotte and Gastonia the ticket collector of the defendant and the Pullman conductor demanded the tickets. The Pullman conductor took his ticket, but the ticket collector of the defendant refused to honor the tickets of the plaintiff and Mr. Douglas, and demanded cash fare. Both of these gentlemen refused to p-ay the fare. They explained fully the circumstances under which the tickets were bought. That they had contracted for that train, and had paid all that was demanded of them, and that they were assured that they had complied with all requirements and were entitled to ride on it.upon their tickets. They requested the conductor, to- whom the matter was referred by the ticket collector, -to- wire the Chester agent and ascertain from him the facts. The conductor declined to wire as- it might take until the next day to get an answer. The plaintiff and Mr. Douglas were told that if they did not pay the cash fare by the time they reached Blacksburg-, they would be ejected. They did not pay and were ejected. This- action was brought for both actual and punitive damages for the ejectment at Blacksburg.
The defendant did not deny the circumstances surrounding- the purchase of the ticket .and claimed that the delict, if any, was in the issuance of the ticket at Chester and not the ej ectment at Blacksburg. In other words, that the agent at Chester, by mere inadvertance, had delivered -to the plaintiff and Mr. Douglas tickets- that were old, out of date, and tickets that the conductor on- this train-, which was a “limited train,” could not have accepted, -and that the conductor acted in perfect good faith and in- obedience to rules in refusing to accept the tickets. (Mr. Douglas has brought a separate *342 action.) The judgment was for the plaintiff and the defendant appealed.
In order to avoid confusion, it is well to eliminate some questions that are not before this Court. This .is not a question of rates. The defendant said in the trial more than once, “it is not a question of not charging enough.” It is not a question of through travel. There was no question of local travel. This question was not raised and there were other local passengers. This train was to stop1 at Greenville. There was some testimony as to some offer by the plaintiff to pay the difference between the ticket and the cash fare, but this, is not important here, as defendant protested that “it is not a question of not charging enough.”
Two' questions may- arise:
1. Did the ticket entitle the plaintiff to passage on this train.
2. .If the ticket was insufficient, was the defendant bound to heed the explanation of the passenger ?
1. Did the ticket entitle the plaintiff to passage on this tráin ?
The trouble with the ticket was that it had printed on it in red letters these words: “Not good on Washington and Southwestern Limited.”
.The second question, based upon a void ticket, need not, be discussed as it does not properly'arise. It can have no effect on this case.
This exception is overruled.
5. The second exception raises this same question of imputed knowledge and is covered by the comment on exception three.
6. The first exception can not be condensed, and will have to- be copied.
“1. Because his Honor erred in charging the jury as follows- :
5, 6 ‘N-o-w, I charge you in this case that this action is predicated not on -the negligence of the selling agent, but on the negligence, wilfulness, wantonness, recklessness and maliciousness of the ejecting agent. I charge you that if the agent at Chester represented to the plaintiff that ticket was go-od on train- No. 37 on the main line, and the plaintiff paid his money on that representation believing it, he had the right to* ride on No-. 37, and I charge you, further, that it is the duty of the conductor in charge of one of the defendant company’s trains to heed the reasonable explanations of a passenger where the passenger is found to- be in possession- of an irregular ticket, and if he *345 acts without heeding the reasonable explanation of a passenger he runs the risk of the passenger’s being right, and if the passenger is right he subjects this company to- damages, to a cause of action for damages; and if he recklessly, wilfully, or wantonly refuses to heed them, he subjects his company to punitive damages if the passenger be injured through the wrongful ejection; and I charge you if the passeng'er bought the ticket on the representation of that agent that it was good for a particular train, and the passenger honestly believed that, paid his. money for it on that belief and took that train, if he was ejected he was wrongfully ejected. Now, I am making this plain, because there are some very nice questions of law that the defendant and other companies in like circumstances will have to> get the Supreme Court to settle. But you can’t settle it. You have got to take what I say, and I am giving you what I believe the law;’ the specific error being (a,) that while the action may not have been predicated on the negligence of the selling agent at Chester, yet such negligence was set up1 in the answer of the defendant in order to negative wilfulness, wantonness, recklessness and maliciousness on the part of the ejecting agent, (b) That under such charge his Honor practically instructed the jury that they must render a verdict for the plaintiff, and thereby charged upon the facts in violation of the Constitution of J:his State, (c) That by such charge the duty of the plaintiff to< minimize the damages, ensuing, or about to ensue, from the negligence, of the selling agent at Chester, after his. attention had been called to such negligence, was entirely excluded from the consideration of the jury.”
a. It is difficult to1 see how the want of wilfulness at Chester can negative wilfulness at Blacksburg. The action was for the ejectment at Blacksburg. This position can not be sustained.
b. That charge was entirely on the law, and the objection can not be sustained.
*346 c. This position can not be sustained for theueason stated above.
The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Cited By
- 7 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Carrier and Passenger. Charge. Tickets. Ejection of Passenger. Wilfulness Damages. 1. Where after changing the advertising- name of train, No. 37, from “Washington and Southwestern Limited,” to “New York, Atlanta and New Orleans Limited,” a carrier sold a ticket for passage over the route on which this train ran and between points at which this train stopped, stamped “Not good on Washington and Southwestern Limited,” the limitation did not then apply to train No. 37, and the purchaser was entitled to transportation on that train. 2. Where a carrier having means and opportunity to investigate, refused to investigate a reasonable explanation given by a passenger in regard to his right to ride upon a ticket in his possession, or to ’ accept a ticket, and ejected’ the passenger from the train, assigning as the only reason, that it might not have time to ascertain the truth until too late, the question as to the reasonableness of the explanation, and as to whether or not the ejection was wilful was properly submitted to the jury. 3. Á passenger presenting a good ticket is under no obligation when threatened by the carrier with ejection from the train to pay an addition fare, or make a deposit of cash on account thereof, in order to prevent the anticipated wrong or minimize damages to arise therefrom. 4. A conductor being charged with the duty to heed the reasonable explanation given by a passenger of his right to ride upon a ticket in his possession, and to investigate their truth, refusing to attempt an investigation, the carrier, his employer, is charged with the information which such investigation might have furnished. 5. In action an action by a passenger'against a carrier for a wrongful ejection from a train a charge, “that this action is predicated not on the negligence of the selling agent, but on the negligence, wilfulness, wantonness, recklessness and maliciousness of the ejecting agent. If the agent at Chester represented to the plaintiff that that ticket was good on train No. 31 and the plaintiff paid his money on that representation believing it, he had the right to ride on No. 37. It is the duty of the conductor in charge of the defendant company’s train to heed the reasonable explanation of the passenger, where the passenger is found to be in possession of an irregular ticket, and if the conductor acts without heeding the reasonable explanation of the passenger, he runs the risk of the passenger being right, and if the passenger is right the conductor subjects the company to a cause of action for damages; and if the conductor recklessly, wilfully, or wantonly refuses to heed them, he subjects his company to punitive damages if the passenger be injured through the wrongful ejection; and if the passenger bought the ticket on the representation of defendant’s selling agent that it was good for a particular train, and the passenger honestly believed that, paid his money for it on that belief and took that train, if he was ejected, he was wrongfully ejected.” Held, entirely upon the law, applicable to the hypothetical statement of facts, and sustained. G. Want of wilfulness of carrier’s ticket agent in issuing a ticket which misled its conductor, cannot negative the wilfulness of the conductor in ejecting the passenger without investigation of his reasonable explanation.