Petro v. Davis
Petro v. Davis
Opinion of the Court
Action brought by plaintiff and respondent, Charles A. Petro, against defendant and appellant, James C. Davis, Director General of Railroads in charge of Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, to recover the sum of $985 and interest, which amount plaintiff -claims he was damaged by reason of negligence of defendant in transporting 134 head of cattle of plaintiff from Edgemont, this state, to South Omaha, Neb. It is claimed by plaintiff that on account of defendant’s negligence in course of transportation and unreasonable delay in
“In the absence of a special contract, or special circumstances which take the case out of the general rule, a carrier of live stock is not bound to use extraordinary means to forward a shipment of stock. In such a case the shipper would be held to have consented to the carriage of such stock by the regular trains of the carrier on its ordinary schedules.” Payne v. Railway Co., 99 Neb. 699, 157 N. W. 613.
In the instant case no ellegation or proof was made or offered by plaintiff that any contract for special services had been entered into. Tiller & Smith v. Railway Co., 142 Iowa 309, 120 N. W. 672:
“Unless a carrier undertakes to carry live stock by special train, it may make such reasonable train schedules as may be proper to the ordinary and economical conduct of business, though the nature of the stock must at all times be considered.” Payne v. Railway Co., 99 Neb. 699, 157 N. W. 613.
“A carrier is not liable for the death of a horse due to the length of time taken- in transportation, where it arrived at its destination substantially on schedule time, and there is no evidence that there were faster freight trains by which the destination could have been sooner reached; the failure to accelerate the movement by attaching the freight car to a passenger train not beitig negligence.” Pine Bros. v. Ry. Co., 133 Iowa 1, 133 N. W. 128, 39 L. R. A. (N. S.) 639.
“In order to' recover damages for an alleged delay in the shipment of live stock it is necessary to introduce some competent evidence tending to show the length of time ordinarily required to transport the shipment from the place where received to the point of delivery, and that a longer time was actually consumed than was necessary for that purpose.” Johnston v. Ry. Co., 70 Neb. 364, 97 N. W. 479.
“'Where, in an action alleging injuries through delay in transportation, and rough handling of live stock during shipment, under a contract requiring shipper to feed and water the animals, there was no evidence of delay, or as to what would constitute a reasonable time for transportation, or that the injured condition was due to rough handling, or as to what -care was given as to feed
The scheduled time of the freight train from Edgemont to South Omaha was 69 hours and 35 minutes. The time actually taken to transport plaintiff’s cattle was 77 hours and 15 minutes, an excess of 7 hours and 40 minutes; but if they had been transported on schedule time they still would not háve been received at South Omaha until Thursday night, November 20th, at 6:20, and would therefore not have been available for Thursday market.
At the close of all the testimony defendant moved the court to instruct the jury to return a verdict in favor of the defendant-on the following grounds: (1) That the complaint does not state facts sufficient to constitute cause of action against defendant; (2) that the evidence is insufficient to sustain a verdict in favor of plaintiff — which motion was denied.
In view of the facts and the law applicable we conclude that the order and judgment of the trial court should be reversed; and it is so ordered.
Note. — Reported in 195 N. W. 504. See, Headnote (1), American Key-Numbered Digest, Carriers, Key-No. 213, 10 C. J. Sec. 407; (2) Carriers, Key-No. 213, 10 C. J. Sec. 407; (3) Carriers, Key-No. 228(5), 10 C. J. See. 439.
On duty of carrier to take precautions to prevent loss from delay in shipment of live stock, see notes in 39 D. R. A. (N. S.) 640, 642, 644.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- PETRO v. DAVIS, Director General of Railroads
- Status
- Published