Western Union Telegraph Co. v. Hartfield
Western Union Telegraph Co. v. Hartfield
Opinion of the Court
The action was for damages' alleged to have been sustained by Mrs. Hart-field as the result of delay in the delivery of a telegram filed for transmission at New Orleans, La., addressed to Mrs. Jessie Hart-field at Houston, Tex., dated October 2, 1909, reading as follows: “Bean died this morning at 4:40. [Signed] Joe.” Bean was the uncle of the addressee, and it was his funeral she failed to attend as the result of the failure to deliver the telegram at Houston until the next morning about 10:10, although it reached Houston about 5 p. m. of the 2d, and in time for her to have taken that evening’s train, as she" would have done, and to have reached New Orleans the next morning in time to attend the funeral, which took place at 4 p. m. of that day. Plaintiff obtained a verdict for $1,950.
The first assignment of error is that the court refused to give a peremptory instruction for a verdict for defendant, as requested. The second assignment is as follows: “The court erred in its charge to the jury, as follows: ‘You.are charged that if you believe, from a preponderance of the evidence, that a telegram dated October 2, 1909, directed by one Joe to Mrs. Jessie Hartfield, 3401 Washington street, Houston, Tex., was not delivered in time, and that the same announced the death of the uncle of the said plaintiff, Jessie Hartfield, named Bean, and if you believe the company was negligent in delivery of the said message, and failed to deliver the same at the time when it was received, or in a reasonable time thereafter, considering all the circumstances, use ordinary diligence to, and if you believe the company failed to use ordinary diligence to, deliver the said telegram, according to its direction, as alleged in plaintiff’s petition, and if you further believe, from the evidence, that the plaintiff could and would have visited the city of New Orleans, if she had received the said telegram in time, and if you further believe that she failed to go to said city of New Orleans because of the failure to receive the said telegram, and that she was deprived of being present at the funeral of the said Bean by reason of the nondelivery of the said message, and if you further believe, from the evidence, that the plaintiff in this suit was very near and dear unto the said person called Bean in the said telegram, and that he was her uncle, and that she had for him the affection of a child at the time of his death, and that she suffered grief and great mental pain and anguish by reason of not being present after his death, and at the time of his funeral, then you will find for the plaintiff such an amount as you may believe, from a preponderance of the evidence, will compensate her for the grief and mental pain and anguish that she suffered by reason of such deprivation.’ ”
The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Western Union Telegraph Co. v. Hartfield Et Ux. [Fn1]
- Cited By
- 6 cases
- Status
- Published