Bennett v. Rio Grande Canal Co.
Bennett v. Rio Grande Canal Co.
Opinion of the Court
This is a suit instituted by appellee against appellants, W. H. Bennett and M. M. Biggs, to recover the sum of $408, alleged to be due it for water furnished during the year 1913 to irrigate 136 acres of land, under the terms of a pertain written contract made by and between Frank Willi-ford and W. H. Bennett, which contract had been assigned to appellee, whereby said Bennett bound himself to pay the sum of $3 an acre for the use of said water. It was further alleged that Bennett was still the owner of 136 acres of land out of the tract of ICO acres described in the contract, and that Biggs, during 1913, cultivated a part of the 136 acres under some lease or contract, the terms of which were not known to ap-pellee. It was alleged that water was furnished according to the terms of contract and that appellants had not paid for it. Biggs set up a cross-action against appellee for $901.25. The cause was submitted to a jury on special issues, and on the answers judgment was rendered against Bennett for $391.-50, against appellee as to Biggs, and against the latter as to his cross-action.
“We regard the rule denying to carriers the right to excuse themselves for delays resulting from such conditions as those supposed, when they have received the property knowing of the •existence of those conditions and giving no notice thereof to shippers, as defining a part of the duties imposed by law upon carriers, and not as expressing merely the results of agreements. That duty is to give notice to customers whenever the transportation cannot be performed, in the usual way, -which notice gives to the shipper the opportunity to choose between different courses open to him. When the carrier has done this, it has fulfilled its legal duty in this respect, and should not be held responsible for a delay which it cannot prevent, if the shipper still insists on delivering his property for shipment.”
Even in the absence of an express contract relieving appellee from damages arising from the condition of its plant, appellee could have shown that the condition of the plant and the necessity for repairs and reconstruction were known to appellants when the contract was made, and appellee would be relieved from liability. The contract served the purpose at least of bringing home to Bennett the condition of the plant and the probability of a failure to efficiently deliver water.
Bennett was liable to appellee for the water charges, and proof that he had sold part of the land to Biggs had no pertinency or force in the case, The sixth assignment of error is overruled.
The seventh and eighth assignments have been fully treated under other assignments, and they are overruled.
The charges complained of in the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth assignments cannot be inquired into, for the reason that no bill of exceptions was reserved by appellants to the giving of such charges.
The twenty-first, twenty-second, twenty-third, twenty-fourth, twenty-fifth, twenty-sixth, and twenty-seventh assignments are mere reiterations of the fifth assignment of error, which has been fully discussed herein. They are overruled.
The twenty-eighth assignment of error is in effect the same as the first, and has been disposed of by the discussion thereunder.
We find no error in the judgment, and it is affirmed.
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Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.