Gulf, C. & S. F. Ry. Co. v. Goodman
Gulf, C. & S. F. Ry. Co. v. Goodman
Opinion of the Court
“In this cause the plaintiff, C. T. Goodman, sues the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fé Railway Company, defendant, for the sum of $ 140 alleged to have been expended by him for hospital fees, medical attention, and drugs. Plaintiff alleges that on the 5th day of October, 1913, and for some time prior thereto, he was an employé of *327 the defendant, and that during the time he was in the services of the defendant, it retained at the end of each month out of his monthly salary the sum of $1 for hospital fees, and that by reason thereof he was entitled to hospital services, medical attention, and drugs, in case of illness, without further charge. Plaintiff alleges that on the 5th day of October, 1913, he was severely burned about the hands and face in the basement of a building in the city of Houston, Tex.”
The only legal and reasonable construction that can be given to this charge is that plaintiff alleged the fact that the railroad company with his consent retained out of plaintiff’s salary $1 each month for hospital fees, and further alleged that the defendant railway company impliedly promised, in consideration of the monthly hospital fee, to furnish appellee, without further charge, with hospital services, medical attention, and drugs in case of the illness of appellee. It may be inferred from the issues presented in the charge that as plaintiff paid a dollar a month to the railroad company for hospital fees, plaintiff would be admitted into the railroad company’s hospital. It may further be inferred that if entitled to admission in the railroad company’s hospital, plaintiff was entitled to the surgical treatment and accommodations he would have received there from the railroad company’s agents. The Kenilworth, 4 L. R. A. (N. S.) 56, note, citing Ill. C. Ry. Co. v. Gheen, 112 Ky. 695, 66 S. W. 639, 68 S. W. 1087; Scanlon v. Railway Co., 86 S. W. 930. From the court’s charge it may further be presumed that plaintiff alleged that he became ill, and, further, that plaintiff prayed for judgment for $140, alleged by him to have been paid by plaintiff for hospital charges, medical attention, and drugs to some one other than the defendant railroad company.
This is all of plaintiff’s pleading that can be inferred from the statement thereof in the charge. This court must presume all other pleadings on behalf of plaintiff necessary to sustain the court’s judgment, if consistent with the charge, but cannot presume any allegations contradictory to the statement thereof in the written charge. We can then presume that plaintiff alleged that the defendant breached its implied obligation by refusing to admit plaintiff to its hospital and by refusing to furnish him the surgical treatment and accommodations and drugs he was entitled to receive, and that plaintiff thereby was compelled to expend $140 for these services, which amount was reasonable. Unless we are permitted to presume the allegation of a breach, plaintiff stated no cause of action. M. & B. Fire Underwriters, 181 S. W. 861, 862. We are permitted to presume these allegations were made in the oral petition.
As we must sustain appellant’s third, fourth, and twelfth assignments of error, and that ruling disposes of the case, we do not feel it necessary to discuss the other assignments, most of which are without merit in view of the verdict of the jury.
Illustrations by analogy usually cloud not clear, but perhaps the following may be an exception: When a guest registers at an American plan hotel, the act of registering creates the implied contract which binds the guest to pay a current rate and binds the hotel to furnish the guest with the hotel’s accommodations. If the guest is without baggage the rate may be demanded and paid in advance. Should the guest take his meal at a restaurant not controlled by the hotel and pay for the meal, the guest could not require the hotel to refund him the price paid for the restaurant meal. But if the hotel refused to furnish the meal after receiving payment, the guest probably would be entitled to recover because of the breach of the implied contract.
The judgment of the trial court is reversed, and judgment here rendered for appellant.
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