Houston, E. & W. T. Ry. Co. v. Tanner
Houston, E. & W. T. Ry. Co. v. Tanner
Opinion of the Court
Appellee, J. T. Tanner, on January 28, 1920, sued appellant, Houston East & West Texas Railway Company, in the justice court of Liberty county, to recover $175, on account of damage to a shipment of 100 sacks of chops shipped to appellee by the Marshall Elevator Company September 23, 1919, it being claimed that on account of the leaky condition of the car in which the shipment was made the chops got wet and were damaged. The trial in the justice court March 15, 1920, resulted in a judgment for $172.50 as damages and $20 as attorney’s fees, from which judgment appellant appealed to the county court of Liberty county. The case was tried de novo in the county court April 30, 1920, before a jury, and resulted in a verdict and judgment for appel-lee in the sum of $167.25 and $20 attorney’s fees, from which said judgment the appellant has appealed to this court.
Appellant’^ first assignment of error (presenting fundamental error upon the face of the record) is as follows:
“The judgment is affected with fundamental error apparent on the face of the record, in awarding a recovery against the plaintiff in error, Houston, East & West Texas Railway Company, and directing the issuance of execution against it for the collection thereof, for it appears from the undisputed proof that the time of the shipment of the chops in question and the date of the damage to the same, which gave rise to defendant in error’s cause of action, was, to wit, September, 1919; and, as this honorable court judicially knows, the President of the United States, pursuant to authority granted by an act of Congress, had assumed the control, possession, and operation of the Houston, East & West Texas Railway, and was on said date in the possession and control thereof, and operating the' same through and by Walker D. Hines, Director General of Railroads, and had excluded said railway company from the custody, control, and management of said railway.”
“That actions at law, suits in equity, and proceedings in admiralty hereafter brought in any court, based on contract, binding upon the Director General of Railroads, claims for death or injury to person or for loss and damage to property arising since December 21st, 1917, and growing out of the possession, use, control, or operation of any railroad or system of transportation by the Director General of Railroads, which action, suit or proceedings, but for federal control, might have been brought against the carrier company, shall be brought against William G. McAdoo, Director General of Railroads, and not otherwise; provided, however, that this order shall not apply to actions, suits or proceedings for recovery of fines, penalties and forfeitures.”
Reversed and rendered.
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