Buck v. Oregon Railroad & Navigation Co.

Citations

• 53 Wash. 113
• 101 P. 491
• 1909 Wash. LEXIS 1278

Syllabus

<p>Carriers — Live Stock — Limitation of Liability — Safety of Stock Pens — Validity—Construction. A provision in a contract for the shipment of stock requiring the shipper to inspect cars and stock pens and to report any visible defects and demand repairs, on pain of accepting their sufficiency, does not relieve the company from liability for negligence in failing to furnish suitable stock pens, as it would be void if so construed; and it only requires the shipper to assume liability when the defect is known or plainly visible to a casual observer.</p> <p>Same — Inspection by Shipper — Evidence—Sufficiency. The shipper of stock does not assume the liability for loss of stock that escaped from a stock pen through a gate negligently fastened with a bent hook which yielded to pressure on the gate from the inside, and which had been in that condition for some time, where it appears that he was taken to inspect the pen at night, that it was the only one unoccupied, that he walked around it, and found it apparently sufficient and in good condition and the gate fastened.</p> <p>Same — Question for Jury. Where a stock pen was secure except that the gate was fastened with a bent hook that yielded to pressure on the gate from the inside, and in the morning the gate was found open, whether the escape of the stock was due to the defective hook is a question for the jury.</p>