Cunningham v. International Railroad

Citations

• 51 Tex. 503

Syllabus

<p>1. Railroad company—Damages.—A railroad company is not liable for damages resulting from the negligent management of one of its trains used and controlled by construction contractors, for construction purposes, on a portion of its road built under the Construction contract and not yet turned over to the railroad company.</p> <p>2. Railroad company—Damages.—The liability of a railroad company for damages resulting from the negligent management of a train, should be commensurate only with the extent of its right to control. '</p> <p>3. Contractor.—The true test by which to determine whether one who renders service for another does so as a contractor or not, is to ascertain whether he renders the service in the course of an independent occupation, in which he represents the will of his employer only as to the result of the work, and not as to the means by which it is accomplished.</p> <p>4. Railroad company.—The principle that the railroad company cannot delegate to an cm ploy é its chartered rights and privileges so as to exempt it from liability, docs not extend to the use of the ordinary ways and means for the construction of the road, but to the use of such extraordinary powers only as the company itself could not exercise without having first complied with the conditions of the legislative grant of authority.</p>