Dysart v. Missouri, K. & T. Ry. Co.

Citations

• 122 F. 228
• 58 C.C.A. 592
• 1903 U.S. App. LEXIS 4754

Syllabus

<p>1. Principal and Agent—Apparent Authority op Agent Sometimes Equivalent to Actual Authority.</p> <p>A principal is bound to third persons, who act without notice or reasonable cause to believe that there is a defect of power, by the apparent authority with which he clothes the agent, within the scope of his agency, to the same extent as by the actual authority he confers upon him.</p> <p>2. Carriers—Apparent Authority to Trainmaster to Take Passenger on Freight Train.</p> <p>A trainmaster, who had no authority to permit passengers to ride upon freight trains without the order of the superintendent, but whose duty it was to issue orders to that effect to' conductors when directed to do so by the superintendent, and whose orders the conductors were required to obey without question, issued an order to a conductor without authority from the superintendent to carry a physician on his freight train, and the conductor did so. Neither the conductor nor the doctor knew, or had reasonable cause to believe, that the trainmaster had violated his duty and issued the order without authority from the superintendent. Seld, the act of the trainmaster was within the scope of his agency. He had authority to perform it under some circumstances. His master had clothed him with apparent authority to issue the order, and as against the conductor and the doctor, who had no notice or cause to believe that there was any defect in his authority, the apparent authority was as binding upon the railway company as actual authority would have been.</p> <p>8. Same—Presumption—Passengers on Freight Trains.</p> <p>In the absence of any rule or practice permitting freight trains to carry passengers, the presumption is that conductors have no authority to authorize them to ride thereon, and that one riding for his own convenience on a freight train, an engine, a hand car, or any other carriage of a common carrier that is evidently not designed for the transportation of passengers, is unlawfully the