East St. Louis Connecting Railway Co. v. Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway Co.

Citations

• 123 Ill. 594

Syllabus

<p>1. Pleading—cownt in assumpsit, when the writ is in ease. A declaration is irregular, -which is really a count in assumpsit, while purporting to follow the writ, which is in ease.</p> <p>2. Same—of the declaration—in action against carrier. A declaration in an action on the case against a common carrier which fails to disclose the real ground of complaint, and make known just wherein the defendant is guilty of a breach of its promise or duty, is substantially defective.</p> <p>3. Oabbiebs—liability for re-delivery of railroad cars—carrier as an insurer. Where a plaintiff delivers cars to the defendant, a carrier, to be delivered to a manufacturing company, and they are so delivered, and such company receives the cars of the carrier and places them upon an independent track of its own, out of the defendant’s reach, and where he can not rescue them from danger, and they are accidentally destroyed by fire while in such place, the defendant carrier will not be liable for the loss.</p> <p>4. A connecting railway company, having a line of road connecting with the tracks of various other roads, received loaded cars from another railway company to be delivered by it upon the track of a manufacturing company, and to return the same when unloaded by the latter company, and did so deliver the same in accordance with its previous course of business. The cars were burned before being unloaded and re-delivered: Held, the former company was not liable for the loss of the oars, or for its failure to return them. When so delivered to be unloaded, the cars must be held to have reached their destination, and the carrier’s liability as insurer ceased; but if they, after being unloaded, are returned to the carrier which brought them to their destination, its liability will'commence anew, and continue until the cars are returned to the original consignor.</p>