Isdaner v. Philadelphia & Reading Railway Co.

Citations

• 54 Pa. Super. 509
• 1913 Pa. Super. LEXIS 97

Syllabus

<p>Carriers — Common carriers — Railroads—Loss of merchandise — Contents of package — Presumption—Evidence—Death of witness.</p> <p>1. Where a person delivers a package of merchandise to a carter employed by himself to be transported and delivered to a railroad company for shipment, and the package is lost, the owner in a suit against the company is bound to show that the package was delivered to the railroad company in the same condition in which it was when received by the carter; and the fact that at the time of the trial the carter was dead and no other witness could be produced as to the condition of the package, does not relieve the plaintiff from the burden which rested upon him.</p> <p>2. In such a case a receipt for the goods “in apparent good order, except as noted, contents and conditions of contents of packages unknown,” is an admission as to conditions visible and open to inspection, but does not bind the carrier to liability for the contents in the absence of evidence that the package is not what it appears or is represented to be.</p>