Jolliffe v. Northern Pacific Railroad

Citations

• 52 Wash. 433
• 100 P. 977
• 1909 Wash. LEXIS 1134

Syllabus

<p>Carriers — Of Goods — Delay in Shipment — Stipulations in Contract — Negligence of Defendant — Burden of Proof — Presumption From Unusual Delay. The fact of unusual delay in the shipment of horses makes a prima facie case of negligence against a carrier, under a contract in which the shipper assumed all risks of delay in transportation, where it was recognized that the carrier could not relieve itself from acts of negligence by a further clause exempting the company from liability except for acts of negligence; since the cause of the delay is peculiarly a matter within the knowledge of the defendant and out of the reach of the plaintiff. /•</p> <p>Same — Damages From Delay — Evidence—Sufficiency. In an action for damages from unusual delay in shipping horses, causing shrinkage preventing immediate sale, the evidence of the amount of the damage sustained is sufficiently definite to make a case for the jury, where it appears that an unusual amount of shrinkage was caused by the delay, requiring the keeping and feeding of the horses a longer time than usual before they could be sold, costing at the rate of ?15 per month for care and keep,</p>