Keller v. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad

Citations

• 196 Pa. 57
• 46 A. 261
• 1900 Pa. LEXIS 470

Syllabus

<p>Common carrier — Destination—Carrier of live stock — Province of court andjtiry.</p> <p>Where a bill of lading names as destination of live stock a town beyond a city which was the terminus of .the carrier’s road, and it is stipulated that the carrier’s liability shall cease at its freight station in the city, and it is undisputed (1) that the carrier’s road for delivery of freight did not extend beyond its freight station, and (2) that the horses were in good condition when they were delivered at the freight station to the connecting carrier, these questions should not be submitted to the jury.</p> <p>Common carrier — Carriers of live stock — Bill of lading — Parol evidence to vary written agreement.</p> <p>Where a bill of lading names a destination beyond the terminus of the initial carrier’s railroad, but such carrier’s liability is explicitly confined to its own route, and the paper is clear, plain and unambiguous, the shipper’s rights, if he has failed to show a modification of the bill of lading, or parol agreement as an inducement thereto, must be ascertained by the terms of the agreement itself, and in such a case the initial carrier is not liable for any injuries received by the shipper’s property while on the line of the connecting carrier.</p> <p>Carriers — Bill of lading — Conneating carrier — Liability.</p> <p>. A receipt clause' in a bill of lading naming a point beyond the initial harrier’s terminus as the destination of the goods, does not impose upon the carrier issuing the bill of lading the liability of a carrier beyond the terminus of its road, nor is it in conflict with an expressed stipulation that the carrier’s liability should cease at its own terminus, or with a provision that if it were necessary to deliver the goods to another carrier to reach their destination, the initial carrier should not be liable for the fraud and negligence of such other carrier.</p> <p>Dean, J., dissents.</p>