Klippel v. Western Union Telegraph Co.

Citations

• 106 Kan. 6
• 186 P. 993
• 1920 Kan. LEXIS 444

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>Telegram — Delay in Transmission — Interstate Commerce — Measure of Damages. In an action to recover damages alleged to have been caused by delay in delivering an unrepeated message, sent from Greensburg, Kan., to Hutchinson, Kan., it was shown that defendant sent the telegram over a line running from Greensburg through the Hutchinson office to Kansas City, Mo., where it was relayed to Hutchinson. The delay in delivering the message was not occasioned by the manner in which it was routed. The practice of relaying such messages through Kansas City had obtained for years, because Kansas City controls the circuit and maintains the necessary force for proper and prompt handling of such telegrams. The jury found that the message was transmitted in the regular, usual and customary routing employed by the defendant in transmitting messages between the place of origin and destination. Held, that the transmission of the message was an interstate transaction, and that a rule of the defendant limiting its liability on account of its negligence in the delivery of an interstate message to the amount received for sending the same, is valid and binding. (Bailey v. Telegraph Co., 97 Kan. 619, 156 Pac. 716; rehearing denied, 99 Kan. 7, 160 Pac. 985; Kirsch v. Telegraph Co., 100 Kan. 250, 164 Pac. 267; Postal Telegraph-Cable Co., v. WarrenGodwin Lumber Co., [U. S.], decided December 8, 1919.)</p>