Missouri Pacific Railway Co. v. Peru-Van Zandt Implement Co.

Citations

• 73 Kan. 295
• 85 P. 408
• 1906 Kan. LEXIS 248

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>1. Railroads — Conversion of Goods Consigned to Commission Agent — Action by Consignee. When property has been consigned by the general owner to an agent who has a special interest therein as factor or commission agent, and the goods so consigned are negligently delayed in transit and converted by the carrier, so that sales thereof previously made by the consignee are canceled and lost, such consignee may maintain an action in its own name against the carrier for the recovery of damages on account of such lost commission, and also for the value of the property converted.</p> <p>2. -Negligent Delay in Delivery — Damages in Excess of Freight — Consignee’s Rights. When a common carrier negligently delays the delivery of goods, so that the damages occasioned by such delay exceed the amount of freight due for the transportation of such goods, the consignee may rightfully demand the delivery of the goods without payment of the freight, and a refusal by the carrier to surrender possession upon such demand is wrongful, and amounts to a conversion.</p> <p>3. -Presumption as to Knowledge of the Effect of Nondelivery. Common carriers are supposed to take notice of such natural events as are familiar to ordinary people. They will be held to a knowledge of seed-time and harvest, and the general customs relating thereto in the territory where they do business. A common carrier that, on June 12, 1903, received at the factory in Port Huron, Mich., thrashing-machines consigned to an implement dealer of Hutchinson, Kan., to be delivered at Lamed, Kan., with stop-over to unload some of the consignment at Seward, Kan.,’will be deemed to have had notice that such machines were for immediate sale, if not already sold, and that a delay of delivery until the entire thrashing season passed would defeat the purpose of the shipment.</p> <p>4. - Conversion — Measure of Damages. An action was brought against a common carrier by the consignee of thrash- , ing-mac