Moore v. Columbia, Railroad

Citations

• 38 S.C. 1
• 16 S.E. 781
• 1892 S.C. LEXIS 227

Syllabus

<p>1. Railroads. — The status, rights, and obligations of railroad corporations, stated.</p> <p>2. Passenger Without Ticket — Pare.—Where there is a ticket office, and it is kept open for the sale of tickets to passengers for thirty minutes before the train leaves, the passenger who boards the train without having purchased a ticket, is liable, under the laws of this State, to pay the ordinary fare and twenty-five cents additionaL</p> <p>3. Ibid. — Ibid.—Ejection.—If the passenger neglects to purchase a ticket, and also refuses to pay, be is not entitled to transportation for any distance ; if his neglect to purchase was intended as a fraud on the rights of the corporation, he is also liable to a forfeiture. Gen. Stat., (Í 1511. In both cases, the conductor should enforce the payment of the fare, and, on refusal, use so much force as is necessary to eject the passenger from the train when stopped.</p> <p>4. Ibid. — Rule op Company.. — After refusal by a passenger to pay the legal fare demanded by the conductor, there is no contractual relation which would entitle the passenger to be carried to the next station, under a rule of the company, if such a rule was found to exist.</p> <p>5. Trespasser on Train. — One who enters a railroad passenger coach without a ticket, becomes, on refusing to pay his fare, a trespasser ab initio.</p> <p>6. Ibid. — Immaterial Error. — The charge of the Circuit Judge, as a whole, in this case, on the right of a railroad and its conductor towards a passenger who refuses to pay his fare, approved; and his declaring that such conductor had the rights of a trial justice, when he should have said “constable,” worked no harm in the connection in which it was said.</p> <p>1. Assault by Trespasser — Defence by Conductor. — A conductor may eject a trespasser from the train, and in doing so may use such force as is necessary. While so acting, the conductor may resist assault, meet force with force, and continue to strike until danger to himself is