N. & W. Railroad v. Wysor

Citations

• 82 Va. 250
• 1886 Va. LEXIS 27

Syllabus

<p>1. Practice at Common Law—Action ex contractu—Declaration— ■ Demurrer.—Declaration showing on its face that plaintiff had first violated the contract is bad on demurrer.</p> <p>2. Idem—■Misjoinder of counts—Consequences.—Counts ex delicto cannot be joined in the same declaration with counts ex contractu. Such misjoinder makes the declaration bad on demurrer. But unless a demurrer has been filed and overruled, such misjoinder will not be grounds for motion in arrest of judgment or writ of error. Code 1873, ch. 177, sec. 3.</p> <p>3. Idem—Passengers—Pules and regulations.—Carrier is entitled to make rules for conducting its affairs, if they be reasonable, not conflicting with any legal liability, and not exempting from liability for negligence or improper conduct. If those rules be such, they are binding on persons dealing with carrier when notified thereof. The reasonableness of these rules is a question of law for the courts.</p> <p>4. Commutation Tickets—Detached coupons.-^The rule that, coupons of such tickets, if detached, will not be accepted for a passage, is rear sonable. 1</p> <p>5. Instructions—Damages—Punitive and excessive—Case at bar.—The instruction asked for by the defendant company was proper, and should have been given; and the court below erred in substituting for it the instruction given of its own motion. The verdict was for punitive and excessive damages, and should have been set aside. Punitive damages belong alone to actions of tort.</p>