Pennsylvania R. v. Raiordon

Citations

• 119 Pa. 577
• 13 A. 324
• 1888 Pa. LEXIS 578

Syllabus

<p>1. It is settled that in Pennsylvania a common carrier may limit his liability by the terms of a special contract, but it is equally well settled, as an exception resting on grounds of public policy, that by such a limitation a common carrier may not be relieved from liability for his own negligence.</p> <p>2. If property be lost in an injurious accident happening to or by reason of that which a carrier has provided for the transportation, the law, imposing the exercise of the utmost care upon him, presumes the accident to be due to the want of that care and puts upon him the burden of successfully relieving himself from that presumption: Laing v. Colder, 8 Pa. 479.</p> <p>8. But when, in an action to recover for property (live stock) lost in transitu, it does not appear in evidence that the loss resulted from such an injurious accident, the presumption of negligence on the part of the defendant does not arise, and the burden of proving it remains with the plaintiff.</p> <p>4. The plaintiff sought to recover for the loss of a horse shipped under a bill of lading specially relieving the carrier from loss in transit except through gross negligence, which horse died on the way. There was no proof from the plaintiff, or in the case, of the cause of the death of the horse: Held, that- no presumption of negligence arose from the fact of the loss, and the plaintiff was not entitled to recover.</p>