Toledo, Wabash & Western Railway Co. v. Lockhart

Citations

• 71 Ill. 627

Syllabus

<p>1. Common carriers—their duty to forward, and deliver within a reasonable time — delay by another company on the route. It is the duty of a common carrier to forward and deliver goods at the point it contracts to convey them to, within a reasonable time, and if it fails to do so, it is liable, whether it knew that its connecting line could not without unreasonable delay forward the goods or not.</p> <p>2. When a railroad company contracts to ship stock to a given point, it is bound to forward and deliver it at that point within a reasonable time, and it will not be released from its liability by a delivery to another connecting road, but will still be liable for any unreasonable delay, although the same occurs on account of the crowded condition of such connecting road.</p> <p>3. In order to guard against the delay occasioned on the connecting road, the company should provide for it in its contract, or should only contract to ship over its own road, and deliver to the next succeeding line to the place of destination.</p> <p>4. Evidence. In a suit against a railroad company, for unreasonable delay in transporting stock to the place of delivery, if the shipper had shipped with a view to have the stock reach its destination on a particular day of the week, and it would have done so had there been no unreasonable delay, it is competent for the plaintiff to prove that that particular day was the market day at the place of delivery, and that, in consequence of the delay, he was compelled to hold his stock, on expense, until the return of the market day of the next week.</p> <p>5. Where the defendant, a railroad Company, in a suit against it for unreasonable delay in transporting stock from the west to the east, set up as an excuse that the delay was occasioned by the want of empty cars at a particular point on the route, it was competent for the plaintiff', for the purpose of meeting such excuse, to prove that empty cars passed that point, going west, whilst the stock