Turner v. Great Northern Railway Co.

Citations

• 15 Wash. 213
• 46 P. 243
• 1896 Wash. LEXIS 165

Syllabus

<p>ACTION FOE DAMAGES — BILL OF PARTICULARS —CARRIERS OF PASSENGERS— TICKET AGENT — BREACH OF CONTRACT OF CARRIAGE — DAMAGES.</p> <p>The refusal of the court, in an action for damages for failure to transport plaintiff, to require plaintiff to furnish a bill of particulars showing the respective amounts claimed for loss of time, trouble, annoyance, disappointment and anxiety of mind, is not an abuse of discretion, especially where the damages claimed are general in their nature and are not required to be specifically alleged.</p> <p>A ticket seller in a union depot, whose business it is to sell tickets over various lines of railway whose trains enter and depart therefrom, is such an agent of any company furnishing tickets to be sold there, which are accepted by the conductors of its trains as its tickets, that the company is bound by any of the declarations of such ticket seller as to the running of its trains.</p> <p>Passengers have a right, until otherwise informed, to rely on information received by them from ticket agents as to the arrival, departure and running of trains, in answer to inquiries concerning those matters, provided they do not disregard other reasonable means of information.</p> <p>Where a railroad company fails to fulfill its contract to carry a passenger to a certain destination, the company is liable for the expense thereby incurred, including the cost of conveyance by other means and also that incident to unavoidable delay.</p> <p>Damages cannot be recovered for anxiety and suspense of mind in consequence of delay caused by the fault of a common carrier in failing to transport-a passenger to his destination pursuant to contract. (Willson v. Northern Pacific R. R. Co., 5 Wash. 621, distinguished.)</p> <p>The measure of damages for the loss of time incurred by an attorney through failure of a railroad company to transport him, is not what the time of practicing attorneys of his capacity, is worth, but the most trustworthy basis would be his earn