Western Union Tel. Co. v. Va. Paper Co.

Citations

• 87 Va. 418
• 12 S.E. 755
• 1891 Va. LEXIS 86

Syllabus

<p>1. Contributory Negligence—Definition—Rule.—Where want of ordinary care on plaintiff’s part (i. e., such care as an ordinarily prudent man may reasonably be expected to exercise under similar circumstances) contributes in any degree to cause the injury, he cannot recover.</p> <p>2. Telegraph Companies—Negligence—Liability.—Manager of Straw-Board Association telegraphed a member that price of straw board had been advanced, aDd a few hours later, that old price had been restored. About midnight of same day, telegraph company, by mistake, sent him a copy of first telegram marked “ Dup.”: held, member was entitled to presume the last telegram to be an original dispatch, and his failure to detect it as a duplicate was not such want of ordinary care as prevented him from recovering damages for losses resulting from the mistake.</p> <p>3. Practice at Common Law—New trial.—Where judgment has been entered on verdict for plaintiff, subject to court's opinion on demurrer to evidence, plaintiff, not moving in court below for a new trial, cannot here insist that the damages allowed him by verdict are too small. Without such motion below, this court cannot award a new trial.</p>