Western Union Telegraph Co. v. Reynolds Bros.

Citations

• 77 Va. 173
• 1883 Va. LEXIS 47

Syllabus

<p>1. Telegraph Companies are not public carriers in the strict sense of the term, yet on account of the public nature of their employment, they have in many cases been held to a very similar responsibility.</p> <p>2. Idem—Contract—Statute.—The obligation of such companies, upon payment of the usual charges to transmit faithfully and promptly all messages presented for transmission, rests, in Virginia, not merely on contract, but is imposed by Code 1873, ch. 65, § 2.</p> <p>3. Idem—Regulations.—Such companies may make their own regulations for the conduct of their business, but they must be reasonable and not in conflict with any liability imposed by law, and they cannot relieve themselves from liability for the improper or negligent conduct of their servants or defective character of their instruments.</p> <p>4. Idem—Negligence—Measure of damages.—Where such company has received a message for transmission and the usual charges according to their regulations, it is bound to transmit the message faithfully and promptly, whether it be in “ cipher ” or “ intelligible,” and should the company negligently fail to transmit such message altogether, or to transmit it faithfully and promptly, it will become liable to an action for damages by the party aggrieved, and the measure of damages in such case is such loss as the party aggrieved has sustained by reason of the wrongful act of the company in violation of the duties imposed on it by law. A more precise statement of the rule is : The company is liable to all the direct damages which both parties would have contemplated as flowing from the breach of the contract or violation of the duty, if, at the time, they had bestowed proper attention to the subject, and had been fully informed of all the facts.</p> <p>5. Practice at Common Law—Instructions.—Telegraph Company received a cipher message for transmission, and the usual charges according to its regulations, and failed altogether to transmit it, whereby the sender lost a l