Hoffman & Thomas v. Cumberland Valley Railroad

Briscoe, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. This is an action brought in the Circuit Court for Washington County by the appellants, Hoffman and Thomas, against the appellee, The Cumberland Valley Railroad Company, to recover damages caused by delay in the transportation of seven carloads of peaches shipped at Hagerstown, Md., in September, 1895, and directed to the consignees in New York. The line of the defendant’s road ends at Harrisburg, in the State of Pennsylvania, and at that place in the usual course of business freight for New York is delivered to the Pa. R. R. Co., a connecting carrier.

The delay complained of in this case occurred on the road of the connecting carrier, and the question is whether under the facts as disclosed by the record before us the defendant is liable for such delay. The law in regard to the liability of an initial carrier of goods for losses or delays occurring on the line of a connecting carrier to which it has safely delivered the goods in the course of transportation has been settled in this State by the cases of B. & O. R. R. Co. v. Green, 25 Md. 72 , and B. & O. R. R. Co. v. Schumaker, 29 Md. 168 . It is that the first carrier is only liable to the extent of its own route and for safe delivery to the next carrier in the absence of an express and special contract increasing the liability and causing it to cover losses that may happen upon ³⁹³ the lines of connecting carriers. And in Elliott o?i Railroads, sec. 1435, it is said: “The majority of our Courts have held in accordance with what is called the American rule, that the mere acceptance of goods directed to a point off the carrier’s line is not a sufficient basis for the implication of a contract for extra terminal liablity, and that in the absence of an express contract, or of more significant facts or specification than the fact of acceptance as the basis of an implied contract, the initial carrier is discharged by carrying safely to the end of its line, and there delivering to the next carrier.” In the case now under consideration the plaintiffs rely .upon a special agreement by the defendant to deliver the goods shipped in New York or Jersey City at a specified time over the route of a connecting carrier.

The proof on the subject is as follows : One of the plaintiffs testified that he had been shipping peaches from Hagerstown by refrigerator cars, when Long, the local station agent of the defendant, said to him that. “ it was not worth while to ship by refrigerator cars; why not try ventilated cars, they would get there (New York) the same as by express, hooked on to passenger tains ; rate to be 63 cents shipped by fast ■freight, and they would get to New York about seven o’clock in the morning.” The other plaintiff testified that Long said, “ if I shipped by fast freight I was always sure of the peaches getting there on time.” The only other evidence offered by the plaintiffs as to. the alleged agreement was the testimony of the witness Boss, who said that shortly before the shipments were made, Long, the agent, had said : “ We made a contract with Mr. Hoffman for fast freight and by passenger service from Harrisburg to New York, hitched to a passenger train behind the express car; that they would get there about 7 A. M., leaving here at something after 9 at night.” It was further shown on the part of the plaintiffs that all of their cars except one arrived in Jersey City several hours behind time, and that the peaches were then to some extent damaged. The ³⁹⁴ freight for the entire route was paid by the