Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III CARRIERS Q. A shipped his trunk by the X Express Company from New York to Buffalo, and obtained the usual receipt therefor. Upon his arrival at Buffalo, A went to the office of the Company and demanded his trunk, and upon the same not being delivered to him, he immediately brought suit. The Company defends on the ground that it had used all due care and was not guilty of any fault or negligence on its part. Who should have judgment and why? A. Judgment for A. The common carrier’s liability is absolute. The carrier is an insurer of the safety of the goods. It is liable for all loss, except that caused by the Act of God, “ Public Enemy” or some inherent defect in the goods. Merritt v. Earle, 29 N. Y. 117. Q. A shipped certain goods to Dayton, Ohio, by the X Railroad Company. While the goods were in transit a great flood arose causing considerable damage to the goods, notwithstanding that the cars were equipped in a manner to withstand the ordinary storms. A makes claim for the damages to the goods, which the Company refuses to pay. A brings suit. Can he recover? A. No, as the loss was caused by the Act of God.
The ‘Act of God’ signifies the violence of nature, such as storms, earthquakes, and unprecedented floods, not caused by any human intervention. To relieve the carrier from liability, the ‘Act of God’ must be the sole and immediate cause of the loss. Unprecedented floods of such magnitude, that the ordinary safeguards provided by the carrier are wholly insufficient to withstand their effects, are within the term ‘Act of God,’ and the carrier is not liable for a loss resulting from such a cause, unless it appears that his own want of care was the proximate cause of the loss. McPadden v. R. R., 44 N. Y. 478. Q. A delivered certain live stock to…
