American Express Co. v. Postal Telegraph-Cable Co.

In 1905, Watson, Woods Brothers & Kelly Company, who were engaged in importing and selling horses for breeding' purposes at Lincoln, Nebraska, employed the American Express Company to transmit by telegraph to Joseph Watson, Queen’s Hotel, Antwerp, Belgium, 80,000 francs. In order to accomplish this, the agent of the express company delivered to the agent of the defendant at Lincoln the following message, addressed to the American Express Company at 65 Broadway, New York: “Button Pike. Eighty thousand francs. Joseph Watson, Queen’s Hotel, Antwerp, Belgium.” The words “Button Pike” were code…