Astrella v. Laffey

The defendant, an expressman doing business as “ Pinkham’s Back Bay Express,” on January 12, 1914, received the plaintiff’s harp at the Copley Plaza Hotel, to be carried to 78 Portland Street, Boston, where it was delivered to the plaintiff. The harp was in a case or box having a crack or split near the padlock, “which did not appear to be different from the other cracks until pressure was exerted in that locality.” Before *470it was taken from the hotel, the case containing the harp had been in the baggage room of the hotel for sixteen hours, standing unsupported; a very slight contact would…