Schmidt v. Chicago & Northwestern Railway Co.
Wisconsin Supreme Court
Appeal from a judgment of the superior court of Milwaukee county: J. 0. Ludwig, Judge. The plaintiff is a wholesale dealer in rags. He was accustomed to store rags in the defendant’s freight warehouse as they were gathered in, and, whenever he made a sale, to ship them out in car-load lots. On the 28th day of October, 1892, he had a car load of rags in defendant’s warehouse, for which he had an order.
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Appeal from a judgment of the superior court of Milwaukee county: J. 0. Ludwig, Judge. The plaintiff is a wholesale dealer in rags. He was accustomed to store rags in the defendant’s freight warehouse as they were gathered in, and, whenever he made a sale, to ship them out in car-load lots. On the 28th day of October, 1892, he had a car load of rags in defendant’s warehouse, for which he had an order. He went to the foreman of defendant’s freight house, notified him that he had a car load ready to be shipped to Kimberly, Clark & Co., at Appleton, Wis., and asked him if he could get a car and…
1Opinion of the CourtNewman, J.
The question on which the case turns is whether defendant’s custody of plaintiff’s goods at the time when they were destroyed was the custody of a mere warehouseman, or whether it was the custody of a' common carrier. If the former, it is not liable; if the latter, it is liable. The rags were originally delivered in bales, to be kept in the warehouse until further orders. Until such further orders were received the defendant’s responsibility for them was that of a warehouseman only. Upon receipt of orders to ship the goods so in warehouse, the responsibility as common carrier attaches,…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Barron v. EldredgeMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1868
3Cited by5 opinions
- Charles J. Webb & Sons, Inc. v. Central R. Co. of New JerseyCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit · 1929
- Nelson v. Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Co.Court of Appeals of Kentucky · 1914
- Cincinnati Grain Co. v. Louisville & Nashville RailroadCourt of Appeals of Kentucky · 1912
- Campbell v. Los Angeles & S. L. R. Co.Utah Supreme Court · 1928
- Law v. Employers Mutual Casualty Co.Nebraska Supreme Court · 1950