Western Union Telegraph Co. v. Byrd

The defendant in error, an employee of the Western Union Telegraph Company, was awarded damages after refusal of the company to plead over when its demurrer was overruled. The appeal presents the inquiry of whether the company is a common carrier, excluded from the operation of the Workmen’s Compensation Act. The record shows that the company owned a line running-parallel with the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway, over which it transmitted messages to and from other States and carried on an interstate business.

The relocation of a portion of the railroad track near MoEwen, Tennessee,…