Massengale v. Western Union Telegraph Co.
Missouri Court of Appeals
Appeal from the St. Louis Circuit Court, Adams, J. A telegraph company is liable for an error in transmitting a dispatch, notwithstanding its blank contains a stipulation that, it will not be liable unless 'the message is ordered repeated, unless it makes affirmative proof that the error arose from causes beyond its control. — Tel. Co. v. Tyler, 74 Ill. 168; Tyler v. Tel.
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Appeal from the St. Louis Circuit Court, Adams, J. A telegraph company is liable for an error in transmitting a dispatch, notwithstanding its blank contains a stipulation that, it will not be liable unless 'the message is ordered repeated, unless it makes affirmative proof that the error arose from causes beyond its control. — Tel. Co. v. Tyler, 74 Ill. 168; Tyler v. Tel. Co. 60 Ill. 421. A telegraph company cannot make for itself a statute of limitations contravening the general law, unless it be one that is reasonable, and whether it is reasonable will depend on the facts of. each case. —…
1Opinion of the CourtLewis, P. J.
The plaintiffs’ agent at Selma, Alabama, sent to them at St. Louis a telegraphic dispatch directing the shipment of certain corn and flour to Selma. The message, as delivered by the sender to the defendant corporation, *258contained the word “'sight,” which, when it reached the plaintiffs, had become changed to the word “eight,” by an error in substituting the letter e for the letter s; which substitution, it was admitted, had occurred in the transmission from Selma to Montgomery, a relay station on the route. The error caused a damage to the plaintiffs in the sum of $87.25, for which they sue.…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Heimann v. Western Union Telegraph Co.Wisconsin Supreme Court · 1883
3Cited by13 opinions
- Sherrill v. Western Union Telegraph Co.Supreme Court of North Carolina · 1891
- Hudson & Co. v. Northern Pacific Railway Co.Supreme Court of Iowa · 1894
- Manier & Co. v. Western Union Telegraph Co.Tennessee Supreme Court · 1895
- Thompson v. Chicago & Alton RailroadMissouri Court of Appeals · 1886
- Western Union Tel. Co. v. HeathcoatSupreme Court of Alabama · 1907
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