Legal Opinion

Smith v. Western Union Telegraph Co.

Missouri Court of Appeals

Decided March 26, 1894PublishedCited by 8 opinions

Appeal from the Pettis Circuit Court. — Hon, R. H. Field, Judge. (1) A telegraph company is not liable for a failure to transmit a message when its line is not in working order and the transmission is thereby prevented, if the message was taken in good faith and without any knowledge of such condition of the line on the part of the company’s agents.

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Appeal from the Pettis Circuit Court. — Hon, R. H. Field, Judge. (1) A telegraph company is not liable for a failure to transmit a message when its line is not in working order and the transmission is thereby prevented, if the message was taken in good faith and without any knowledge of such condition of the line on the part of the company’s agents. The court, therefore, erred in refusing defendant’s second declaration of law and thereby ignoring the undisputed facts in the case which established the impossibility of sending the message in question. R. S. 1889, sec. 2727. (2) The court below…

1Opinion of the CourtSmith, P. J.

— This is an action by the plaintiff against the defendant, a telegraph corporation, based on section 2725 Revised Statutes, to recover the penalty therein provided for a failure on the part of defendant to transmit a certain dispatch received by the latter from the former promptly and with impartiality and good faith.

It appears from the bill of exceptions that at five minutes past 2 o’clock on the thirteenth day of November, 1889, the defendant at Sedalia in Pettis county received a dispatch from the plaintiff addressed to George O. Jones at Pilot Grove, situate in the adjoining county…

2Cases cited14 opinions

  1. Baldwin v. . the United States Telegraph Co.New York Court of Appeals · 1871
  2. Leonard v. New York, Albany & Buffalo Electro Magnetic Telegraph Co.New York Court of Appeals · 1870
  3. Tyler, Ullman & Co. v. Western Union Telegraph Co.Illinois Supreme Court · 1871
  4. Western Union Telegraph Co. v. CarewMichigan Supreme Court · 1867
  5. Grinnell v. Western Union Telegraph Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1873

9 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.

3Cited by8 opinions

  1. Reed v. Western Union Telegraph Co.Supreme Court of Missouri · 1896
  2. Speer v. BurlingameMissouri Court of Appeals · 1895
  3. Eddington v. Western Union Telegraph Co.Missouri Court of Appeals · 1905
  4. McCarty v. Western Union Telegraph Co.Missouri Court of Appeals · 1906
  5. Levy Bros. v. Western Union Telegraph Co.Supreme Court of Oklahoma · 1913

3 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.

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