August 11, 1917 



HORTICULTURE 



147 



WHEN A RAILROAD IS LIABLE 

 FOR DELAY 



With everybody complaining be- 

 cause of delays in shipping goods, it 

 may be interesting and useful to say 

 something about when you can hold 

 a railroad liable for delay in getting 

 goods to you. Read this letter: — 

 Phillipsburg, N. J. 

 Elton J. Buckley, Esq. 



Dear Sir:— On April 18, 1917, I 

 bought a shipment of green goods 

 from a firm in Philadelphia, which did- 

 n't arrive here until April 23d, mak- 

 ing a delay of five days. Before re- 

 ceiving the goods I insisted that the 

 freight bill be marked "five days in 

 transit and in bad condition." Then 

 after securing the waybill, which was 

 marked Philadelphia & Reading Rail- 

 way Co., and after having my bill 

 sworn to by a notary public, 1 then 

 made a claim to the Central Railroad 

 Co., as the freight bill was made out 

 to that company. 



I have just received the following 

 letter from the claim agent: — 



Having further referred to your 

 claim of May 1st. covering alleged 

 damage to shipment of pineapples, 

 etc., advise that we have investigated 

 the handling of this shipment while 

 in the possession of the carriers and 

 we find that there was a delay at 

 Easton Transfer, due to congestion 

 over which the carriers have no con- 

 trol. Therefore we will be obliged to 

 disallow your claim, and we are re- 

 turning your bill invoice and original 

 bill of lading and must ask you that 

 you allow our records to remain 

 closed. 



W. H. Druse, 

 Freight Claim Agent. 



As our waybill was marked Phillips- 

 burg, N. J., we do not see why we 

 should be responsible for the delay in 

 Easton, Pa. 



Please give us your advice on this 

 matter. Would it be advisable to sue 

 the Central Railroad Co.? We do not 

 want to losp the ilamacjes. so would 



Burpee Seed F.\rms, Lomi-oc, Calf. 

 The varifty iu the centre bed i3 Early Snowstorm. 



like to know the best course to pur- 

 sue. I remain. 



Yours truly, 



Adah Martin. 



This is somewhat of a typical case. 

 Perishable goods are delayed in ship- 

 ment and deteriorate en route. Re- 

 sult: a loss directly due to the delay. 

 Who is responsible? 



Naturally a railroad company pro- 

 tects itself in every way it can in its 

 bill of lading. Touching the question 

 of delay, practically all bids of lad- 

 ing contain the following: — 



No carrier or party in possession of 

 any of the property herein described 

 shall be liable for any loss thereof or 

 damage thereto or delay caused by the 

 act of God, the public enemy, quaran- 

 tine, the authority of law, or the act 

 or default of the shipper or owner, or 

 for differences in the weights of grain. 



Pkimila 

 A select type of the populai- Caby I'llm 



JFALACOIDES 



rose In 5-inch pots. — Photo by -V. L. Miller. 



seed, or other commodities caused by 

 natural shrinkage or discrepancies in 

 elevator weights. For loss, damage, 

 or delay caused by lire occurring after 

 forty-eight hours (exclusive of legal 

 holidays) after notice of the arrival 

 of the property at destination or at port 

 of export (if intended for export) has 

 been duly sent or given, the carrier's 

 liability shall be that of warehouseman 

 only. Except in case of negligence of 

 the carrier or party in possession (and 

 the burden to prove freedom from 

 such negligence shall be on the carrier 

 or party in possession), the carrier 

 or party in possession shall not be 

 liable for loss, damage, or delay oc- 

 curring while the property is stopped 

 and held in transit upon request of 

 the shipper owner, or party entitled 

 to make such request; or resulting 

 from a defect or vice in the property 

 or from riots or strikes. When in ac- 

 cordance with general custom, on ac- 

 count of the nature of the property, 

 or when at the request of the shipper 

 the property is transported in open 

 cars, the carrier or party in possession 

 (except in case of loss or damage by 

 fire, in which case the liability shall 

 be the same as though the property 

 had been carried in closed cars) 

 shall be liable for negligence, and the 

 burden to prove freedom from such 

 negligence shall be on the carrier or 

 party in possession. 



No carrier shall be liable tor loss, 

 damage, or injury not occurring on its 

 own road or its portion of the through 

 route, nor after said property has been 

 delivered to the next carrier, except 

 as such liability is or may be imposed 

 by law, but nothing contained in this 

 bill of lading shall be deemed to ex- 

 empt the initial carrier from any such 

 liability so imposed. 



In addition to these provisions in 

 the bill of lading, and in spite of 

 them, a railroad that forwards goods, 

 if there is no contract requiring de- 

 livery within a certain period, is held 

 liable by the settled law, to make 

 shipment within a "reasonable time" 



