Kansas City, Memphis & Birmingham Railroad v. Riley

Cooper, J., delivered the opinion of the court. On or about the 3d of September, 1889, the plaintiff, with her husband, purchased from the agent of appellant at Myrtle two tickets for transportation over appellant’s road to Blue Springs and return, both places being stations on appellant’s road. These tickets were handed to the conductor on the train running from Myrtle to Blue Springs, and by accident and mistake he returned to the passengers the wrong part of the tickets, giving to them that portion which called for transportation from Myrtle to Blue Springs, which he should have kept, and retaining that portion calling for passage from Blue Springs to Myrtle, which he should have returned to the passengers. The plaintiff went from Blue Springs to Sherman, another station on appellant’s road, and, on the 6th of September, being desirous of returning to Myrtle, she purchased a ticket from Sherman to Blue Springs, and for the journey from that place to Myrtle tendered that portion of the round-trip ticket from Myrtle to Blue Springs that had been returned to her by the conductor on the 3d, but this ticket the conductor refused to accept, because it entitled the bearer to transportation from Myrtle to Blue Springs, and not from Blue Springs to Myrtle. The plaintiff had not before noticed the mistake that had been made by the other conductor, but then explained to the conductor of the train upon which she was traveling how it had occurred, and insisted upon her right to be carried on the ticket. But this he declined and informed the plaintiff that she must either pay train fare, buy a ticket at Blue Springs when the train should reach that point, or leave the train there. The plaintiff, and the conductor [770] testified to about the same facts as to what transpired until the train reached Blue Springs, at which point, as the conductor stated, the plaintiff and her husband left the train upon his refusal to carry them on the tickets they then had, while the plaintiff testified that the conductor spoke to her in an angry manner, and took her by the arm to put her off the train. At all events, the plaintiff left the train at Blue Springs with her husband and there remained until the following day, and brings this suit for damages against the appellant. The jury awarded her damages in the sum of $300, and, from a judgment for that sum, the defendant appeals. The decisions are in direct and palpable conflict upon the liability of a common carriel* for failure to transport a passenger under the circumstances named. In New York, Michigan, Illinois, Maryland, Ohio, Wisconsin, Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and North Carolina it seems to have been decided that the ticket presented by the passenger is the only evidence of his right to travel upon the train which can be recognized by the conductor, and that if by reason of the negligence of other servants of the carrier, a wrong ticket has been given to the passenger, or the right ticket has been given to him, but erroneously taken from him, the passenger’s right of action is for the wrong thus committed, and that he may not insist upon his right to travel on the wrong ticket or without it, when it has been taken up, and recover damages for the refusal of the carrier to permit him to do so, and that the carrier may lawfully eject him from its train, using no more force than is necessary for that purpose. The authorities in support of this rule are found in the brief of counsel for appellant. On the other hand, it is held in Georgia and Indiana, that the passenger is entitled to travel according to his real contract with the carrier, where the mistake in giving the proper ticket or in taking up a proper one held by the passenger is caused by the negligence of the servants of the carrier. R. R. Co. v. Fixe, 11 Am. & Eng. Ry. Cas. 108. In a more recent case in Michigan than those cited by appellant’s counsel, Hubbard v. Railroad Co., 64 Mich. 634, the plaintiff had [771] applied and paid for a ticket from Mantón to Traverse City. The agent gave him a ticket previously issued for a ride from Sturgis to Traverse City. There was evidence tending to show that the ticket had been cancelled by conductor’s marks for a ride between Sturgis and Walton, and the trial court instructed the jury that “ if they believed the ticket was punched, indicating to the conductor by the punch-mark that it had been used before between Grand Rapids and Walton, that would be evidence of an infirmity in the ticket, and the plaintiff would not be entitled to insist upon that ticket being received.” This instruction was held to be erroneous, the court saying: “ When the plaintiff told the conductor on the train that he had paid his fare, and stated the amount lie had paid to the agent who gave him the ticket he presented, and told him it was good, it was the duty of the conductor to accept the statement of the plaintiff until he found out it was not true, no matter what the ticket contained in words, figures or other marks.” The most remarkable thing about this decision is, that it was made in the same case upon the same facts and between the same parties as that reported in 53 Mich. 118, in which, in an opinion delivered by Judge Cooley, it was held that, as between the conductor and the passenger, “ the ticket must be conclusive evidence of the extent of the passenger’s right to travel.” There is a class of cases somewhat analogous to the present one, in which, by a uniform course of decisions so far as we are informed, it is held that the conductor must accept the statements of the passenger. We refer to those cases in which different rates are charged for one who has procured a ticket and one who pays upon the train. It is held that, as a condition precedent to the exercise of this right to charge higher train-rates, and to expel one refusing to pay them, a reasonable opportunity must be given by the carrier to the passenger to procure the ticket required, and that one to whom no such opportunity has been afforded, and who for refusing to pay the higher rate is expelled from the train, may recover damages therefor. Hutchinson on Carriers, § 571, and authorities in note 2; Forsee v. Railroad Co., 63 Miss. 66. Without determining more upon this disputed question than is [772] necessary for the decision of the case before us, it is sufficient to say that where, as here, the ticket in the hands of the passenger supports and confirms the truth of his statement, and no possible injury can result to the carrier by the conductor’s accepting and acting thereon, he must so act, or refuse, at the peril of inviting an action for damages against his principal if the statement be true. We do not decide that a person holding a ticket from Myrtle to Blue Springs has a right to ride from Blue Springs to Myrtle, but no real injury could result to the carrier in recognizing such right, for the distance is the same, and in the usual course of business as many trains pass in one direction as the other. What we do decide is, that a passenger holding and attempting to use such ticket under the circumstances disclosed in this record, and explaining to the conductor how the mistake occurred by which the ticket read in the wrong direction, makes such a reasonable and probable showing as entitles him to be dealt with as a passenger, and therefore that any regulation of the carrier authorizing the conductor of its trains to disregard such statement is unreasonable, and need not be submitted to by the passenger. We find no error in the record for which the judgment should be reversed, and it is, Affirmed.