The Daily clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1866-1888, 1867-01-22
DECISIONS OF THE HIGH COURT
- obs AArAa -&DDI1ALSl-
CTOBER TERM, 1866.
Reported Expressly for the Clarion.

Southern Express Co.
VIM. NJ Thornton. \
The opinion Of the Court deliraed BY Chief
/ Justice Handy
( Tie defendant in error sued the plaintiff
/ IN this action to recover five hundred dol
/ lars, and the declaration contains two
counts; the first charges the Company as a
/ common carrier for the failure to deliver to
/ McNair and Cards at the city of New Or
I leans five hundred dollars received at jack
. son. Mississippi, and which they undertook
and agreed TO deliver tho second count is
/ for money had and received To this the
general issue was pleaded
! On the trial, the plaintiff below introduced
as witness Lamb, who testified in sub
stance, that on or about the Sd Of February;
leb6, the plaintiff placed in his hands as
agent of the Commercial Express Company
70 be forwarded, one FIVE hundred dollar
bill in an open envelope, directed to McNair
n Cards, New Orleans, and witness placed
said bill in said envelope and sealed it,
placing five seals on it and impressing wit
ness private seal which was the letter L
. on each of the seals and delivered the same
to the agent of the Commercial Express
Company, CaSkie, at Brandon depot wit
ness was shown an envelope and identified
II as the same in which the 500 dollar bill
had been enclosed but stated that the seals
then on the envelope were not the seals he
had placed there The following letter was
then shown to witness
"No. = SOUTHERN EMPRESS COMPANY.
FoRwARpERS, y. O. Feb. l6, lS66. \
MESsEs. MNYERs u LOWRY Gentlemen :
l have written our Mr. Nicely TO call at
Brandon, and with You investigate this mat
ter. The pkg was not shipped by this
Company, but was transferred to us bv the
. 's,rsp NJ
stand, request that You viii not let any
OF the parties, Thornton. Lamb or any
other. see the envelope, or let them know
you have it until Mr.. Nicely arrives and You
consulted with him. as our object is to md
out, If possible, where the money went and
Who Is to blame in this matter.
Respectfully,
\. h. SNAIL. Supt"
And the witness stated that he had never
seen said Small write ms name. but As agent
OF the southern Express Company as wit
ness was, witness had received many letters
from him. and had written replies to those
letters. and witness believed that the sirr-
nature TO the letter shown to him was the
sane = LII - - letters received by wit
ness tom him He further stated that Small
was superintendent of the SOut bern Ex-
press Company at the date Of this letter
Inc defendant objected 10 the reading of the
letter, but the objection was oyerrulpd and
the letter was read to the jury, the defend
ant excepting.
The witness further testified that he knew
Nicely, named in said letter as agent of the
Southern Express Company that he was at
Brandon soon after the date of that letter
investigating the facts connected with the
remittance OF said money. and that plaintiff
after the Investigation sent 10 witness as
agent of the Southern Express Company,
another $500, to be forwarded to McNalr N
Cards IN place of the former but this last
sum witness returned to plaintiff before 1t
left the office by direction of said Nicely,
agent of the Company.
Also Caskie who testified that on the Bird
of February, 1866, he was messenger on
the Commercial Express Company, and on
that dav. received sealed package at Bran
don depot from Lamb, the agent, which was
marked as containing $500, directed to Nc
Nair & Cards New Orleans; that witness
mt the same in his tin box on the cars
locked the same up IN the safe and conveyed
the same to jackson that when witnessed
reached jackson. he found that the Com
mercial had sold out to the Southern Fx
press Company. aud witness Was ordered
to turn over all the Commercial Packages n
the southern Express, which be did. ipelud-
ing the package IN controversy. and the
same was received and reeeipted for hv ~
latter, and witness knew nothing as tn yvba+
was subsequently done with the nacl-aere
thAt ne ana not know whether the ORIGINAL
seals We're on il when ii was turned oysv, -
jackson that the Commercial was merqe5
IN the Southern Express Company ON 7ba
day he received the package, or the dav
before; that the package was turned over
to the southern Express Company as il was
received by witness from Lamb that the
southern Express had bought out the Com
merelal and assumed all its liabilities. and
all IT'S packages were turned over.
The plaintiff then testified as a witness
that ne delivered the envelope with q $500
n-l' oalteo States currency, to Lamb, agent