The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-09-23


ton at WiDnsboro, consigned to Char
]otte upon the defendants road. The
distance between these points is seven.
ty-iwo miles. The cotton weighed al,
average of AGO lbs. to the bale, and
had an average measurement ofthirtv.
five cubic feet. The section of dc.
icndant's charter brought before thc
/ Court for consideration provides that
the. Railroad Company may charge go,
the transportation Of goods, produce
and merchandise and other articles any
sum not exceeding fifty cents per hun.
drcd pounds for each hundred miles
on heavy articles, and fifteen cents Der
cnbic foot OH articles of measurement
( for every hundred miles," The de-
fcndarts charged for The transpo, lion
Of the cotton at the rate Of fifteen cents
per cubic foot per one hundred miles,
or tho sum of $37 80. The plaintiilS
tcndcrcd payment at tho rate Of fifty
cents per 100 lbs. per hundred miles.
or tho sum Of $l6.5S. This being re-
fused, inc plaintiffs paid the amount
charged under protest, and brought
suit for the difference Of S21.22.
At the trial the defendants request
cd the trial justice to instruct the Jury
"tllat the defendants bad ihc legal
right under their charter to classify
goods, produce, merchandise and other
articles offered them for transportation
as heavy articles or rs 'articlcs of
measurement, according as said goods
produce, merchandise or other articles
by their weight Or bulk first exhaust
the carryjng capacity OF the freight
cIls used for tho transportation of said
goods, pl loducc, merchandise or other
articles" The trial Justice declined
SO to charge, to which the defendants
excepted. We shall consider that cx-
ccption alone. for if error was commit
ted in this refusal, the Judgment OF the
Court below cannot stand.
Now, if the defendants had the right
TO classify the cotton rendered for slip
ncnt rs articles Of measurement, en-
der hcir chUifcr, it then follows that
their classification, however arrived
at, is legal. The question then for
consideration is, whether under the
terms of the section ofthe charter re-
1clrcd to, cotton in bales con be class
ed as "articlcs Of measurements" as
conicndcd by the plaintiffs. What
then is heavy article? The term
"hcavy' is a c0mpal ativc term as aD-
piled to different articles. Iron is
heavy, feathers arc light or bulky.
Yet pound Of feathers is as heavy as
q pound Of iron. Hence an article is
heavy when a certain bulk has GER
tain weight, while one which has the
same bulk but weighs less will not be
heavy. On this principle we call iron
heavy and feathers light. The dini-
cu!ty is in drawing the line OF demar-
n mi,
weight of an article compared with its
bulk makes it heavy article. We
may safely say that lint cotton is not
heavy, and that cotton compressed in
very small bales, as is now done bv
powerful steam or hydraulic presses,
is heavy. II we consider bales of cot
ton rs usually packed by farmers and
such us were shipped in this case, VIC
arc Of the opinion rhat the bulk or
TN! ty-tivc cubic feet weighing only
AGO lbs. failed TO make them "hcavy
articles" The difficulty, as we have
said, is iii fixing tin, line Of dcmarca-
fion. But does not the section under
consideration aid us. or indicate Il line
of dcmarca;ion fixed by the Statute
itself? We must assume that the sec
ton intends uniioi nifty ofc .a:gcs On
what it STYLES ''hcavy alicics' aud
what it dcnominatcs as "lrtcles of
measurements" The limit on one
class is fifty cents per 100 lbs, OH the
other f"ccn cents per cubic foot.
Either =. ,ac ofchorgcs would amount
to the same it the article upon which
The charge is made weighed thirty lbs.
to the cubic foot. Upon such an arti-
Gle the limit applied to it, either as u
heavy article or an article Of measure
mcnt, would be fifteen cents. We may
then well infer that the intention of the
section is to allow a classification upon
this basis of thirty lbs. to the cubic
foo; articles weighing over this COM
Jug under tic head of "hcavy," and
articles weighing less under tho bead
OF "erticlc of measurement" The
bales Of cotton in this case weighed
only AGO lbs. TO the thil ty-fivc cubic
feet, or not quite fourteen lbs. to the
cubic. We arc therefore of the opiu-
ion that by virtue Of thcir charter the
defendants were authorized TO classify
and charge on the cotton in this case
as articles of measurement. This con-
struction ofthc section uudcr consid-
Grafton makes it of itself effective, and
obviatcs the necessity ola contest as to
the proper classification of each and
every article that may be rendered for
transportation. Besides, should the
Railroad Company Charge by weight
on an article Of measurement accord
ing to this standard, or, Oh the other
hand, charge by measurement on a
heavy al ticle, it would make IN eiro-
ncous classification TO its own loss.
We arc therefore Of the opinion that
the trial justice erred in his construc-
ton Of the statute, and that therefore
the Judgment of the Count below aD-
pcalcd from must be set aside; and it
is accordingly SO adjudgcd. .,,.
This the 10th Sept, 1870.
w. II. WALLACE.
In this case an appeal will be taken
10 The Supreme Court; so that the fight
between t'ie people and the. Railrord
Company is not yet ended.
Saturday morning was consumed in
passing orders upon matters Of no
public interest. Judge Wallace left
that day for Lancaster, whcrc hc is
NOW hoI1i:,r oon,t