New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1880-01-07
Travellers Baggage.

Travellers Baggage.
IT is curious what odd things people
pack in their trunks or valises when
they 60 journey. The Dead Letter
Office has museum of queer contents
of letters; but q more remarkable one
might be made by the clerks of court,
if they could arrange and exhibit the
matters that have been brought to light
in suits about baggage. The general
idea of courts is, when baggage is lost
from steamboat or railway, to in
quire whether the things were such a.
the person might reasonably and nat
urally carry for use on the journey he
or she was taking. These things are.
usually, clothing, money for travelling
expenses, q few books for reading
while on the way. watch, lady's
jewelry, such as she may wisely use
on a journey, and the like. For what
ever the jury think q traveller might
properly carry for personal use, the
owners of the ship, steamboat or rail-
road are liable, unless there was some
special arrangement for the traveller
to take the risk. For any articles be-
yond this rule they are not supposed
to be bound. AS to hotel-keepers,
their responsibility is broader, or used
to be. 1t was considered by most
courts that proprietor of IN inn or
hotel was chargeable for all the property
his guests brought with them under his
roof. This grew to be rather q hard
rule. and not many years ago the land
lords exerted themselves to get laws
passed changing it. And now, when
one is travelling in certain States. he
will find, in almost every hotel, notices
posted, saying that there is such law,
and that the proprietor keeps safe
in the office where guests must deposit
their valuables, if they wish the hotel
to be responsible.
Skip-owners and railway companies
are very ready, when q trunk is lost,
to dispute that the traveller had any
need to carry the things he says were
in it. Then the question is, were they
articles which q traveller of such sta
ton in life would naturally need for
personal use on the journey this person
was making. A lady passenger from
Ireland by the Queenstown line of
steamers brought a feather bed of her
own with her, and it was lost on the
way-probably fell overheard from the
tender which took the passengers from
the wharf at Queenstown to the steam
er. She sued for the worth of it, but
the Judge asked her if she meant to
sleep upon it on the voyage. She said,
no, she was carrying it to have it in
America. Then, he said, it was not
baggage. a Canadian gentleman suf-
fered under the same rule. He broke
up housekeeping in Canada to 60 to re-
side in England, and carried in his
trunks or boxes half . dozen sheets,
blankets and quilts. They were lost,
and he sued; but no admitted on the
trial that they were not for use on tho
journey, but for housekeeping when he
became settled. The Court of Queens
Bench adjudged the case against him.
Nowadays, and in this part of the
country, perhaps, q passenger could
not claim that pair of dueling pistols
in mans carpet-bag were part of his
baggage, because he intended to use
them on the journey. The Judge
would be apt to say this was q case of
concealed weapons" But such q
claim was allowed in 1852 out West.
The Judge said the pistols were not
carried for purposes of sale or traffic,
but for the personal use and protection
of the passenger, and that it was not
unusual for travellers to carry them.
Undoubtedly. . man going upon q
hunting or fishing excursion may carry
his rifle or fishing-tackle by cars,
steamboat or stages leading to the
grounds or returning from them, and
may get the value of them as "bag-
gage" if they are lost by the carrier.
In war times q detachment of troops
was once sent by train with surgeon
in company to treat any injuries tho
men might sustain, and this surgeon
carried the instruments he thought he
might want. These were decided to
be his baggage. A more perplexing
case was that of a Pennsylvania car
penter, who started by stage from
Pittsburgh to Wooster, in Ohio, carry
ing fifty dollars worth CT his tools in
his trunk. 1t did not appear how or
when he expected to use them. but the
Court said it was so usual for Journey
men mechanics to carry small select
portion of their tools upon expeditions
that they ought to be considered bag
gage.
A gentleman whose trunk was stolen
from the Fall River steamboat testified
that it contained, along with ordinary
clothing, his Masonic regalia and
variety of jewelry, all which were for
his own use, and were usually carried
by him upon his journeys. But the
Judge and jury agreed that these things
were scarcely baggage for men travel
ers. Ladies have sometimes been more
favored in respect to carrying means of
adorlme1f. Probably nothing Is aa efa
annoying to carrier than to have q
box or package in his storehouse or
freight-crate explode and blow the
surroundings to pieces; and when this
happens, there is usually pretty active
lawsuit to ascertain who is to blame,
and make him pay. In the days when
dualin was new invention, firm who
were having some blasting done at
North Adams wrote to the manufac-
turers Of dualin at Boston, ordering .
quantity made and sent. They also
wrote to another concern at Boston,
whose business was manufacturing
!" exploders'' for firing dualin, to make
and send them q parcel of these. As
ill-luck would have it, the dualin and
the exploders were finished at the same
time at the respective factories, and
were Sent to the railroad depot to 90 to
North Adams on the same day. The
railroad men saw "dualin'' stamped
on one of the boxes, but dualin was .
novelty of which they had never heard.
The other parcel had nothing on it to
disclose its contents. By mere accident
the exploders and the dualin were
slowed side by side in the car. and on
the Journey the one set fire TO the other.
and q great explosion ensued, running
several cars and much freight. The
court held that though the manufac-
turer could not have anticipated that