St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-06
BUT IF THE WIFE is FALSE
The Husband Is Disgraced in
the Eyes Of His Fellow
Men.
soMEDEcISIONS BYcOELINS
important Ruling in the Case
Of The 500 Railroad VS..
Southland.

In a decision handed down in the
supreme court yesterday Justice Col
Inns, in reversing the decision OF
Judge Searle, of Stearns county
makes an interesting ruling in the
well-known and sensational case of
Mary Kroessen, respondent, against
Wilhelmina Keller, wife of State
Senator Keller, of Sank Center, in
which Mrs. Kroessen had sued Mrs.
Keller for $4,000 damages for alien
ating the affections of her husband.
In the trial of the case before
Judge Searle the defendant inter
posed demurrer, which was over
ruled. They then appealed direct to
the supreme court, which reverses
the trial court by sustaining the
demurrer, Justice Collins giving these
reasons for the reversal:
This is an action brought by a
married woman against one of her
own sex to recover damages, follow
ing in a general way the common
law form of declaration in Grim. con
or criminal cohabitation. A general
demurrer to the complaint was over
ruled in the court below, and by this
appeal we are required to determine
whether such an action can be
maintained, the right to recover
being based solely on alleged adult
erous acts between plaintiffs hus-
band and the defendant"
Justice Collins holds that the in
jured husband alone can sustain such
an action, as the principal elements
are disgrace which would attach to
a husband of an unfaithfuI wife
No such disgrace, however, attaches
to wife whose husband is guilty
OF infidelity, and because of these
elements the man has always been
considered to have been the guilty
party. The syllabus merely says:
In this state a married woman can
not maintain an action simply in the
nature of Grim. con. against another
woman
500 VS.. SOUTHARD.
An important case, in which the trial
court is upheld, is that between the
500 road and w. B. Southland, as to
the liabilities of the road for a large
amount of flour destroyed by fire at
Gladstone, Mich. The decision also set
ties the right Of the company to the
insurance. The syllabus is as follows:
William B. Southland, respondent, VS..
Minneapolis, st. Paul & Sault Ste.
Marie Railway Company, appellant.
i. A traffic association composed of
several carriers issued through bill
of fading for freight Mour) from Min
neapolis to Boston, Mass. Cat LEAST,
containing a stipulation that in case
of loss, detriment or damage to the
flour whereby liability should be in
CURED, the carrier alone should be
liable in whose actual custody it
Should be at the time of the loss.
Held, that the real meaning of the
language was that one carrier should
not be held liable or responsible for
the loss or damage of another
Held further, that under the terms
of the bill of lading the shipper was
entitled to an uninterrupted, contin-
uous carriers duty from Minneapolis
to Boston, and that the clause in queS-
ton made the carrier who had trans
ported the freight to point where an
other was to assume cutody and con-
trol guarantor or surety that the
latter would receive, and also made it
liable as an actual custodian, notwith-
standing the flour had been offered to
such connecting carrier and it had I'M
reasonably neglected or refused to re-
ceive it.
2. From unqualified and unrestrict-
ed receipts issued by defendant when
the flour was delivered to it, in car
load lots at Minneapolis, and the bills
of lading issued subsequently in lieu
OF said receipts, it is held that the pre-
sumption arose that there was no con-
sideration for stipulation in the bills
whereby the association attempted to
relieve itself from carriers liability
in case the flour was lost in transit by
hre, or other casualty, and therefore
such stipulation was not binding.
3. An insurance company which by
the express terms of its policy has
been absolved from liability and is
under no legal obligation to pay a loss.
because of a stipulation contained in
bill of lading of the insured prom
erty' whereby the carrier liable for the