The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1905-08-31
RIDICULOUS DAMAGE SUIT .
Brought Against Railroad Company by
Woman in North Carolina.

Brought Against Railroad Company by
Woman in North Carolina.
The last legislature Of North Car
olira passed a law that made 1t un-
lawful for contingent fee lawyers to
solicit trade in the matter Of suing
the company, but that seems to have
done no good. The limit has been
reached, however, il We credit tele-
graphic news item sent out and bear
ing a Charlotte date line OF where
woman sues the Southern railway
company because, as passenger, sa"
was carried past the Durham station
and taken on to Raleigh. It seems
that she was forced to spend the night
in Raleigh and sets up that she sui
Tered mental anguish; that she could
not sleep in that city; that she wor-
ried and her health is impaired for
Life, as she believes, and winds up the
hot air spiel by her lawyer by laying
claims to the modest sum OF $4,000
damages because of all these things.
Il is to be sincerely hoped that the
day will come when judges will throw
such cases out Of court.
We are willing to admit that we
would not like to stop in either Raj
eigh or Durham over night-but were
we to be delayed on journey and
such was the only alternative. we
have a half notion that a sum OF
money much smaller than the amount
sued for by the lady who modestly
claims but ten thousand plunks would
heal our lacerated feelings. The law
yer does not state In the petition filed
in court how much Of this likely
wad he expects to get-and it Is to
be hoced, for the good name Of the
state, that such a case will never be
allowed to go to trial.
It was only the other day that we
received a letter sent to us from
neishboring city. The letter contain
ed a. check for several dollars and
also the change of copy for an adj
vertisement that had to go in the
next issue of the paper. While we dit
not need the money we did need the
copy, because failing to get it de-
layed our issue, and it was important
that the advertisement be changed be-
cause we had contracted that it would
appear. The letter was belated, and
had been sent to another .postofice.
The superscription was plain, plain
as print, and no living expert could
have deciphered anything but Green's
boro, n. c., out Of it-but just the
same the letter went to Mooresville,
North Carolina, and stopped over
night there and came along here the
next evening. And the postmaster
marked on it in big black type-a
type made for the business-"M1s-
sent" In other words, the postof-
fee which started it out made a mis-
take. That was what it was, mis-
take pure and simple. Mooresyille
called attention to it by stamping the
letter "Missent." Now, suppose the
case for just a moment. Suppose we
had been a transient and that check
was Of all Importance to US. Sup
nose the delayed letter had caused
us to miss a train and thus cost more
hotel money waiting for it, and sup
pose by missing the train we had lost
a big sale or lost a job or lost sew
eral thousand dollars?
Where would there have been any
redress-no matter what damages we
could have proven? There would
have been none. The government
runs the mails - makes a mistake
once in a while and the man who
loses out whistles and lets it 60 at
that. But had such thing happened
and a railroad had been the cause OF
it-why, bless your life a dozen con-
tingent lawyers would have harangu-
ed a jury-let of enough hot air 20
initiate a balloon for a Polar expedl-
tion and a weeping jury OF our coun-
trymen" would have given us a ver-
dict for twenty thousand dollars. Not
that we were entitled to a red cent,
but because it is popular to sue rail-
roads and telephone and street
car companies - put up tine
| mental anguish squeal AMI
show a wrecked and nervous face, all
caused through worry and wonder
ment as TO whether the damage
would come, and that is all-sufti-
cient.
The particular case Of which We
make mention is farther fetched than
anv lately coming under our notice,
unless it was the tramp in Asheville
who was trespassing upon the proper
ty Of the company and leaped from a
trestle 10 save his precious neck and
sued the company for damages sus-
tained in a!ighting-and if jury is
1 y $NyynV