The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-12-11
IMPORTANT CASE TO
Be TRIED NEXT WEEK
Liability of Railroads for De-
struction of Registered
Mail to Be Settled.
INTEREST WIDESPREAD
Suit Result of Wreck on u.
P. in Wyoming in De-
cember, 1905.
INTEREST WIDESPREAD

What s considered by Hiram +.
Booth United States district attorney
for Utah. as one of the most important
railroad cases that has come up in re-
cent wears. and one which viii be
watched with interest by lawyers and
railroad officials all over the country,
will be started Monday in the federal
district court before Judge John A.
Marshall The suit is that OF the
United States against the Union Pacific
company for recovery of sl2,3s5.59,
which the government claims is the
value OF registered mail and mail
equipment destroyed in wreck on the
Union Pacific line in December, 1910.
One of the principal defenseS Of the
railroad company, which will be repre-
sented by f. T.. Williams and George
IL. Smith rs set forth IN their answer
10 the complaint. is that the statute or
limitations has expired. Following the
wreck the government fined the road
$4,000 for destruction Of mail. Ihls,
the defendant claims, viii prevent the
United States from recovering the
amount oil the loss.
Important Questions.
Some oil the most important ques-
tions involved, none Of them having
been settled finally before, are:
l. the statute Of limitations effective
against thc United States9
Is railroad company liable for neg
ligence of It's agents or employeesf
Is the government a baileo of lost
mail aud can it recover ITS value even
though no suit has been brought
against it BY the bailors or persons
" no registered the mail?
Is fine exacted for destruction of
mail bar 70 the right TO recover the
value of that msil2
The governments contention in the
ease will he that the statute of hmi-
tatious is not operative against the
United States; that a railroad company
is liable for its employees negligence;
that the government is bailee of the
mail. and that tho fine was no bar to
recovery of the value.
On the other hand, the company will
base It's chief defense on tho fact that
the postofficc department exacted
fine and that the wreck resulted from
negligence Of subordinate employees. IL
VII also claim that the statute of linn
iiations mas expired.
Cause of Wreck.
The wreck iu which the mail was de-
NiftFfI HUN sFRfI3l iFFN Ntif ioSN w
Cured on the Union Pacific hetween
Ah Sav and wilkins. Wyo.. in Decem'
hor. 1905. Three sections Of passen-
ger train were scheduled 70 pass a
freight, and when only two had passed
the freight crew took the train out on
the main line, evidently thinking that
the three sections tad passed. The
wreck was tue result.
The government will also contend
that the right of the United States TO
recover value of the mail is not af
fccted 10y tho fact that the railway
company was not given notice of the
mail value The only similar case
on record. according TO Attorney Booth,
was a recent decision in North Caro-
lima. in which the district court de
cided against the government in the
eTse Of thc United States against thc
Atlantic Coast Line Railway company.
This suit is now before the circuit court
of appeals. briefs having been filed in
the Fourth circuit