OCR Text |
Show The Supreme court of Maine has reoently rendered a decision as to the liability of telegraph companies, whioh will prove of interest to our business men. A firm in the town of Gardiner sued tho Western Union telegraph company for $900 dollara damages from an error in transmitting a message mes-sage to Chicago, ordering the purchase of 10,000 bushela of corn. The message mes-sage as received and delivered at Chicago Chi-cago called for 1,000 bushels instead of 10,000. Before correction of the error was made, corn advanced ten cents a bushel. Upon receiving the testimony the court decided that tho telegraph company was liable for damages, notwithstanding not-withstanding the printed contract upon tho message blanks. Tho case was then referred back to tho lower court for assessment of damages by a jury. This is an indication of the estimate in which tho one-sided conditions, wrongly called contracts, of telegraph as well as railway companies, are viewed by lawyers in some parts of the coun'.ry. |