Facts
- A shipper paid Wells, Fargo & Co. (Wells Fargo), an express carrier and common carrier between New York and California, to transport a wooden box from New York to San Francisco in 1866.
- The box contained nitroglycerine, but the shipper gave no notice of the contents, and the box’s outward appearance did not suggest danger.
- At the time, the dangerous properties of nitroglycerine were not widely known.
- Wells Fargo transported the box in the usual course of business without asking about its contents.
- When the box arrived in San Francisco, it was leaking a substance that resembled “sweet oil,” consistent with ordinary damage to shipped goods.
- Following company practice for apparently damaged packages, Wells Fargo took the box into its San Francisco office to examine it.
- The office was located in space Wells Fargo leased from Parrot, the owner of a larger building that also contained portions leased to other tenants.
- A Wells Fargo servant, acting under the company’s direction, attempted to open the box (using ordinary tools, such as a mallet and chisel).
- The nitroglycerine exploded, killing those present and causing substantial damage to Wells Fargo’s leased area and to other parts of Parrot’s building occupied by other tenants.
- Wells Fargo repaired damage to the premises it occupied but refused to pay for damage to other portions of the building.
- Parrot sued Wells Fargo for the broader property damage, alleging negligence and also asserting claims tied to Wells Fargo’s status as a tenant under a lease that restricted receiving dangerous articles on the premises.
- The case was tried to the court without a jury in federal circuit court after removal from state court; judgment was entered for Wells Fargo, and Parrot sought Supreme Court review.
Issues
- Whether a common carrier is negligent, and liable for resulting property damage, for transporting and inspecting an outwardly ordinary package that contains nitroglycerine when the carrier had no knowledge and no reason to suspect the danger.
- Whether, in cases free from suspicious circumstances, a common carrier is chargeable with notice of package contents or may require disclosure of contents as a condition of carriage.
- What standard of care governs liability for an accident caused by a danger that was not reasonably apparent at the time the carrier acted.
Decision
- The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment for Wells Fargo.
- The Court held Wells Fargo was not liable for damage to portions of Parrot’s building not occupied by Wells Fargo.
- The Court found no negligence because there was nothing about the box to excite suspicion, Wells Fargo had no knowledge or reason to suspect nitroglycerine, and the box was handled in the customary way for apparently damaged freight.
- The Court rejected imposing liability based on a supposed duty to investigate or ascertain contents where the package was outwardly ordinary and no suspicious facts called for further inquiry.
Legal Principles
- Common carriers are not chargeable, in cases free from suspicion, with notice of the contents of packages carried by them.
- In such non-suspicious cases, common carriers are not authorized to require information about contents as a condition of carrying the package.
- When nothing excites suspicion as to contents, it is not negligence for a carrier to take an apparently damaged package into its place of business for examination and to handle it as similar packages are usually handled.
- The measure of care against accidents is that which a person of ordinary prudence and caution would use if the whole risk were the person’s own, judged based on the circumstances as they reasonably appeared at the time (not by hindsight after the accident).
Conclusion
Because the box presented no suspicious features and Wells Fargo neither knew nor had reason to know it contained nitroglycerine, the Court treated the explosion as an accident not caused by a lack of ordinary care; therefore, Wells Fargo was not negligent and was not liable for damage to parts of Parrot’s building beyond the premises Wells Fargo leased and repaired.