proper place, in a proper manner, and to the right person.

225. Time of delivery.-Delivery should be made within a reasonable time after the receipt of the goods, due consideration always being given to such conditions as the distance, the character of the route, the season of the year, and the nature of the goods. The consignee may refuse to receive goods out of business hours or on a stormy day when the removal of the goods would be dangerous.

226. Place of delivery.-Carriers are bound to deliver goods according to the directions of the consignor, or at the residence or place of business of the consignee, unless some custom or usage prevails permitting the carrier to deliver elsewhere. Carriers by water and railroads have fixed routes, and the wharf of one and the warehouse of the other usually constitute the place of delivery. After goods shipped have been deposited in either of these places and the consignee has had an opportunity to remove the goods, the extraordinary liability of the carrier as an insurer ceases and becomes the more limited liability of a warehouseman. Express companies always have been accustomed to carry small packages requiring personal care, and the law holds them strictly to the duty of making personal delivery unless the goods are consigned to a station too small to justify accommodations for such delivery.

Carriers are not obliged by law to receive C. O. D. shipments, but very often express companies undertake to collect on delivery by special contract or by custom. The carrier may permit the consignee to inspect the goods or to carry them away on condition that they shall be returned if not found satisfactory and the money

returned. If the goods are rejected, the carrier becomes a bailee and is bound to notify the shipper.

227. When the liability as carrier ceases.-The courts are not agreed as to the precise moment at which the liability of a carrier ceases as an insurer and becomes that of a bailee. In Massachusetts, Illinois, Indiana and Iowa the carrier becomes a warehouseman as soon as the goods arrive safely at their destination and are discharged at the warehouse, or if the goods are not to be unloaded, when the car has been put in a convenient position for unloading at the place of destination. In New Hampshire and Vermont the liability of the carrier as an insurer does not end till the consignee has had a reasonable opportunity to inspect and remove the goods in the ordinary course of business. The consignee cannot extend the liability as insurer, however, by pleading the fact that he lives at some distance from the place of delivery or that he has inadequate facilities for removing the goods. In Michigan and New York, the liability of the carrier continues until the consignee has been notified of the receipt of the goods and has had reasonable time in the ordinary course of business to take them away after such notification.

228. Delivery in a proper manner. Goods should be delivered by the carrier at an accessible place and under such circumstances that the consignee can take them away conveniently and safely. Until that opportunity has been given the consignee, the carrier must protect the goods from bad weather and other injurious conditions.

229. Delivery to the right person.-If the carrier delivers the goods to the wrong person, or refuses to deliver to the right person after he has properly estab

lished his identity and his right to the goods, it will be liable for conversion. The fraud or imposition of a third person, or the mistake of the carrier will not relieve it of responsibility. The carrier should insist upon presentation of the bill of lading by the consignee or his authorized agent or by one to whom the bill has been properly transferred. If the carrier is reasonably uncertain as to the proper person to whom delivery should be made the delivery may be held up for identification, and if necessary rival claimants may be made to establish their rights in court by what is known as a bill of interpleader.

230. Connecting carriers. If goods are to be carried beyond the terminus of a carrier's line, the carrier's liability ceases when the goods are delivered to the usual connecting carrier, or to the one directed by the shipper. By a contract expressed or implied a carrier may undertake responsibility for the safe transportation of a shipment along its entire route. Ordinarily a carrier cannot be compelled to assume the responsibility of forwarding goods beyond its terminus. But where it has a joint traffic agreement with a connecting line shown by an agreement to divide expenses and profits, employ common agents, or to receive and carry goods through on one car, or where through rates are given, a contract between the carrier and the shipper will be construed as one for through transportation.

The usual practice is to contract as agent for the connecting line, thus making the latter liable for all loss on its own road.

In England and a few states including Illinois and New Hampshire, the acceptance of goods whose destination is beyond the carrier's line is presumptive evidence of a contract for their through transit, and in the

absence of special contract the first carrier assumes liability for through transportation. Most American jurisdictions, however, hold that each carrier is presumptively responsible for the safe transportation of the goods along its own line and their delivery to the next connecting line.

Under this rule, an action for damages to goods can be brought against any connecting carrier upon whom the immediate loss can be placed, but under the English rule the first carrier only can be sued. Under either rule, if the owner of the goods has recovered against one carrier, that carrier may maintain an action against the carrier directly responsible.

231. Excuses for non-delivery.-We have seen that in certain cases failure to deliver goods to the consignee will be excused. A carrier is always justified in delivering goods to the true owner, but cannot refuse to deliver to the shipper or his consignee or assignee unless a third person with a paramount title has made claim to the goods. The exercise of the vendor's right of stoppage in transitu is also an excuse when the carrier knows the consignee is insolvent or bankrupt.

If the carrier is unable to find the consignee after due and diligent search, the goods may be placed in storage for the owner. In those jurisdictions where railroads are not bound to give notice of the arrival of goods, they need make no search for the consignee. If the consignee refuses to accept the goods or to take them away, the carrier cannot abandon them or negligently expose them, but is bound to store them properly and to notify the consignor.

232. Public carriers of passengers and baggage.— Public carriers of passengers are those who hold themselves out to carry for hire all persons who apply for

passage. They are not bailees of the passengers, but of the passengers' baggage. Passengers are persons carried by the public carrier with his consent, except his own servants. As soon as the passenger puts himself in control of the carrier in the customary way, he becomes a passenger, unless the carrier in some way shows his intention to refuse passage. Employés of the carrier are not passengers while engaged in the service of their employers, or while they are traveling free of charge to and from their work.

Under the common law, a carrier owes the duty to its servants of selecting fellow servants with due diligence, but it is not responsible for the negligence of fellow servants who have been properly selected. Persons hired by third parties whose duties require that they ride more or less regularly on the conveyances of public carriers are usually looked upon as passengers. In this class come mail clerks, express and news agents, and freight handlers. Though the consideration for the passage is paid by a third person, the carrier's liability to such persons with special callings is not different from its liability to ordinary passengers. A tramp who boards a train is a trespasser and not a passenger, and a person who colludes with a trainman or conductor to procure a free ride is not a passenger.

233. Liability of public carriers to passengers.-The public carrier does not insure the safety of passengers as it does the safety of goods, but it is under a duty to use the utmost caution, diligence and skill to protect its passengers. In other words, it is liable for slight negligence. A carrier of passengers is liable for willful injuries inflicted by one of its servants, and is bound to use reasonable care to protect its passengers from the violence of other passengers. A carrier may use as