tiff endorsed said bill of lading in blank and at- 33 tached to the same a sight draft drawn by himself upon Maddox Grocery Company, Bainbridge, Georgia, for Four Hundred and Eighty-one Dollars and Sixty-five Cents ($481.65), the value of said apples, and forwarded said draft with said bill of lading attached through banking channels to the State Bank at Bainbridge, Georgia, with instructions to said bank not to deliver said bill 34 of lading to said Maddox Grocery Company, or to anyone, until it paid said draft to said Bank for the benefit of plaintiff. 35 21. That upon said draft and said bill of lading being received by said Bank at Bainbridge, Georgia, it presented said draft to said Maddox Grocery Company and demanded payment thereof and tendered said bill of lading to said Maddox Grocery Company, provided it paid said draft; that said Maddox Grocery Company refused and declined to pay said draft, and said Bank thereupon refused to deliver and did not deliver said bill of lading to said Maddox Grocery Company, or to anyone, but returned said draft and said bill of lading to plaintiff, who has ever since retained and still does retain the same, and that 36 said bill of lading has never been surrendered or delivered to said Maddox Grocery Company or to defendant's connecting carrier at said Bainbridge, Georgia, the place of destination and consignment of said apples, or to the defendant, or to any carrier, or to anyone. 22. That said apples were received by the defendant's connecting carrier at Bainbridge, Geor 37 gia, the point of destination, prior to January 1st, 1912. 38 23. That notwithstanding the non-presentation and non-surrender of said bill of lading to the defendant's connecting carrier at Bainbridge, Georgia, the defendant or its said connecting carrier, prior to January 1st, 1912, wrongfully and unlawfully and without authority delivered said apples to some party other than plaintiff, without any authority from plaintiff and against plaintiff's express orders and contrary to the express provisions of said bill of lading, and without the production or surrender thereof, and that thereupon said other party secured possession of said apples and retained the same, and plaintiff has never received said apples, or any part thereof, or 39 the value of said apples, or any part of the value thereof. 40 24. That said apples were and always have been the property of plaintiff, and remained and were to remain his property until said draft was paid and said bill of lading duly presented and surrendered to the defendant's connecting carrier at Bainbridge, Georgia, by plaintiff's authority. 25. That thereby the defendant and its connecting carrier have wrongfully and unlawfully delivered plaintiff's said apples to some other party without the authority or consent of plaintiff and contrary to the terms of said bill of lading, and thereby have converted the same and deprived plaintiff of his said property. 26. That the value of said apples was Four Hundred and Eighty-one Dollars and Sixty-five Cents ($481.65), and that plaintiff has never re ceived from anyone the value of said apples, or any part thereof. 27. That the carrier at the point of destination was either the defendant itself or a connecting carrier of the defendant, to which said apples were delivered by the defendant or by its authority, for transportation to said Bainbridge, Georgia, the point of destination. 28. That pursuant to the laws of the United States by what is known as "The Carmack Amendment" of June 29th, 1906 (34 U. S. Statutes at Large, 584, Ch. 3591), to what is known as "The Interstate Commerce Act" of February 4th, 1887 (24 U. S. Statutes at Large, 379, Ch. 104), the defendant is liable for the fault and negligence of the carrier at the point of destination of said apples, in wrongfully delivering the same to said third party, as hereinbefore set forth. 41 42 43 29. That within four months after the delivery of said apples to the defendant at said Gasport, New York, the plaintiff made a claim in writing against the defendant for the loss of said apples and the value thereof, substantially as hereinbe- 44 fore set forth, and delivered the same to the defendant at Gasport, New York, the point of origin of shipment, as is provided by one of the conditions of said contract or bill of lading, and demanded payment thereof, and that defendant has neglected and refused and still does neglect and refuse to pay plaintiff's loss and damage or to recognize plaintiff's claim. 30. That plaintiff has duly performed all of the conditions upon his part required by said con 45 tract with the defendant, to wit: said bill of lading, and has performed all of the obligations imposed upon him thereby. WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands judgment against the defendant on the two causes of action herein set forth, in the sum of Nine Hundred and Thirty-nine Dollars and Sixty-five Cents 46 ($939.65), together with interest thereon from January 1st, 1912, besides the costs of this action. 47 JUDSON, HOLLEY & CATON, WILLIAM J. BLACKLOCK, being duly sworn deposes and says that he is the plaintiff in the above entitled action; that he has read the fore48 going complaint and knows the contents thereof; that the same is true of his own knowledge, except as to the matters therein stated to be alleged upon information and belief, and that as to those matters he believes it to be true. WM. J. BLACKLOCK. Sworn to before me this 11th day of May, 1912. The defendant answering the first cause of action of the complaint of the plaintiff herein: 1. Denies that it has any knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the allegations of the first cause of action of the complaint contained in the first paragraph or subdivision thereof. 2. Upon information and belief, admits the allegations of the first cause of action of the complaint contained in the second paragraph or subdivision thereof. 3. Upon information and belief, admits the allegations of the first cause of action of the complaint contained in the third and fourth paragraphs or sub-divisions thereof. 4. Denies that it has any knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the allegations of the first cause of action of the complaint contained in the fifth and sixth paragraphs or sub-divisions thereof. 50 51 52 |