Western Union Telegraph Co. v. Austin. An operator in the employ of a telegraph company informed a person as to the "call" of another place and also informed him as to the signature which he used to messages transmitted by him. Such person, when thus informed, fraudulently tapped the wires of the telegraph company and messages were thus sent by him to a confederate in the other place and through such messages a bank in the latter place cashed a draft, and was thus defrauded of the amount thereof. In an action brought by the bank against the telegraph company it was held that the evidence was sufficient to justify a finding that the telegraph company was guilty of negligence, and was therefore liable to the bank for the amount of the draft. Western Union Tel. Co. v. Uvalde Nat. Bank (Tex. Civ. App.), 72 S. W. 232; aff'd. 77 S. W. 603. Where the agent of a telegraph company willfully sent a false and forged dispatch to an unmarried man purporting to be signed by an unmarried woman with whom he had a casual acquaintance, requesting him to meet her at a certain town, and afterwards exhibited the telegram, and boasted of having sent it, the act was within the scope of the agent's employment, so that the telegraph company was liable for damages arising from the mental suffering caused by injury to the woman's reputation. Magouirk v. Western Union Tel. Co., 79 Miss. 632, 31 So. 206. 8. Contract between sender and telegraph company.-The addressee of a telegraph message is bound by the reasonable terms of the contract made between the company and the sender of the message. Where a message is delivered to a company for transmission on the blank form of another company, the blank containing printed instructions that the message shall be sent subject to the terms and conditions printed on the back thereof, the reasonable conditions therein set out are binding, notwithstanding they are in the form of a contract with a company other than the one to which the message is delivered.. The delivery and acceptance of such a message is, in effect, an adoption by the parties of the blank contract made in the name of the other company. Western Union Tel. Co. v. Waxelbaum, 113 Ga. 1017, 39 S. E. 443. 9. Office hours on Sunday.-Where it appeared that the office hours of a telegraph office on Sunday were from eight to ten in the morning and four to six in the afternoon, and a message was received to be delivered to the person to whom it was directed residing less than half a mile from the office, during the closed hours of the office, the failure of the agent to deliver the message until twenty minutes after the hour of opening, was not negligence for which the addressee of the message could recover, although if the message had been immediately delivered after the opening of the office he would have been enabled to take a train as directed by the message. Western Union Tel. Co. v. McConnico, 27 Tex. Civ. App. 610, 66 S. W. 592. 10. Reasonableness of rule not to deliver messages at night.— A telegraph company has the right to establish reasonable hour during which its office shall be kept open for the transmission and delivery of messages. Where it is shown that a place where the office of a telegraph company is located Western Union Telegraph Co. v. Austin. is not large enough to justify the employment of a special messenger, to deliver telegrams received after seven in the evening, a rule not to deliver messages so received until the next morning is not unreasonable. Davis v. Western Union Tel. Co., Ky. Lak Rep., 66 S. W. 17. 11. Notice of claim for damages. The requirement in a contract for the transmission and delivery of a telegraphic message that ninety days' notice of a claim for damages caused by the negligence of the company shall be filed with the company, does not preclude the recovery of damages where the action therefor is brought within ninety days after the cause of action accrued. Phillips v. Western Union Tel. Co., 95 Tex. 638, 69 S. W. 63. CASSADY V. OLD COLONY STREET RAILWAY CO. Massachusetts; Supreme Judicial Court. 1. BURNING OUT OF A FUSE; NEGLIGENCE.-A fuse as used in the machinery connected with an electric car is a safety device to prevent injury to the electric mechanism arising from variation in the electric current. The fuse is expected to burn out when, for any cause, the electric current exceeds the carrying capacity of the mechanism. When, therefore, a fuse burns out it is not prima facie evidence of negligence. 2. LOCATION OF FUSE-BOX.-While the mere burning out of a fuse properly located and in proper condition does not import negligence, yet if the fuse be so located as, by its burning out, to injure a passenger, such a location may be inconsistent with the degree of care which a common carrier owes to its passengers, and, therefore, upon this question the plaintiff had a right to go to the jury. 3. DOCTRINE OF RES IPSA LOQUITER.-Where the evidence warrants a conclusion that the intensity and duration of the flame caused by the explosion was greatly in excess of what would have been the result if the fuse had been in proper condition, and that its imperfect condition might have been discovered by the use of reasonable care, the defendant is not entitled to a ruling to the effect that the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur does not apply. It was proper to instruct the jury that the matter was before them to decide how far negligence could be inferred from the accident itself. 4. PRESUMPTION AS TO CAUSE.-If the cause of the accident does not clearly appear from the evidence, or if there is a dispute as to what it is, the plaintiff may argue upon the whole evidence, and the jury may rely upon presumptions, unless they are satisfied that the cause has been shown to be inconsistent with it. Exceptions by defendant from judgment for plaintiff. Decided September 3, 1903; reported 1 St. Ry. 331, 68 N. E. 10. Geo. R. Swasey and Thos. H. Buttimer, for plaintiff. Henry F. Hurlburt and Damon E. Hall, for defendant. Opinion by HAMMOND, J.: The first ground of defense is that there was no evidence of negligence of the defendant. It is conceded that the fuse burned out, |