29 JULY 1905, Page 24

Carriage by Railway. By Henry W. Disney, B.A. (Stevens and

Sons. 7s. 6d.)—This book contains an exposition of the common law as regards the carriage of goods and passengers' . luggage in the first place, and of passengers in the second. It is intended, of course, for students of law, but it consists of lectures • delivered to an audience largely consisting of railway employes. And there is one chapter at least which is of very wide interest, "Passengers' Luggage." This might, we think, be published in a separate form. There are matters of importance in all the chapters. Here, for instance, is a ease. A railway gives to the reporter of a sporting newspaper a free pass ; it is not transferable. But as a matter of fact the reporter named upon it did not use it, his place being filled by another member of the staff. The passenger was injured, and the company set up the defence that the ticket was not legally used. They failed, and rightly so ; the change of persons did not concern them. We doubt whether another decision was equally right. A child over three years of age was injured, and the company maintained that a ticket ought to have been taken for him, and that, failing that, there was no claim. Blackburn, j., held that "there was an honest mistake on the mother's part." But mothers do not commonly carry three-year-old children, and the presumption is that she was aware of the regulation and evaded it.