11. Baggage.—
Passengers' baggage or luggage is in, substantially, the same class as cargo as far as the liability of the ship is concerned. Some cases have held that there was an exception of property which the passenger retained in his own custody but the general rule is that this only relieves the carrier where the passenger's own negligence occasioned the loss; in such cases the passenger must show that the shipowner failed to exercise reasonable and proper care. The matter is frequently covered by express stipulations in the ticket or contract of carriage but these will not usually be enforced in the American courts unless reasonable and plainly agreed to by the passenger. Thus arbitrary limitations of the value of the baggage of a steamship passenger are void. Passengers' baggage is not limited to wearing apparel and similar articles, although the general rule is that it must be confined to such articles as are reasonably required for the purposes of the journey, having in mind its general scope and the station and circumstances of the passenger. It is not permitted to impose extraordinary liabilities upon the ship by carrying as baggage goods of great value which should be otherwise shipped. In a recent case recovery was allowed for the loss of a manuscript of a manual on Greek grammar contained in the passenger's trunk; he valued it at $5,000; the Court, however, allowed only $500, on the theory that it was an imposition on the carrier to place so valuable an original in his baggage when he might have carried an equally serviceable copy.