If freight, addressed to a place beyond the usual route of the railroad which first received it, is lost or injured the railroad must, within a reasonable time after demand, give satisfactory proof to the shipper that the loss or injury did not occur while the freight was in its possession.

Source: SDC 1939, § 8.1006; SDCL, § 49-5-27; SL 1980, ch 322, § 33.