Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1894

Railway Co. v. Mayes

Railway Co. v. Mayes
Supreme Court of Arkansas · Decided January 27, 1894 · Wood
58 Ark. 397; 24 S.W. 1076; 1894 Ark. LEXIS 108

Counsel

Wallace Pratt and Olden & Orr for appellant., Sam H. Davidson for appellee.

Railway Co. v. Mayes

Opinion of the Court

Wood J.,

(after stating the facts). It is not negligence “per se ” to jump from a moving train. But where one, compos mentis, under no circumstances of emergency or constraint, takes “a leap in the dark” from a train moving at the rate shown in this case, his conduct is reckless and foolhardy. St. Louis, etc., R. Co. v. Rosenberry, 45 Ark. 256 ; Catlett v. Railway Company, 57 Ark. 461.

The learned circuit judge, upon appellee’s own statement and the undisputed facts, might very properly have directed a verdict for appellant.

Reversed and dismissed.

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