Morris v. Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Co.
Morris v. Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Co.
Opinion of the Court
This action is for damages alleged to have accrued to plaintiff by reason of defendant’s train running against and killing two of his horses. The judgment in the trial court was for plaintiff.
The petition in the cause contains three counts, each charging a killing of the same horses. The second charges that the horses were killed at or near a public crossing in consequence of the negligence of defendant in not ringing the bell or sounding the whistle of its locomotive, and concluded with a prayer for single damages. The third count was for killing in an inclosed field at- a. point where the road was not fenced as required by statute and where there were no public crossings, and concluded with a prayer for double damages, as provided by statute. The plaintiff dismissed the first count at the close of the evidence and the jury returned a verdict for him on the second count, and for defendant on the third count. Whereupon, the court ordered judgment for the plaintiff on the second count and for defendant on the first and third counts.
The first instruction given for plaintiff was erroneous in that it omits any reference to where the horses got upon the track and merely submits the question whether they were killed in consequence of not ringing the bell or sounding the whistle. The charge in the count of the petition upon which he recovered is that they were struck and killed at a public crossing. The instruction should have been based on the case stated. Wasson v. McCook, 80 Mo. App. 488.
The judgment is reversed and the cause remanded.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.