Snider v. Chicago & Alton Railway Co.
Snider v. Chicago & Alton Railway Co.
Opinion of the Court
(after stating the facts). —
Plaintiff’s injury was caused by the negligence of one or both of the railway companies, and his evidence tended to prove negligence on the part of both; on the part of the street car company in that the motorman proceeded to cross the tracks of the Chicago & Alton Railway Company without stopping to look and listen for an approaching train, provided he was not told or signalled to come ahead by an authorized agent of the Chicago & Alton Railway Company. If the evidence of Miss Smith is. to be given credit, then it appears that a switchman on the back end of the train gave the motorman a signal to cross the tracks and when he proceeded to do so the train collided with the car. The argument, made to break the force of her evidence, that she did not know what train it was or whether or not the man on the train was a switchman is fallacious, for the reason the train she saw the man on was the one that collided with the street car, and it is not denied that this was a Chicago & Alton train, and the man she saw was dressed like a switchman, was on this train and was acting as a switchman and looked like one. Railroad management is not so loose as to permit or suffer anyone, other than an authorized person, to be upon its freight trains acting as such,
“And if you further find from the evidence that the defendant Granite City and St. Louis Railway Company by its servants in charge of its cars could have prevented said collision by the exercise of a very high degree of care and foresight of skillful, careful and practical railroad operatives under the same or similar circumstances, then the plaintiff is entitled to recover as against the defendant- Granite City and St. Louis Railway Company.-
- “And if the jury find from the evidence in the case that the servants of defendant Chicago.& Alton Railway Company acting within the scope of their authority as defined in another instruction' given for the-Chicago & Alton Railway Company, prior to the collision, signalled the motorman in charge of the Granite City company car tb come forward and in doing so acted negligently and thereby directly contributed to cause said collision and plaintiff’s said injuries, then plaintiff is also entitled to recover as against the Chicago & Alton Railway Company.”
The instruction referred to as given for the Chicago & Alton Railway Company reads as follows:
“The court instructs the jury that a principal is not bound by the acts of his agents and servants except when such acts are within the scope of the authority of such agents or servants. Therefore, even if the jury believe from the evidence that a person or persons in the employ of the Chicago & Alton Railway Company signalled the agents and servants of the Granite City & St. Louis Railway Company in charge of the car on which the plaintiff was a passenger, to pro
These instructions are predicated on the pleadings and on the evidence considered as a whole, and are, in our opinion, unobjectionable.
The plaintiff testified that he was twenty-eight years old and was an electrician. He sustained a shock to his nervous system and his right hand and fingers thereof were injured. He was under the doctor’s care for three months, being treated for his nervous trouble and injury to his fingers. That one of the fingers was now all right, but that the middle finger of his right hand is still stiff. He is totally disabled from following his trade as an electrician, having done no work as such since his injuries, and now earns nine dollars per week as a bookkeeper, but before the accident he earned from eighty-five to one hundred dollars per month.
“Q. How much did you earn as an electrician? A. I earned as an electrician fifty cents an hour.
‘ ‘ Q. What were your average earnings before you were hurt, monthly ? A. It amounted • from $85 to $100.
“ Q. How much do you earn now ? A. $9 a week; that is, $36 a month.
‘ ‘ Q. State whether or not you have done any practical work since this injury ? ■ A. No, sir; not an hour’s work in practical business.
“Q. Did you attempt to work? A. Yes, sir.
“Q. Well, why didn’t you do it? A. I could not, the pain in the right hand was so hard I couldn’t do it; whenever I was called in places I didn’t trust myself. I had to be cool and collected; my nervous system is not that way any more.
‘ ‘ Q. How have these injuries been with reference to pain and suffering? A. Well, the first couple of
“Q. Does your hand pain you now? A. When I put it in motion, yes, sir.
“ Q. What was your physical condition before you were hurt? A. I was always healthy and I could work. ’ ’
Dr. Fries, who treated the plaintiff for his injury, testified that plaintiff suffered from shock as well as from a severe contusion of the middle finger of the right hand and a slighter contusion of the ring finger. That his services were reasonably worth from fifty to seventy-five dollars. That he examined plaintiff’s hand a day before the day of the trial on the twenty-fifth day of February, 1904, and found the middle finger to be anchylosed. That the stiffness of plaintiff’s middle finger had been lessened since he treated him and he. did not think the lifting power of his right hand had been impaired, though he had not regained his full strength in it at the time of the trial; that he could not bend the middle finger over quite as far as he did before it was injured, and that it would always remain in that condition; that the injury was very painful for the reason the nerves of the fingers were injured.
The court properly instructed the jury as to the measure of damages. Their assessment was exclusively for the jury and its verdict has been approved by the trial court, therefore, unless it is manifest that the jury was carried away by passion or prejudice, its verdict should not be disturbed by an appellate court. Seemingly the damages assessed are more than adequate to compensate the plaintiff for his injuries, but they only appear so to one who did not witness the trial, did not see plaintiff in his injured condition, or hear the witnesses testify in respect thereto. The learned trial judge having approved the verdict, we will
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.