Van Cleve v. St. Louis, Memphis & Southeastern Railway Co.
Van Cleve v. St. Louis, Memphis & Southeastern Railway Co.
Opinion of the Court
— This is a suit for damages alleged to have accrued to the plaintiff from personal injuries received hy her while a passenger alighting from defendant’s train. Plaintiff recovered and defendant prosecutes the appeal.
The evidence tends to prove the plaintiff was a pae-' senger on the defendant’s mixed train. She hoarded the train at Yarbro, Arkansas, destined to Caruthersville, Missouri, and paid the usual fare to the conductor. She was injured while in the act of alighting from the defendant’s passenger coach at the depot at Caruthersville, because of a sudden jerk of the train which precipitated her from the steps of the coach against the depot platform. It appears the train had stopped at the defendant’s depot at Caruthersville and the defendant’s com ductor and brakeman in charge thereof had invited the passengers to alight therefrom. The date of the injury was November 19th. Rain had fallen during the day and by reason thereof mud had accumulated on the steps of the passenger coach from the shoes of those passing in and out. This had slightly frozen and was slippery. While plaintiff was in the act of alighting from the passenger coach, with her grip in her hand, and while she was upon the steps thereof, the train was suddenly jerked by a movement of the locomotive, which' caused her to slip on the mud and ice accumulated on the car steps and fall, striking her breast against the platform of the depot, her limbs passing down between the depot platform and the car steps. She was immediately taken up by bystanders and carried into the depot waiting-room, where she had a hemorrhage from the lungs. Af-. terwards she was carried to the hotel at Caruthersville, where she was confined to her bed for about eight days and suffered frequent recurring hemorrhages. It appears that four or five weeks elapsed before she was able to perform any kind of service and then she could only do a slight amount of housework each day. From the testimony of the physician who attended her, it appears
The first instruction given by the court on the part of the plaintiff is as follows:
“The court instructs the jury that if you find and believe from the evidence in this case that when the*335 train upon which the plaintiff was a passenger arrived at the depot of defendant at Caruthersville, Missouri, that it came to a stop or was at rest at said depot, and the employees of the defendant requested the passengers thereon to alight therefrom, and thereupon within a reasonable length of time the plaintiff attempted, without negligence on her part in so doing, as defined in the instructions, to alight from said train, and that while attempting to alight from said train, said train and cars were suddenly jerked by the negligent act or careless conduct of those in charge of said train, without having given a reasonable length of time for plaintiff to alight from said car of said train, and that in consequence of such negligence of defendant’s employees in suddenly jerking or moving said train the plaintiff, without negligence on her part, directly contributing thereto, was injured, you will find for the plaintiff in a sum not exceeding fifteen thousand dollars.”
The principal argument for a reversal is that this instruction broadens the issues in the case and permits a recovery on the part of the plaintiff on a matter not alleged in the petition. The petition alleges in substance that while the plaintiff was on the steps of the car and in the act of alighting from the train, the car was negligently jerked and backed, thereby.causing her to slip on the accumulated mud and ice on the steps thereof, and “fall to and against the said depot platform,” etc. The particular point made against the instruction is that it does not require the jury to find that she fell against the depot platform. There is certainly no merit in this argument. The gravamen of the case is the negligent act of the defendant in jerking and backing the car while plaintiff was in the act of alighting therefrom. It was the duty of the defendant to exercise high care for the plaintiff’s safety until she was safely on the depot platform. To jerk or back the car while she was in the act of alighting therefrom and without waiting a reasonable time for her to alight, was a breach of .its obligation in
In rebuttal to certain expert testimony introduced by the defendant, the plaintiff placed upon the stand tAvo physicians and examined them quite generally touching the disease of consumption. It is uoav argued that the court erred in permitting plaintiff to examine these physicians on the disease of tuberculosis in rebuttal. Without more, it is sufficient to say of this assignment that no objection or exception whatever was made thereto by the learned counsel for defendant in the trial of the cause. And further, it appears he fully and freely participated therein. The assignment will be overruled.
The jury awarded plaintiff a verdict of $5,000. Upon the hearing of the motion for a new trial, plaintiff voluntarily entered a remittitur to the extent of $500, and the court entered judgment for plaintiff for $4,500.
The judgment will therefore be affirmed. It is so ordered.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.