Mobile & Ohio Railroad v. Stinson
Mobile & Ohio Railroad v. Stinson
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
When Page, the section master, made the statement to the
It is earnestly insisted that to permit the judgment to stand would overturn the well-settled principle that one is not liable for damages for injuries suffered by another by reason of fire spreading from the premises of the first named to those of the other party, where no negligence is proven. But this contention is unsound. Multitudes of cases can be imagined where proof of the fact of putting out fire at all would authorize a presumption of negligence. In the present case, the evidence that fire was put out, on a windy day, in high dead grass on the right of way, which immediately adjoined the premises of the appellee, likewise covered with dry grass of considerable height and great thickness, and, in the absence of any other evidence as to the course and progress of the flames, warranted
Appellant’s attorneys filed an elaborate suggestion of error, urging the points indicated in the following opinion:
Woods, C. J., made the following response for the court to suggestion of error filed to the former (the foregoing) opinion delivered in this case:
1. There was proof of the agency of the section master other than that contained in his own declarations. There was no dispute as to his agency. And as to the scope of that agency, we will employ that common knowledge possessed by mankind generally, in ascertaining whether it was his duty to look after and clear off the company’s right of way. We take knowledge of the fact that it was his duty to keep both track and right of way in proper condition.
2. The appellee was not guilty of contributory negligence in failing to cultivate his pecan grove so as to keep down growing grass. We know of no reason for holding that a man is required to keep down grass in a pecan grove any more than in a meadow or cornfield. The law is <£ that one who uses his land in a natural and ordinary way for purposes to which it is suited, is not required to anticipate negligence by the adjacent railway company, and his failure to so manage his business as to protect his property from loss against such negligence is not contributory negligence on his part. ’ ’ Home Ins. Co. v. Railway Co., 70 Miss., 119.
3. That the fire which destroyed appellee’s pecan grove originated upon the right of way of appellant company was shown
4. The letters of appellee, and his sworn statement to the company, in which the value of the trees was said to be fifty cents each, do not preclude appellee from showing the truth, and establishing the real value of the trees. The letters and statement were written with a view to securing a settlement by compromise and without suit, and that the value of the trees was greater than that which appellee named in his letters and statement, is clearly shown by abundant evidence other than his own.
We adher'd to our former opinion, and the suggestion is denied.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Mobile & Ohio Railroad Co. v. D. N. Stinson
- Cited By
- 5 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. Evidence. Res gestee. Agent. Declarations. The declaration of a railroad section foreman, who set out fire on the right of way of a railroad company, while the fire is yet burning, as to the origin of the fire, are admissible in evidence in an action against the railroad company for loss resulting from the fire, as part of the res gestee. '2. Pire. Damages. Negligence. The setting' out of fire on one’s own land may be, and is, under some circumstances, sufficient proof of negligence to entitle the owner of adjoining lands to recover damag'es caused by the spread of the fire. 3. Same. Contn'ibutory negligence. One who uses his land in a natural and ordinary way, for purposes to which it is suited, is not required to anticipate negligence by a railway company whose track is adjacent, and his failure to so manage his business as to protect his property from loss against such negligence, is not contributory neg'ligence on his part. 4. Railroad. Section foreman. Scope of agency. Judicial knowledge. Where there is no dispute as to a railroad section foreman’s agency, tlie court will take knowledge of the fact that it was his duty to keep both track and right of way in proper condition. 5. Compbomisic. Offers. Statement of value. The fact that a plaintiff has offered to accept a sum of money in full settlement of damages for the destruction of his property by fire, and stated the property to be of such value, does not preclude him, on the rejection of the offer, from recovering such greater sum as the proof may warrant.