Croghan v. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Co.
Croghan v. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Co.
Opinion of the Court
This is an action growing out of the same wreck discussed in Maucher v. Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co., ante, p.
There was a verdict and judgment for $15,000, and defendant insists that this is grossly excessive. At the time of the accident plaintiff was 31 years of age, with a life expectancy of more than 33 years. He had been employed by the circus company but a short time, and for that service was getting $15 a month, with his living furnished. It is claimed, however, that the opportunity to travel and visit many of the places of interest in the Únited States was a consideration inducing him to take this employment, and that prior to taking this engagement he had been earning, as a carpenter, $1,200 to $1,500 a year.
There is little dispute as to the serious character of his injuries. There was an iron rod driven through his knee, his head was cut in several places, his body bruised and lacerated, and his suffering must have been intense. He was confined in the hospital for several weeks, where he was attended by the defendant’s surgeon, a man eminent in his profession, who testified as a witness for the plaintiff. There is also the testimony of other eminent surgeons, and from their testimony we gather that plaintiff’s knee is seriously crippled. He is suffering from atrophy of the muscles of one shoulder. Dr. Summers, defendant’s surgeon at the time of the accident, testified that plaintiff had been under his care from the date of the accident to the date of trial, a period of about six months; that, in addition to the injuries already stated, he was then suffering with a tumor of the left hip. “He has a tumor in the covering of the bone. I would say the upper part of the thigh bone just before it enters into the formation
This testimony was corroborated by that of other eminent surgeons, from all of which it quite clearly appears that it would probably be necessary to amputate plaintiff’s leg at the hip, and even with this heroic treatment the surgeons expressed grave doubt of his ultimate recovery. In this state of the record, we cannot say that the verdict is excessive, and the judgment is
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- James Croghan v. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Company
- Status
- Published