Derr v. Lehigh Valley R. R.
Derr v. Lehigh Valley R. R.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Conrad Derr, a locomotive engineer, died on the 15th of March, 1888, from an injury he received the preceding day while in the service of the Lehigh Yalley Railroad Company. His widow and children, alleging that his death was due to the negligence of the defendant company, brought this action to recover compensation for their loss. It was shown on the trial that the injury was received in a cut on the Easton and Amboy division between Three Bridges and Neshanic in New Jersey, and that the death as a result of the injury occurred in North
A considerable portion of the argument contained in the appellant’s paper book is devoted to a discussion of the question of jurisdiction. It assumes that the deceased was sent out upon the road on the 14th of March without sufficient information concerning the obstructions in his path and the work he was to do, and that the failure of the company to give him such information before he left Easton was the proximate cause of the injury which resulted in his death. It will thus be seen that the negligence complained of was an omission of duty in Pennsylvania which, it is claimed, was the sole cause of the accident in New Jersey. The principle settled in Usher v. Railroad Co., 126 Pa. 206, is not disputed. It that case the negligence, the injury and the death were in New Jersey, and the right of action for the benefit of the widow and next of kin was given b3r the New Jersey statute to the personal representatives of the deceased. A suit to enforce this right was brought in Pennsylvania by the widow for the benefit of herself and child, and it was held that as the right was statutory it must be asserted in the name of the persons to whom it was given. But Usher v. Railroad Co. is not decisive of the question raised in this case, if the appellant’s contention in respect to the negligence and the proximate cause of the injury is well founded. It must be remembered, however, that unless a negligent act or omission in Pennsylvania, which was directly responsible for the injury received in New Jersey, is shown by the evidence, there is no question of jurisdiction to be considered. If the evidence is insufficient to warrant an inference of such negligence, the non-suit, on the authority of Usher v. Railroad Co., supra, must be sustained.
We turn then to the testimony submitted by the appellant to discover, if we can, what negligent act or omission of duty the defendant company is chargeable with in connection with
The specifications of error are overruled.
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
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- Derr v. Lehigh Valley R. R. Co.
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- Negligence — Jurisdiction—Injury in one stale, death in another — Risk of employment. Where a person is injured in New Jersey, and subsequently dies of his injuries in Pennsylvania, no action can be brought in Pennsylvania, by the widow of the deceased, suing for herself and her children, unless there was a negligent act or omission in Pennsylvania which was directly responsible for the injury received in New Jersey. Plaintiff’s husband, a locomotive engineer, was injured in New Jersey by the derailment of his engine r'unning into a snow drift in a deep cut. He was removed to Pennsylvania where he died, and suit was brought in Pennsylvania by his widow for the benefit of herself and children. The evidence showed that deceased had charge of one of four engines coupled together, which had been sent out from Easton, Pennsylvania, to New Jersey, to remove snow drifts from cuts. The manner in which the train was made up, equipped and manned at Easton showed the purpose for which it was intended. Hands employed on the train were informed that the train was intended to open the road, although there was no direct proof that deceased received this information. Deceased had been employed on the division where the accident occurred for four years. Held, that the evidence failed to disclose negligence on the part of the railroad company, and that the risks involved in the work of opening the road were intelligently assumed by deceased.