Enright v. Pittsburg Junction Railroad
Enright v. Pittsburg Junction Railroad
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
When this ease was here before, 198 Pa. 166, on appeal from
The contributory negligence of the father, which appellant insists is a bar to his right to recover, is his carelessness in allowing his boy to be out on the street alone and to stroll away from home a square and a half, with young.companions, down along the railroad tracks, where they jumped on amoving train and the boy was hurt in getting off. He was ten years and six or eight months old on the day of the accident, which we judicially notice was Sunday. It was a day of rest in the late summer or very early fall, when the temptation to be out of doors is great. With all ordinary business suspended and the dangers incident to children on the street greatly diminished, the solicitude of the most anxious parents for the welfare of their little ones, longing to be out, would be naturally relaxed on the Sabbath, and, what might be negligence by them on any other day of the week, might not be on this. But, without regard to the day, ought the court below to have declared the father guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law ? The boy was not a little, prattling child of so tender years that his very presence on the street away from home, unattended by anyone, was in itself evidence of the carelessness and neglect of his parents. He was nearly eleven years old—soon to reach the age of discretion. Many no older than he earn their own living and help to support needy or helpless parents. In the healthful development of children thousands of the age of this boy are daily seen on the streets of towns and cities, squares away from home and unattended, without a thought in the mind of the passerby that their parents are negligent; and even if, as here, they do stroll or wander into places of danger, and are hurt in their search for amusement, the law could not declare the parents careless without offending its own humanity. What was said under the facts in Philadelphia & Reading
The second assignment relates to what the court said in its charge about money that had been paid by an agent of the defendant company to the two boys who were on the car with En-right. McCarthy, one of them, testified that the agent had called to see him and given him money three or four times, and that it had been given to him voluntarily, as he had not asked for it. The other boy, Reardon, said the agent had given him money two or three times. In explanation, the agent testified: “ I gave them fifty or sixty cents, and maybe seventy-five cents or a dollar, I forget the amounts, to come into town to see the attorney once, and attend the trial once, and to get them their dinners; once they came in to make an affidavit to their two statements; I gave them money for their fare and also gave them money for their dinners ; I also paid their fare and paid for their dinners; this money was for that; they were poor, they sai<jj, and did not have anything; that is the reason the money was given.” These two boys were subpoenaed by the plaintiff as well as by the defendant at the first trial. When they came into court they were in charge of Robinson, the agent who had paid them the money, and Reardon testified that, when the attorneys for the plaintiff tried to speak to them, they were ordered not to do so by the agent who had them in charge. Robinson admits this in his testimony. On the second trial, when counsel for the plaintiff attempted to speak to them in court, he was stopped by the railroad detective and not allowed to have any communication with them. . Counsel for the appellee admits that he commented on these matters in his address to the jury; and it was not improper for him to do so, for the jury could have fairly concluded that the payments
The statement of the occurrence given by the injured boy, when in the hospital, to Robinson, the agent already referred to, differed very materially, according to that witness and Howell, the superintendent of the institution, from his testimony on the trial. When he was interviewed in the hospital, on the second day after the accident, as nearly as Robinson could fix the date,' he was lying on a cot, covered up ; one leg had been amputated, the other was badly lacerated, his head was cut open, and it is safe to assume he was in great suffering. Under these conditions, the representative of the company called upon this boy to learn from him his version of the accident. Older heads might not have been able to remember, and no just complaint can be made of that portion of the charge in which,
The assignments are dismissed and the judgments are affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Enright v. Pittsburg Junction Railroad Company
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- Negligence—Injury to infant—Contributory negligence of father—Province of court and jury. The court cannot say as a matter of law that a father is guilty of contributory negligence in permitting his boy, eleven years old, to go alone on the street on a Sunday, and to stroll along railroad tracks a square and a half away from his home. Negligence—Evidence—Payment of money to witnesses—Charge of court. In an action against a railroad company to recover damages for injuries to a boy under age, where it appears that an agent of the defendant had paid small sums of money to two boys who had seen the accident and who were called as witnesses, and the agent testifies that these payments were made to the boys for their car fares and dinners, and there. is proof that the counsel for the plaintiff was prevented from speaking to the boys in court by the defendant’s agent, it is not improper for the court to leave it to the jury to determine whether the payments had been legitimately made, or for the purpose of influencing the testimony of the boys. Negligence—Evidence—Conflicting statements of plaintiff. In a,n action against a railroad company to recover damages for personal injuries to a boy under ago, where the defendant produces evidence tending to show that the statements made by the boy in the hospital materially differed from his statements made at the trial, and it also appeared that when the boy was interviewed in the hospital, one leg had been amputated, the other was badly lacerated, and his head was out open, it is not error for the court to charge that “if he was suffering such pain at that time as to not know what he was talking about or as to affect his knowledge of the subject, then you take that into consideration as to whether this interview does affect his credibility or not and to what extent.”