McCabe v. Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad
McCabe v. Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The appellant was an employee of the appellee. He had been in its service a number of years before he was injured, during the last five months of which he worked at its Greenville yards. On October 31, 1905, while working there, he was directed by his foreman to go into the north part of what was known as the sand house and get a stove. On each side of this house there were tracks of the defendant company, five or six of them being on
The nonsuit was directed on the ground of the contributory negligence of the plaintiff, and the motion for it could not have been denied. The appellant had been familiar for months with the situation within the Green-ville yards. He had worked there constantly and knew that trains were at all times passing in and out. He admitted he knew that the engines were wider than the tracks and projected beyond them. He further admitted that, shortly before he went into the sand house, he saw a train moving on the track nearest to jt, and that when he entered it the engine which injured him was standing at an ash pit to the south. While it does not appear in the testimony who opened the door in such a way that all view to the south was cut off as the appellant came out of the building, it is admitted in his history of the case that he himself had so opened it. Without such admission, the presumption would be that he had opened
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- McCabe v. Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad Company
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Negligence — Railroads—Employee—Contributory negligence— Nonsuit. In an action against a railroad company to recover damages for personal injuries, a compulsory nonsuit was properly entered, where it appeared that the plaintiff, who had been in the defendant’s service for a number of years and had worked at the yard where the accident took place during the five preceding months, was directed by his foreman to go to the sand house on an errand; that on each side of this house there were tracks of the defendant company, the nearest being about three and one-half feet from the building and parallel to it; that a door four feet in width opened outward from the west side of the building, and when open at right angles to it extended about six inches over the nearest rail, cutting off a view of the tracks to the south; that plaintiff entered the sand house through this doorway, and a few minutes later came out of the same doorway; that before he entered the building he saw an engine standing at an ash pit to the south, on the track nearest the building; that as he turned around the door of the sand house on leaving the building, he was confronted with the engine approaching on said track, and in order to avoid being run over, pressed himself up against the building, but was caught and severely squeezed in the narrow space between the engine and building.