Bennettsville & Cheraw R. R. v. Hickson Lumber Co.
Bennettsville & Cheraw R. R. v. Hickson Lumber Co.
Opinion of the Court
The opinion1 of the Court was delivered by
Plaintiff made a contract with defendant whereby defendant was granted the right to run its logging trains over plaintiff’s, tracks between certain stations on plaintiff’s road. The contract provided, among other things, that defendant should fnrnish its own locomotive engine and pay the salary of the engineer, who was to be employed by plaintiff, but, upon reasonable showing by defendant of incompetency or neglect of duty, plaintiff was to discharge him and employ another; that, while on plaintiff’s tracks, the engineer and log train should be subject to plaintiff’s control, but, at all other times, subject to1 defendant’s control; that the engineer should keep the locomotive in first-class condition; that, while on plaintiff’s tracks, plaintiff should be responsible for all collisions between trains and for wrecks caused by defective track or the negligence of its employees, and responsible to defendant for all injury and damage to its equipment from said causes, and defendant should be responsible for injuries to its own employees, except those caused by defective track or the negligence of plaintiff’s employees.
By the negligence of defendant, in failing to equip its locomotive with suitable grates, fire was set out, while the engine was on plaintiff’s track, and destroyed a freight car *384 and some crossties, to' plaintiff’s damage $471.29, for which plaintiff had judgment against defendant.
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Bennettsville and Cheraw R. R. Co. v. Hickson Lumber Co.
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. Negligence — Contracts.—The law imposes liability upon every person legally responsible for the proximate consequences of his negligence and the fact that one has contracted against liability on certain grounds does not relieve him of liability for his negligence resulting proximately in injury and damage to the other party to the contract in respect to matters for which he has not contracted for exemption from liability. 2. Ibid.. — Master and Servant. — Where a contract between two transportation companies provides that one may use the tracks of the other for certain purposes, the one to furnish its own engine, the other to employ the engineer, whose duty it is to keep the engine in good repair, and damage occurs from fire set out by the engine by reasou of defective grates, it matters not whose employee the engineer was, as it was not his duty to keep the grates in condition.