Knox v. Robbins
Knox v. Robbins
Opinion of the Court
This suit was originally instituted by T. E. Robbins against the Livingston & Southeastern Railway Company and the partnership firm of W. H. Knox and Hiram Knox, doing a sawmilling business under the firm name of the Knox Lumber Company. The plaintiff Robbins having been adjudged a lunatic, Frank McCall was allowed to come in and prosecute the suit as next friend of said Robbins. A trial with a jury resulted in a verdict and judgment in favor •of the plaintiff for $7,500 against both defendants, from which they prosecute this appeal. In substance the allegations of the petition are as follows:
On and prior to July 21, 1909, the defendant Lumber Company owned and operated a sawmill and planing mill located at the station of Knox, or Soda, in Polk county, Tex., about seven miles from the town of Livingston, a station on the railroad of the defendant Livingston & Southeastern Railway Company, and the Lumber Company owned large bodies of timber in Polk county, some of which was located at a great distance from its mill, and away from the track of the defendant Railway Company. The defendant Railway Company was a private railroad corporation, and it owned and operated a line of railroad extending from the town of Livingston to the station of Knox, or Soda, at which the mill was situated. The defendants W. H. Knox and Hiram Knox, being the constituent members of the partnership under the name of the Knox Lumber Company, also owned the majority of the stock in the defendant Railway Company. That the defendant Lumber Company, for the purposes of facilitating it in the trans *1136 portation of its timber from its distant tracts, bad built a tram railroad, constructed according to tbe standard of tbe ordinary railroad, and wbicb extended from tbe junction with tbe defendant Railway Company’s tracks a considerable distance to tbe timber lands of tbe Lumber Company. That on and prior to July 21, 1909, tbe defendants, for their mutual benefit and advantage, bad some sort of a contract, tbe terms of wbicb were unknown to plaintiff, under wbicb tbe defendant Lumber Company cut its timbers and transported same over its tram railroad to tbe junction of tbe defendant Railway Company’s track, and that thence tbe defendants transported said timbers to tbe Lumber Company’s sawmill at tbe town of Knox by means of logging cars. That it was understood between plaintiff and the defendant Lumber Company at the time of his employment that one or both of tbe defendant companies would transport him upon cars over tbe railroad of defendant Railway Company, and over tbe tram railway between tbe place of bis residence at or near said mill and tbe place of his work. That while' thus in tbe employment of tbe defendant Lumber Company, and under contract with it to saw logs in the woods for said company, tbe plaintiff and other employes, in accordance with tbe said agreement, and with tbe consent and acquiescence of defendant, boarded a logging train at tbe station of Knox, which was made up of “an engine, tender, and three logging cars, described as aforesaid, and wbicb left said mill for the purpose of carrying tbe plaintiff and tbe other employés of tbe defendant Lumber Company to the woods, where they were to resume their service for defendant Lumber Company,” etc., and that plaintiff thereby became a passenger on said ears, and that “if the plaintiff is mistaken in bis averment that when riding on said logging train in going to and returning from bis work be was a passenger thereon, and if be is mistaken in bis averment that tbe defendants, and each of them, owed to him tbe highest degree of care to safely transport him to and from bis work while on said cars, tbe defendants, and each of them, nevertheless, owed plaintiff tbe duty to transport him in safety while on said car, both going to and returning from his place of work,” etc. That the said train consisted of an engine and tender in front of wbicb were three logging cars wbicb were pushed out in front of tbe engine. That the relations between tbe defendants were of such a character that plaintiff did not know and could not ascertain whether tbe trainmen in charge of said logging car and of the train of which they were a part were in tbe employ of tbe defendant Railway Company or of tbe defendant Lumber Company, nor could be ascertain whether tbe train and cars belonged to tbe one or tbe other of tbe defendants, but be alleged that such trainmen were in the employ of both and each of said defendants, and that tbe cars and train were being operated for the mutual benefit of both of tbe defendants. That plaintiff, in taking passage on said train, took bis seat on one of tbe. couplings of tbe frame of tbe logging car that was attached to tbe tender, and that while tbe train was going at a rapid rate of speed at a point on the track of the defendant Railway Company some of the cars encountered an obstruction on the track and became derailed, and tbe plaintiff, in order to avoid apparent danger, jumped from tbe car that be was sitting on, and was seriously and permanently injured, alleging that such, injury resulted from negligence on tbe part of tbe defendants in tbe following particulars, substantially: (1) That defendants bad caused or permitted some obstruction to be placed and left on tbe railroad track; (2) that defendants bad failed to properly inspect the track to discover and remove tbe obstruction; (3) that the track and roadbed at the point of tbe occurrence were in an unsafe condition; (4) that tbe defendants bad failed to have tbe engine and train properly equipped with air brakes, so as to stop tbe train quickly upon discovery of tbe obstruction; (5) that the rate of speed at wbicb tbe train was running was excessive; (6) that tbe defendants failed to keep a proper lookout for obstructions. .
Among other injuries alleged to have been suffered by tbe said Robbins, it is alleged that as a result of said injuries be has become insane.
Defendants answered by (1) general denial; (2) special denials of various allegations in tbe petition; (3) a special plea that plaintiff was not authorized to ride on tbe logging ear occupied by him, but that plaintiff and others were strictly precluded by rule of the defendant Lumber Company from riding in such position, and were not permitted to ride except on the caboose or tender provided for that purpose; (4) special plea that in riding upon tbe logging car plaintiff was a ■trespasser, assuming tbe risk of tbe danger, and that defendants owed him no affirmative duty, except to avoid intentional injury, and that plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence in occupying such position; (5) that plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence, in that be unnecessarily and carelessly jumped from bis position on tbe car, whereas, if be bad remained thereon, be would have received no injury; (6) special plea that tbe plaintiff bad full knowledge that riding on tbe logging car involved more danger than riding on tbe tender, and bad been so admonished, notwithstanding wbicb be voluntarily occupied tbe more dangerous position, and thereby assumed tbe risk, and thereby also was guilty of negligence precluding recovery; (7) special denial that plaintiff’s alleged insanity re- *1137 suited from the injuries complained of, and averring that such insanity was due- to venereal diseases, and was hereditary.
The facts are substantially as follows: At the time of the accident, which occurred July 21, 1909, the appellee Bobbins was in the employment of the Knox Lumber Company, engaged in getting out timber for its sawmill, which was located at the station of Knox (or Soda) on the line of the Livingston & Southeastern Bailway about seven miles from the town of Livingston, one of the termini of said railroad. The Bailway Company owned and operated a line of railway running from Livingston to Knox. W. H. Knox and Hiram Knox, operating as a partnership under the firm name of the Knox .Lumber Company, owned and operated the sawmill at the town of Knox. The Lumber Company, for the purpose of reaching its timber in the woods, had constructed a tram road from a junction with the said railroad out into the woods. W. H. Knox and his son, Hiram Knox, owned about nine-tenths of the stock of the Bailway Company and W. H. Knox was its president. There was a contract between the Lumber Company and the Bailway Company by the terms of which the Bailway Company were to transport the logs from the woods to the Lumber Company’s mill at ?1 per thousand feet, and for this compensation the Bailway Company was also to carry the employes of the Lumber Company who worked in the woods to and from their place of work. Bor this purpose the Bailway Company had for use a caboose attached to the engine or logging cars, but some month or more before the accident in question this caboose had been out of use, having become unfit for.use on account of a wreck, and during this time the men had to ride either on the logging cars or the engine or tender. The evidence was conflicting as to the number of men who had to be carried from their work at the time of the accident in question. Some of the witnesses place the number as high as 40 or 50; and it was in evidence that this number could not be accommodated on the engine and tender, which also had to carry wood for the engine, and had no accommodations for seats for the men. At the time of the accident the engine was pushing ahead of it three empty logging ears (skeleton cars without floor, but having only bolsters for holding the logs). Appellee Bobbins was riding on one of the logging cars. The train was running anywhere from 18 to 25 miles an hour when the trucks of the forward car struck the end of a loose railroad rail, lying on or by the side of the track, derailing the car and wrecking the train. Bobbins jumped when the accident occurred, and was caught under one of the cars, and sustained substantially the injuries alleged in the petition. About a year after the accident, he became insane, and was at the time of the trial confined in the State Asylum at Austin as a lunatic. The evidence authorizes the conclusion that the insanity was proximately caused by the injuries received by him as aforesaid. There was evidence which tended to show that the insanity was of date anterior to the accident, and was brought on by other causes or was hereditary, but the jury evidently found otherwise, and their finding is sufficiently supported by the evidence.
A much contested issue was as to whether the men engaged in the operation of the train at the time were in the employ of the Bailway Company or the Lumber Company. These men were the engineer, fireman, and brakeman. Without stating such evidence here, we find that the finding of the jury, such finding being necessary to support the verdict against the Lumber Company under the charge of the court, that these men were acting at the time in the employment and were the servants either of the Lumber Company alone, or in the employment of both the Lumber Company and the Bailway Company in operating the engine and cars, is sufficiently supported by the evidence and we accordingly so find.
By the ninth assignment of error appellants complain of the refusal of the court to give to the jury a special charge requested by them that there was no evidence to authorize a verdict against the Knox Lumber Company, or W. H. and Hiram Knox, and that they should only consider the evidence as to the Livingston Southeastern Railway Company. Under this assignment, the following proposition is stated: “There being no evidence that the railroad at the point of derailment belonged to or was controlled by the Lumber Company, or that those operating the locomotive and cars were the servants of the Lumber Company, performing its immediate service, or that the plaintiff was injured as a result of failure on the part of the Lumber Company to perform any substantive duty to him incident to the relation of master and servant, no liability was shown on the part of the Lumber Company or W. H. Knox or Hiram Knox, as members of that partnership, and these defendants were entitled to the peremptory instruction.” The accident occurred on the line of railway of the defendant Railway Company. The engine and cars also belonged to the Railway Company. The contract between the Railway Company and the Lumber Company required the Railway Company to carry the men to and from their homes to their places of work in the woods over the Railway Company’s line to the junction with the tram of the Lumber Company, and thence over the tram to the front. It thus entered into and became a part of appellee’s contract of employment that he was thus to be carried to and from his work daily as was being done at the time he was hurt. The train was a logging train purely, and was engaged solely in the business. The train crew consisted of Alexander, the engineer, Pete Bailey, the brakeman, and Tom Stutts, the fireman. Alexander testified: “I was running the engine for, the Knox Lumber Company. Yes, sir; I suppose they own the business at Knox or Soda. I ran the mill engine there about two weeks, something like that, and ran the locomotive. It was a logging train. I went under Mr. Winger’s order when I was in the woods (Winger was the woods foreman of the Lumber Company), and, when I was at the mill, I went under orders of Mr. Knox. Mr. Winger was on the car at the time of the wreck. Yes, sir; I was in the employment of the Knox Lumber Company. I am working for the Knox Lumber Company now.” Pete Bailey testified. “I am working for the Knox Lumber Company as eon-' ductor on his train since February 7th last. Before that I was braking on the logging train. I was braking on the logging train in 1909, when Tim Robbins got hurt. Before that, I worked on the loading crew there sometimes, but most of the time on the train. Alexander and Stutts were the engineer and fireman, and I was brakeman.” Tom Stutts testified: “I lived at Knox or Soda on July 21, 1909, and was firing a locomotive steam engine for the Knox Lumber Company at that place at that time.” This was the day of the wreck.
The evidence does indeed disclose that the Railway Company and the Lumber Company were so closely and intimately connected in ownership and management as to be, so far as the operation of their business was concerned, practically one concern. Still they were distinct individuals, and neither could legally be made liable for the negligent act solely attributable to the other. We may admit that the Lumber Company would not be liable in this case if the train was being operated over the line of the Railway Company, by its own agents and servants, carrying appellee to or from his work, under the terms of its contract with the Lumber Company. But, whatever the terms of that contract may be, there was evidence, which we have quoted, sufficient, if true, to show that the engine and cars were being operated by the servants of the Lumber Company and under the direction of its woods foreman, one Winger. Every member of the crew, engineer, fireman, and brakeman, so testified. If these men did not mean to so state, if in fact the relationship of the two companies was so close that they might have been mistaken about this, or did not know, some attempt should have been made to have them explain. But the testimony is in the record as quoted, without qualification, and we cannot assume that the witnesses did not mean what they have so clearly stated. If it be true that the train crew were operating the engine and cars as employés of the Lumber Company, which might very well have been the ease, considering the character of the service in which they were engaged, then the evidence is sufficient to authorize the' finding that the accident was the proximate result of the combined negligence of the Railway Company in allowing the obstruction to be and remain on the track, and of those engaged in operating the’ engine and cars in running at a dangerous rate .of speed, and in failing to keep a proper lookout to discover the obstruction on the tracks in time to avoid the accident. The train was being operated with the cars in front, and one witness testified that the speed was 30 miles an hour. We think the evidence as to the liability of the Lumber Company was sufficient to raise- an issue for the jury, and the court did not err in refusing the requested charge.
Appellant in the tenth assignment complains of the fifth paragraph of the court’s charge. This paragraph contains substantially the entire charge of the court upon the question of the liability of both defend *1140 ants, and covers two entire pages of appellants’ brief. Six separate propositions are stated under the assignment. The assignment itself states the following grounds of objections to the charge: “Said charge is erroneous, in that it assumes that defendants consented to and acquiesced in the act of the plaintiff in riding upon the logging cars, because ‘there was not a particle of testimony going to show that the defendants ever acquiesced in or consented to the em-ployés riding upon the logging cars; on the contrary, the proof on that point was entirely one sided, and showed that the defendants oft-times made the employés get off the logging cars; in fact, they did make them get off every time the employés were discovered on the logging cars, and told them it was dangerous to ride on the cars; and the uneontradicted proof shows that the employés operating the train were told by the defendants not to allow any of the em-ployés to ride on the logging cars.’ And because said charge was upon the weight of the evidence, and assumed conditions and facts not testified to. And because said charge is argumentative in behalf of the plaintiff, and does not charge the law on issues raised by the pleadings and evidence. And because said paragraph requires- the jury to find for the plaintiff, unless they further found that the plaintiff himself was guilty of contributory negligence in being upon the train at the place where he had taken his position thereon, or in attempting to jump therefrom, if he did so. Under paragraph 2 of the court’s charge, the jury is instructed that, in order for the plaintiff to have been guilty of contributory negligence, he would have had to contribute towards producing the wreck, and without which the wreck would not have happened.”
The second objection is that the charge was upon the weight of the evidence and assumed conditions and facts not testified to. We have examined the charge carefully, and (if we are required to consider an objection so general) can find nothing to justify this criticism.
The third objection, that the charge is argumentative, etc., is too general, but appears to us to be groundless.
The fourth objection is groundless. There is nothing in the charge that could afford ground for the criticism, that it requires the jury to find for the plaintiff, unless they find that he was guilty of contributory negligence. The liability of defendants on any ground is clearly submitted as an issue to be determined by the jury. We have examined the paragraph of the charge carefully in view of the objections urged, and can find nothing to support any of them. The assignment and the several propositions thereunder are overruled.
There is no merit in the sixteenth assignment of error. The court submitted to the jury the issue of contributory negligence on the part of appellee either “in being upon said train at the place where he had taken his position thereon, or in attempting to jump therefrom,” and the charge precluded recovery if the jury found that he was guilty of contributory negligence in either particular. We doubt if any enlargement or elaboration of these points would have been of material assistance to the jury.
We have examined each of the assignments (except the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth, which for the reasons stated cannot be considered) and the several propositions *1142 thereunder, and our conclusion is that none of them presents sufficient grounds for reversing the judgment, and it is therefore affirmed.
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Knox v. Robbins. [Fn&8224]
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