International & G. N. Ry. Co. v. Diaz
International & G. N. Ry. Co. v. Diaz
Opinion of the Court
Appellee sought the recovery of damages from appellant resulting from the death of a certain mule, which came to its end by being struck by a moving locomotive, operated on the track of appellant in the city of San Antonio. The grounds of negligence were a failure to reduce the speed of the train to 10 miles an hour in obedience to an ordinance of said city, a failure to ring a bell or blow a whistle at street crossings, and a failure to exercise ordinary diligence in discovering said mule on the track, and, if they did discover it, a failure to stop the train. A claim was made for $225, and on a trial by the court judgment was rendered in favor of appellee for $200.
Tlie evidence showed that the mule was on the track of appellant, or near enough to it to be struck by a locomotive of appellant and killed, in a street in the city of- San Antonio. There was a witness who saw the mule on or near the track, and .saw the locomotive strike and kill him. The train was running at the rate of about 20 miles an hour when the mule was struck. The body of the mule was found about three feet from the track. The evidence indicates that the engineer saw the mule, or could have seen him, in time to have avoided colliding with him. There was a conflict of evidence as to the position of the mule before the collision, but there was testimony tending to support the judgment of the trial judge. The engineer did not swear that he was keeping watch on the track at the time of the collision, but said: “I am positive that I was looking and had my eye on the track because I made a practice to do it. I would not say so, on this particular, because it is so far off.” The court credited the testimony of the old Mexican, as he had the right to do, who testified that he saw the collision.
In the ease of Railway v. Corn, 110 S. W. 485, and 102 Tex. 194, 114 S. W. 103, the railway train killed a number of cattle on its fenced track, upon which the cattle had entered through a gate which was open. The defective condition of the gate and a failure to discover the cattle on the track were the grounds of negligence. There was one witness to the killing of the cattle besides the employes, a woman, who was in her yard, *909 about 100 yards from tbe track, when tbe train passed. Sbe testified that no whistle was sounded nor bell rung; nor was any effort made to stop tbe train until the cattle bad been killed. Sbe did not see tbe engine strike the cattle. Tbe engineer flatly contradicted her testimony as to sounding tbe whistle and ringing the bell and as to making an effort to stop the train. In deciding tbe case tbe Court of Civil Appeals of the Second District held: “The fourth assignment asserts that ‘the uncontradicted evidence shows that tbe engineer exercised all the care and caution to avoid tbe accident after be discovered the animals on the track, and therefore there was no evidence to support a verdict for negligence on account of any failure in that respect,’ and the sixth assignment is to the same effect. But, as already seen, there was the testimony of Mrs. Boone contradicting to some extent that of the engineer, which was some evidence at least.” A writ of error was granted by the Supreme Court, and in affirming the judgment of the Court of Civil Appeals it was said: “The testimony as to what Mrs. Boone observed contradicted the testimony of the engineer in regard to the discovery of the cattle and his attempt to stop the train. At all events the testimony would show that they had failed to blow the whistle in time to have scared the cattle from the track, if the whistle had been sufficient for that purpose. The presumption must be, we think, since it was the custom of the railroad to give sharp blasts of the whistle in order to clear the track of live stock that were found upon it, that the whistle would, in some instances at least, result in the avoidance of an accident or injury.” That case is -quite applicable to this.
The judgment is affirmed.
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