Migge v. Northern Pacific Railway Co.
Migge v. Northern Pacific Railway Co.
Opinion of the Court
The purpose of this action is to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have resulted from the negligence of the defendant.
The plaintiffs, Gottfried Migge and Anna Migge, are husband and wife. The defendant, Northern Pacific Railway Company, is a corporation, and a common carrier of freight and passengers for hire in the state of Washington, and for that purpose is operating a line of railroad from Tacoma, Washington, to Chehalis, Washington, and thence to Portland, Oregon.
On March 80, 1911, the plaintiffs, together with their four grown children, became regular passengers on the said line of railway from Tacoma to Chehalis, arriving at the latter point, their destination, about noon on the above mentioned date. At this station, there are two tracks on the same side of the depot, the one nearest thereto being used for trains going toward Tacoma, and the one furthest therefrom accommodating trains traveling towards Portland. On the day of the accident, the train on which plaintiffs were riding was on the outer track and stopped at a point just before reaching the depot, the front end of the train being about even with the depot. At the point where the train stopped, there was no platform. When the train stopped, the brakeman placed-on the ground below the car step, at the front end of the car from which plaintiff Anna Migge alighted, a stool of the size ordinarily used by railroads for such purposes, about eight or ten inches square at the top, with square corners. Passengers alighting from the car descended the car steps, stepped on the stool, and thence to the ground. The ground at and near where the stool was placed had the appearance of having been worked over in making repairs, the ground being loose and uneven, with small stones or gravel lying
“When I came out of the car to get down, I stepped on the foot stool with my right foot and it rocked or toppled like, and on account of the foot stool tipping I was scared that I would fall on my face and I threw myself back and put my other foot on it to keep it from wiggling back and forth. I wanted to get off so bad I put my foot on the ground and the foot stool kinder pitched me over and to the left, and my foot slipped off, and it turned sideways striking my foot. I slid on down the best I could and tried to get away. . . .”
The result was that the weight of the body was thrown on her left foot, causing a fracture of the third and fourth metatarsal bones, and causing an enlargement of the internal sesamoid bone of the big toe. At the time of the accident and prior thereto, Mrs. Migge had been a strong, healthy woman, weighing about 250 pounds. After the accident, the injured foot became swollen and painful, which caused suffering and nervousness, since which time she has been able to do but little work. The evidence of the physician who attended her was to the effect that the injury was permanent.
The cause was tried to the court and a jury. At the close of the plaintiffs’ case, the defendant rested without introducing any evidence, and thereupon challenged the legal sufficiency of the evidence and moved the court for a directed verdict. This motion was denied. The jury returned a verdict in the sum of $1,816.50, upon which judgment was entered. No motion for a new trial was interposed. The defendant appeals.
The first question here presented is whether the evidence is sufficient to make a prima facie showing of negligence and thereby raise a question of fact for the jury to pass upon.
It is also assigned as error that the verdict is excessive. But in the absence of a motion for a new trial, this question is not open to the appellant upon this appeal. A point relied upon as error here must have been called to the attention of the trial court in some manner and at the proper time. Jones v. Jenkins, 3 Wash. 17, 27 Pac. 1022; Tingley v. Fairhaven Land Co., 9 Wash. 34, 36 Pac. 1098; Tacoma Grocery Co. v. Barlow, 12 Wash. 21, 40 Pac. 380; Weber v. Snohomish Shingle Co., 37 Wash. 576, 79 Pac. 1126. Obviously the question as to whether the verdict is excessive can only be called to the attention of the trial court by motion for new trial.
The judgment will be affirmed.
Crow, C. J., Ellis, and Fullerton, JJ., concur.
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting) — I do not think there is any evidence to sustain the verdict upon the theory that the stool was insecurely or improperly placed upon the ground. Other passengers made the descent in safety. That Mrs. Migge did
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Gottfried Migge v. Northern Pacific Railway Company
- Cited By
- 3 cases
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- Published
- Syllabus
- Carriers — Injury to Passengers — Alighting—Negligence—Question for Jury. In an action by a passenger, injured in alighting from a railway train, the negligence of the railway company is for the jury, where it appears that a footstool for passengers to step upon in alighting was placed upon uneven ground in such a manner as to be unsteady, causing a heavy woman to fall and break her ankle (Morris, J., dissenting). Appeal — Preservation of Grounds — Motion for New Trial — Necessity. Objection to a verdict as excessive cannot be raised in the supreme court in the absence of a motion for a new trial on that ground.