Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fé Railroad v. Gants

38 Kan. 608
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedJanuary 15, 1888
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 38 Kan. 608 (Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fé Railroad v. Gants) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fé Railroad v. Gants, 38 Kan. 608 (kan 1888).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Horton, C. J.:

On May 19, 1885, A. C. Gants, a hotel clerk at Wichita, took passage on a train of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fé Railroad Company from Wichita to New[615]*615ton, intending to go to Peabody. He paid his fare to the conductor on the train from Wichita to Newton. He claims he was told by the conductor of the Wichita train that he could either continue on the train or go upon one an hour later. While at Newton, he purchased a ticket over the Atchison road for Peabody, and paid for it fifty cents. He remained at Newton nearly an hour to get shaved and look around the town, and about nine o’clock he took his seat in a car of a train at the depot; this was the eastern fast train, commonly called the “ cannon ball.” According to the regulations of the railroad company, this train was scheduled not to stop at Peabody except for the purpose of letting off passengers who had taken passage at some point west of Newton; but when it had no such passengers it would not stop at Peabody going east, and its first stopping-place would be Florence; Peabody is a station between Newton and Florence, about four miles west of Florence; the local train which stopped at Peabody left Newton before the cannon ball. According to the evidence of the railroad company, a brakeman upon the “cannon ball” announced before the train started that “it would not stop until it got to Florence.” Gants testified that just as the train started from Newton a trainman came to the car-door and said, “this train will not stop until it gets to Florence,” but he claims he did not know then where Florence is. He further testified:

Ques.: How long did the train which you say you boarded and saw headed toward the east, remain there ? Ans.: I think about twenty minutes.
“Q,. You had ample opportunity to get a ticket, and had ample opportunity to ask the men who were employed about that train, whether that train stopped at Peabody ? A. Yes, sir, I expect I did, if I wanted to.
“Q. You made no inquiries? A. No, sir.
“ Q,. It is a fact, from the time you arrived on the train going from Wichita to Newton you made no inquiries as to that train, as to what time the train started, and whether it stopped at Peabody ? A. No, sir.
“Q,. Never made any inquiries, either of the ticket agent or any person who had apparently charge there, although the [616]*616train was standing there fifteen or twenty minutes after it got there, and while you were there? A. I do not think I did.
“Q,. How soon did you get aboard this train before it started? A. I cannot say; .probably five minutes.”

Gants, however, testified that when he bought his ticket for Peabody at Newton, he was told by the agent who sold him the ticket, “to take the next train.”

After the “cannon-ball” train had left Newton and gone about three miles, the conductor called upon Gants for his ticket; he presented a ticket for Peabody, and the conductor informed him that the train did not stop at Peabody, and demanded from him thirty-four cents in addition to his ticket for the fare from Peabody to Florence; Gants refused to pay the additional fare; the conductor then informed him that if he did not pay, in addition to his ticket, the fare from Peabody to Florence, he would have to stop the train and put him off; Gants replied “ that he would have to put him off, as he would not pay any further;” the conductor then told him he would put him off, and stopped the train for that purpose; after the train had been stopped the conductor in a gentlemanly manner requested Gants to leave the train; he refused to get off, and dared the conductor to put him off; he resisted being put off to the utmost of his power and ability; on account of this resistance the conductor was unable himself to remove him; but with the assistance of two or three persons he succeeded in ejecting him from the train; after the train stopped, and while the conductor was attempting to ejecting Gants from the car, a severe altercation took place between them; the railroad company offered evidence tending to show that Gants during this time used vile and profane language to the conductor in the car, which contained many passengers, a number of them being ladies.

After Gants was ejected from the train he walked a portion of the way back to Newton, and then got upon a hand-car and rode to Newton, arriving there between ten and eleven o’clock in the forenoon; in the afternoon or evening of the same day, he went to Peabody from Newton upon a local train, and the [617]*617same day returned to Wichita. Upon his part, he claims that he was wrongfully ejected from the train, and was unlawfully kicked, bruised and injured in being ejected. This action was brought to recover damages therefor; verdict and judgment for Gants, for four thousand dollars. The railroad company moved for a new trial, which was refused, and it brings the case here.

1. Regulation — stopping only at certain stations. The important questions presented in the record are: First, whether the railroad company had the right to eject Gants from the train; second, if the railroad company had that right, and Gants resisted to the utmost of his power and ability, whether he can recover for the injuries inflicted in his removal, unless they were willful, wanton, or malicious. 2. Going and stopping-passenger to know. The law is well settled that, in the absence of statutory provisions to the contrary, a railroad company may a(Jopt a regulation that a certain train or trains of passenger cars running regularly on its road shall not stop at designated stations or places; and it is the duty of a person about to take passage on a railroad train to in- ^ 1 ° form himself when, where and how he can go or stop, according to the regulations of the company. (Railway Co. v. Nuzum, 50 Ind. 141; 9 Am. & Eng. Rld. Gases, 307, 317; 3 id. 340; Railway Co. v. Swarthout, 67 Ind. 567; Henry v. Railroad Co., 76 Mo. 288.) In this state there is no statutory provision to the contrary, and as the train upon which Gants took passage was not to stop, under the regulations of the company, until it reached Florence, the conductor had the right, after the train started, to stop the train and require Gants to leave it, if he refused to pay the fare which, in addition to the sum paid for his ticket, would have entitled him to ride to Florence. (Fink v. Railroad Co., 4 Lans. [N. Y.] 147; Railroad Co. v. Pierce, 3 Am. & Eng. Rld. Gases, 340; The Penn. Co. v. Hine, 41 Ohio St. 276.) It was the duty of the railroad company to the public to run its trains according to its regulations, and it was also the duty of Gants to have informed himself whether the train stopped at Peabody. It is claimed, however, upon his part, that when [618]*618he purchased his ticket he was told by the agent to take the next train, and therefore that he was without fault in getting upon the “ cannon ball.” In his direct examination, Gants testified:

Ques.: Upon your arrival at Newton, what did you do ? Ans.: I bought a ticket and went up town. ■
“ Q,. For what purpose ? A. I wanted to get shaved and look around the town a little.
“Q. How long did you remain in Newton ? A.

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Bluebook (online)
38 Kan. 608, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/atchison-topeka-santa-fe-railroad-v-gants-kan-1888.