C. C. C. & I. Railway Co. v. McLean

1 Ohio Cir. Dec. 67
CourtButler Circuit Court
DecidedSeptember 15, 1885
StatusPublished

This text of 1 Ohio Cir. Dec. 67 (C. C. C. & I. Railway Co. v. McLean) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Butler Circuit Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
C. C. C. & I. Railway Co. v. McLean, 1 Ohio Cir. Dec. 67 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1885).

Opinion

Smith, J.

The claims of the parties in the court below, were substantially these : McLean in his petition, filed against the railway company, alleged that it was a corporation duly organized under the laws of this state, and that on the — day -, 1885, it was the owner and occupier of a railroad line from Cleveland, Ohio, to the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, which road passed through Butler county, and was used as a railroad by defendant company, and that on said day, he had purchased from the ticket agent of said company at Franklin, Ohio, a ticket from that point to Springfield, Ohio, and took the train. That on the way to Dayton, he was directed by the conductor to leave that train at Daj'ton, and take the one which arrived there a few minutes after his train ; that he did so, and found all of the seats occupied, and could not obtain one. That after passing Dayton, the conductor of the train came to him and demanded his ticket; that he held it in his hand and showed it to him, but told him he would not give it up unless he was furnished with a seat; that the conductor again demanded his ticket, and on being refused, in a rude and violent manner seized him, and wrenched the ticket from his hand, spraining his wrist and otherwise injuring him.

The answer of the defendant denied the assault, but alleged that the plaintiff presented the ticket to the conductor, who took it, without using any force whatever. That the plaintiff at the station in Dayton, saw, that by reason of an excursion (unexpected by the company), the seats were allfilled, and that he could [68]*68not procure one; but with this knowledge, he remained upon the train, and thus elected to become a passenger thereon and accept such accommodations as he could find, and that by so doing, he became a wrongdoer in refusing to give up his ticket; and that the title thereto became vested-in the company, and the conductor had a right to take the property of the company, using no more force than was necessary, and that no more was used.

The summons in the case was served upon the ticket agent of the defendant company at Monroe Station, in said county. Before the filing of an answer by the company, it filed a motion (while protesting the defendant came for the purpose of the motion only, and not as entering an appearance in the case) for the quashing the summons which had been issued, and of the service made thereof, on the ground that the court had no jurisdiction of the case, for the reason, that no part of the defendant’s road passed through Butler county, and that the service on the ticked agent at Monroe was not a good service, or as required by statute.

In support of this motion an affidavit of an attorney of the company was filed, alleging that the road of the defendant company only extended from Cleveland to Springfield. That some years ago the defendant company became the lessee of The Cincinnati & Springfield Railway, extending from Cincinnati to Springfield, and that this is the road which passes through Butler county — and other testimony was heard. The court overruled the motion, and the defendant took a bill of exceptions, stating that the evidence heard on the motion, was the affidavit referred to, and the original petition in the case, the summons, and the return of the sheriff thereon. The affidavit is made part of the bill and attached thereto. The other papers referred to are not.

On the trial of the case the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff for $672. A motion for a new trial was filed by the defendant, on the ground that the court erred in its charge to the jury, and in its rulings on evidence, and that the verdict vyas against the weight of the evidence. No claim was made that the dam- . ages were excessive. The court, on the reasons assigned, refused to grant a new trial, but finding that the damages were excessive, adjudged that a new trial should be awarded, unless the plaintiff would remit the one-third thereof.

The plaintiff excepted to this action, but consented to and did remit all of said verdict but the sum of $448, and the court then overruled the motion for a new trial and rendered a judgment for the said sum of $448 and costs, to which defendant excepted and presented its bill of exceptions, containing all of the testimony given, with exceptions to the ruling of the court on questions of evidence during the trial, and on these two bills of exceptions the many points presented in the petition in error arise.

The first question for consideration is, whether the court erred in refusing to quash the summons issued. There are sete-al reasons why we think the court did not err in this. In the first place, it is questionable whether the bill of exceptions taken on this point can be looked at on the questions of fact, as not containing all of the evidence submitted to the court. We suppose that a paper in the case, if offered in evidence on a trial of any question, or a copy of it, must go into a bill of exceptions the same- as any other paper, if the reviewing court is called upon to judge as to the correctness of the decision of the trial court on a question of fact.

2. That the effect of the motion itself is to enter the appearance of the defendant to the action, and thereby fully to give the court jurisdiction of the defendant as it had of the subject-matter. Handy v. Ins. Co., 37 O. S., 366, 367; Elliott v. Lawhead, 43 O. S., 171.

3. But on the facts shown by the bill of exceptions and the papers referred to therein (if the bill is to be considered), which show a lease and an actual operation, by defendant company, of this line from Cincinnati tó Springfield, which runs through Butler county, we are of the opinion that the suit, under section 5027, Revised Statutes, was properly brought in this county, and that it is not necessary to give the court jurisdiction in such case that the line passing through the [69]*69county should be absolutely owned by the defendant — that a title by lease, and a user of it as a railroad, is sufficient, and that service may then be properly made on a regular ticket agent of the company in the county under the provisions of section 5044, Revised Statutes.

Did the court err in the admission of evidence over the objection of the defendant ? It is argued that it did in at least three particulars: First: In allowing the plaintiff to state the purpose of his trip, viz., that he had started to reach a point beyond Springfield, there to transact some buisness. Second : In allowing him to testify as to his physical condition at the time of the alleged assault upon him, and that he was then suffering from disease; and third, to testify that when he entered this train of cars at Dayton and found all of the seats occupied, that he inquired of a brakeman, at that time passing through the car, whether another car would be added to the train, and the reply of the brakeman that there would, no evidence having been offered to show any authority of the brakeman to bind the company, or to show the nature of the duties of such a servant of the company.

As to the first of these assignments, we are of the opinion that no issue having been raised as to the fact that the plaintiff was an ordinary passenger on the train, there was no call upon him to offer proof of this kind. That it may have been admissible, however, to show his bona /ides, but that the answer given could not have operated to the prejudice of the defendant.

2.

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1 Ohio Cir. Dec. 67, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/c-c-c-i-railway-co-v-mclean-ohcirctbutler-1885.