Chicago, R. I. & P. Ry. Co. v. Duran

1913 OK 467, 134 P. 876, 38 Okla. 719, 1913 Okla. LEXIS 430
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedJuly 22, 1913
Docket2645
StatusPublished
Cited by62 cases

This text of 1913 OK 467 (Chicago, R. I. & P. Ry. Co. v. Duran) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chicago, R. I. & P. Ry. Co. v. Duran, 1913 OK 467, 134 P. 876, 38 Okla. 719, 1913 Okla. LEXIS 430 (Okla. 1913).

Opinion

*722 WILLIAMS, J.

The defendant- in error, as plaintiff, sued the plaintiff in error, as defendant, for damages on account of an inquiry alleged to have resulted from said defendant’s negligence, wherein judgment was rendered in favor of the plaintiff ias ¡against ¡the defendant for $1,500. The parties will be herein -referred to in the style in which they appeared in the lower court.

The allegations of the petition are in' part as follows:

“Count 1: * * * This plaintiff was engaged in the service of the defendant at or near * * * working as -a section hand, .and engaged with others in repairing defendant’s said roadbed and keeping the same in a good state of repair * * * under -an oral direction and hiring of defendant’s local agent. * * * That said oral hiring consisted in said local agent directing this plaintiff to work. * * * That at the time of the injury, as hereinafter -alleged, plaintiff was engaged in tamping and driving ballast under the ties o-f -defendant’s said track -on -and along said section * * * for the purpose of leveling said track. That defendant -had been furnished -and supplied hard, sharp, flinty quartz for such ballast. That on -the day plaintiff was injured, as hereinafter -alleged, one of defendant’s passenger trains on said road was due to pass that part of defendant’s said road in a short time; -and, a piece- o-f the road being in need of repairing -and leveling up, defendant’s said section foreman ordered and directed this plaintiff to- hurry -and repair said track before said train should arrive. . That in pursuance of said order this plaintiff made haste to level said ties and track by tamping and driving such ballast under said ties with a -steel pick, or other instrument furnished by defendant to this plaintiff for -such purpose, .and this plaintiff, being inexperienced at such work, -and not knowing the danger and hazard of such work -and the liability of such rock to- splint off ¡and fly as it did, made haste to cany -o-u-t the order of said Murray and tamp -and level said track for sai-d train to pass, and in doing .so drove -and tamped said. rock under said ties with great force and rapidity, and while so doing a piece of rock, or :a bit of steel off the pick in plaintiff’s hand or the hands of some of his eol-abo-rers, was driven with great force into plaintiff’s left eye -and cut -and de *723 stroyecl plaintiffs said eye, and plaintiff -has been totally blind thereof ever since. * * *”

In count 2 it is in substance alleged: That because he had been sent by the defendant, its .agents and servants, to the point where this injury occurred to work in a bridge gang and pursue the line of employment which he had formerly engaged in, 'and' relying upon the direction and promise of the defendant, its agents and servants, he proceeded to said point, having shipped his tools and credential letter over the defendant’s road, which credential letter was such a passport and authority as would cause the agents and servants of said defendant to give him employment with the bridge gang, but when he reached said point the' defendant failed to deliver his. trunk which he had sent by freight in which was contained said credential letter and tools. That, on account of a lack of funds to pay board and sustain himself until his trunk arrived, he took employment from said defendant as a section hand, being unacquainted with such work and without the knowledge of the extra hazard of said employment, which inexperience was. known to the defendant, but with such knowledge defendant failed to give him proper warning of the peril accompanying such employment.

The evidence offered to sustain the allegation of the plaintiff is, in substance, to the effect that the plaintiff was 51 years old, carpenter by trade, having worked at bridge work for about four years; that -he was sent to Stuart, the point at which he was injured, by defendant’s agents; that he went to work as a section hand, having expected to' do carpenter work when he came to Stuart; that he had worked as a section hand on the I. C. Southern and I. C. Valley roads prior to that time. He testified, .also, specifically as follows:

“Q. Now, just explain to the jury; just tell the jury how you came to get hurt. A. Wlell, we were going over the road, as is usual for section men to do, inspecting *724 the road, and we found a place dangerous, and, a train then being overdue, we put the ear off and went to work rapidly to repair it, and as we pulled the track up we heard the train whistle east of us, probably at a crossing, probably at a little mill, the other side of the crossing, and was probably two or three miles away; and we worked as fast as we could, using any kind of material we could get to make; the track safe to carry that train over, 'and the second tie I tamped, something flew .and struck me in the eye — Q. Who gave the orders to' fix that particular— Mr. Roberts: We object— Q.- Well, did anybody give you orders? A. Mr. Murray did. He said, ‘Boys, let’s hurry up> and get this fixed up before the train comes,’ or some words to that effect. Q. Do you know what struck you in the eye? A. Well, T could not say positively what struck me- in the eye, but I think it was— Q. Well, Mr. Duran, state whether you got anjdhing out of that eye or not? A. Yes, sir. Q. What was it? A. Well, it looked like rock; this rock when you struck it flew to pieces, and something struck me in the eye, and of course I thought it was the rock. Q. Was that the kind that you were tamping in at the time .you were injured? A. Yes, sir.”

He further testified that the work he was then doing was regular section work; that he did construction work on the I. C. Southern and I. C. Valley roads, straightening and ballasting track; he ballasted nine miles to -a level of eighteen inches with ballast above the original grade; ballasted eight miles on the I. C. Valley in a period of three months while he was widening, building up track, grading, putting in ties and rails and getting track ready for train service; he was familiar with ballasting, raising track, and filling; worked something less than a year on the two roads; tools used were tamping picks, the same general class of tools that he was using when ' injured on the Rock Island near Stuart; heard the train east of where he was working, near the end of the section; -had worked on this particular section before; trains were going back and forth every day; track was soft on account of the rains; did not remember whether trains had passed over this track prior to 10:30 ¡a. m.; trains did not *725 run regularly on -account of the washouts; no- signs -along the track to Stop the trains; did not know about the use of the track by trains on the previous day, but knew it was used with safety. He further testified specifically as follows:

“Q. What portion of the roadbed were you standing on when you were tamping this particular piece of rock? A. I was standing on the south side of it. Q. South side, outside the rail? A. Yes, sir; I was tamping under the tie outside the rail. Q. Which way was you f-acing? A. East. Q. Which way were you striking the rock? A. I was striking it to me; we- -had to pull the rock under the tie. We had to pull it up- and get something under there to- make it -safe and solid, and you have saw them use tamping picks, I suppose.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Oklahoma Pipe Line Co. v. Fallin
1936 OK 187 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1936)
Southwestern Cotton Oil Co. v. Sawyer
1935 OK 680 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1935)
Railway Express Agency, Inc. v. Britton
1935 OK 47 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1935)
Pryor v. Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co.
1934 OK 686 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1934)
Massey-Harris Co. v. Gill
64 F.2d 392 (Tenth Circuit, 1933)
City of Tulsa v. Harman
1931 OK 73 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1931)
City of Tulsa v. McIntosh
1930 OK 71 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1930)
Griffin Grocery Co. v. Scroggins
1930 OK 53 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1930)
Woodruff v. Phillips
1929 OK 319 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1929)
Chicago, R. I. & P. Ry. Co. v. Spillane
1928 OK 32 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1928)
Chicago, R. I. & P. Ry. Co. v. Hurst
1928 OK 19 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1928)
Chicago, R. I. & P. Ry. Co. v. Perkins
1925 OK 801 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1925)
Gulf, C. & S. F. Ry. Co. v. Harpole
1925 OK 686 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1925)
Schaff v. Daugherty
1925 OK 66 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1925)
Atchison, T. & S. F. Ry. Co. v. Dempsey
1924 OK 1163 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1924)
Pittsburg County Ry. Co. v. Hasty
1924 OK 990 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1924)
Chicago, R. I. & P. Ry. Co. v. Wainscott
1924 OK 846 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1924)
Oklahoma Union Ry. Co. v. Houk
1924 OK 737 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1924)
Chicago, R. I. & P. Ry. Co. v. Long
1924 OK 601 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1924)
Goodrich v. City of Tulsa
1924 OK 521 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1924)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1913 OK 467, 134 P. 876, 38 Okla. 719, 1913 Okla. LEXIS 430, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chicago-r-i-p-ry-co-v-duran-okla-1913.