Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Co. v. Case

91 N.E. 238, 174 Ind. 369, 1910 Ind. LEXIS 118
Indiana Supreme Court·Decided March 15, 1910·No. No. 21,307·Published·Cited by 44 cases

Opinion

Jordan, J.

This action was commenced by appellee on October 25, 1905, to recover damages arising out of the negligence of appellant company. The complaint is in two paragraphs. There is no substantial difference between the paragraphs so far as the alleged negligence on the part of said railroad company in running its train is concerned.

In the first paragraph it is alleged, among other things, that on October 31, 1903, a game of football had been arranged between the football teams of Purdue University, at LaFayette and the Indiana University, at Bloomington, to be played at the city of Indianapolis at 2 o’clock in the afternoon; that on said day about two thousand persons from LaFayette and Purdue University went over appellant’s railroad to Indianapolis to witness the game; that, to accommodate this large number of persons, appellant company provided a special train, which was made up of twenty-five passenger-coaches, and was known as the “Pur[371] due Special,” and was to be run in two sections from tlie city of LaPayette to the city of Indianapolis; that the first section of this train, after passing into the limits of the city of Indianapolis, was run at the speed of thirty miles an hour, in violation of the speed ordinance of that city, which limited the speed of railroad trains to four miles an hour; that said section, while so running, collided with a cut of coal-cars, which cut was negligently run backwards by appellant on the same track; that appellee was a passenger from LaPayette on said section; that in the collision . the engine of the train xvas thrown from the track and a number of the coaches of said special train, including the coach in which appellee was a passenger, were crushed and torn to pieces; that by reason of said collision, fourteen passengers were instantly killed and forty or fifty others were seriously injured. In respect to the injuries sustained by plaintiff, the complaint alleges that he, as the direct result of such collision, was thrown violently against the seats and sides of the coach and other hard substances in and about said coach, and xvas thrown from the coach in which he was riding upon the ground among the dead and wounded passengers, aud that as a result thereof he received a severe nervous shock and xvas much bruised and wrenched; that the muscles of his bade were bruised and wrenched, and there xvas also a concussion of the spinal cord, resulting in an affection of a permanent injury to the lumbar nerves and other nerves in the lumbar region of the body; that because of said injuries, plaintiff is unable to perform manual labor or to perform any labor that requires lifting or bending over, of quick motion of the body or legs. Plaintiff alleges that at the time he received said injuries he xvas nineteen years old, in good health, and had no deformity or injuries; that he was a freshman in Purdue University, and had entered said university to take a four years’ course in civil engineering; that while he continued Ms studies in school, and was able to walk around and do light woi-k, [372] lie has constantly suffered physical pain, and on account of said injuries he was compelled to quit school at the end of the first year, and that he has been and is now unable to do manual labor, or to do work that requires much sitting or stooping; that he has been rendered unable to enjoy life to the extent of being deprived largely of the use of his legs and body, and has been permanently disabled and subjected to great physical and mental suffering, and that by reason of all of which, and by reason of the negligent acts of defendant as averred, he has been damaged in the sum of $15,000, for which he demands judgment.

The answer of appellant was a general denial. There was a trial by jury and a verdict returned in favor of appellee, assessing his damages in the sum of $7,000. Over appellant’s motion for a new trial, the court rendered judgment upon the verdict.

The assignments relied upon by appellant for reversal are (1) that the verdict is not sustained by sufficient evidence; (2) that the court erred in admitting and rejecting evidence; (3) that the court erred in the giving and in refusing to give certain instructions; (4) that the damages were excessive.

It appears from the evidence that appellee attained the age of twenty-one years on May 9, 1905.

The negligence of appellant, leading up to the collision, is conceded by its counsel, but their insistence is that there is an entire absence of any evidence to establish that appellee, by reason of the accident in question, received any physical injury whatever. It is argued that the evidence affirmatively shows that he received no such injury, but that the nervorts condition and ailments of which ho. complains existed prior to the accident, and were only aggravated by reason of his being frightened and greatly excited because of the sudden collision and matters incident thereto.

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Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Co. v. Case, 91 N.E. 238, 174 Ind. 369, 1910 Ind. LEXIS 118 (Ind. 1910).

91 N.E. 238 (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Co. v. Case) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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