Columbus, Hocking Valley & Toledo Railway Co. v. Shannon

4 Ohio C.C. 449
CourtOhio Circuit Courts
DecidedMarch 15, 1890
StatusPublished

This text of 4 Ohio C.C. 449 (Columbus, Hocking Valley & Toledo Railway Co. v. Shannon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Circuit Courts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Columbus, Hocking Valley & Toledo Railway Co. v. Shannon, 4 Ohio C.C. 449 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1890).

Opinion

Bentley, J.

(Orally).

This case of John Shannon v. The Columbus, Hocking Valley & Toledo Ry. Co., finally proceeded to trial upon the amended petition of the plaintiff, which had been filed in the case, and the pleadings subsequent thereto. Prior to the making up of the isaues of fact, a demurrer had been interposed to the amended petition. It was a general demurrer in its form, and called in question the petition — as to whether it stated facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action in favor of the plaintiff against the defendant. The point made against it, in argument, if I apprehend it, is this: The petition alleges that the injury occurred to the plaintiff below on account of certain defective machinery which had been furnished by the defendant railway company, and which it was the duty of the defendant in error to work around, or about, and the par[451]*451.ticular defect in the machinery is set out in this amended petition, and an averment of negligence is made against the-company; and the statement is also made that the defects ia question were unknown to the plaintiff below, who was without negligence in the matter; but the petition failed to state this: that the plaintiff could not, by the exercise of reasonable care and attention, have discovered these defects and this danger prior to his injury. It is claimed by the defendant company, that it was necessaay for him in his petition to make that statement substantially, and the case of the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad Company v. Anson C. Barber, 5 Ohio St. 531, is mainly cited to support that proposition, and is a case more especially applicable than any that our attention has been directed to, or that we have knowledge of. The part of the syllabus in that case which bears upon this matter, is as follows:

“ The conductor of a train of railway cars, being the representative of the railway company in the command and management of the train, and not being under the immediate control and direction of a superior or supervisory agent, is held to ordinary and reasonable care and diligence, not only in the management of the train, but also in the due inspection of the cars, machinery and apparatus of the train, as to their sufficiency and safety; and if he receive an injury while neglecting that care and diligence required of him in the-management of his train, or by means of any defect or insufficiency of the cars, machinery or apparatus, with a knowledge of which he was running the train, or which could have been known to him, by the exercise of that care and diligence required of him in the performance of his duty; or, in other words, if his neglect in either of these particulars contributed as a proximate cause of the injury, he can have no right of action against the company for damages.”

And again:

“ In such action, the plaintiff, in order to lay a sufficient foundation for a recovery and judgment, for. an injury received by him while acting as such conductor, must, aver, or show in his petition, in addition to the allegation that h§ had not a knowledge of the insufficiency or defects which were [452]*452the alleged cause of the injury, that he had exercised due care and diligence in the use and examination ór inspection of the cars, machinery, etc., belonging to the train, while the same were in his charge, and under his direction.”

In such a case, the Supreme Court held the plaintiff must state in his petition that he was not guilty of negligence in failing to use reasonable care and diligence in his inspection of the cars and machinery prior to the accident. And the question is, whether this case is so similar to that, that that rule would apply to this. It will be observed that the Supreme Court, in pronouncing that opinion, took great pains, at considerable length, to define the duties of the conductor of the train, his position, and what is naturally expected of him; that is, that he is not under the immediate control of any other agent of the company ; that, in that particular, he at that time is the sole representative of the company, which must act through its agents — and being chargeable with the duty himself to see to these things in the particulars of which he complains, it is held reasonable that in his petition by which he commences his action, he should show upon the face of that that he had not neglected those duties which were inqumbent upon him by reason of his very position.

In the case at bar, this is a part of the petition : “ Plaintiff further says that the said derricks, engines and machinery, and the engineer in charge of the same, were entirely under the control and direction of a foreman in the employ of said defendant.”

“ Plaintiff further says that at and prior to the said date he was employed by the said defendant in the work of transferring the coal from cars or from said dock to vessels lying alongside thereof. The plaintiff directed the loading of the buckets with which the said derricks were equipped as aforesaid, the adjustment of the vessels to receive the coal, and the unloading of the buckets after they had been swung by the arm of the derrick over the deck, and lowered to the hatch of the vessels.”

It would seem by these averments, if they are proven — - that the position of the plaintiff below in this case is not analogous to the position of the conductor on a train of cars. [453]*453In the case in 5th Ohio St., there was nothing in the petition, to indicate, that he was subjected to any other duties than those which are imposed upon an ordinary conductor of a train of cars. It appeared by the petition then what his duty in that regard was, and that he was the sole representative of the defendant company in that case. Here, the direct averment is that these derricks and engines, and the engineer in charge of the same, were entirely under the control and direction of another person, in the employ of said defendant, and he says that instead of his operating the derricks, buckets, etc., his duties were simply to unload — to see that the buckets were loaded and unloaded, and that the decks of the vessals were adjusted to receive the coal from the buckets; so that we are unable to see that from the averments of the petition itself, he was a representative of the •company, charged with the duty himself of inspecting this machinery, and charged with notice and knowledge of such defects that existed in it as might be seen by ordinary '’observation, or discovered with ordinary diligence in that regard.

It is said, in analogy to the principle involved here, that in a case of personal injury, if it appears from the plaintiff’s own testimony that he may have been guilty of negligence, it is his duty under such circumstances to;himself take the burden of disproving that negligence, the suggestion of which arises from the testimony which he himself presents. In the one case, his duty arises from the state of the testimony, and in the other case, from the statements of the petition itself; but I think it is nowhere held that it is his duty — in the absence of any suggestion arising from his own testimony, or that offered by him, that he may have been guilty of contributory negligence — that he should assume the burden of disproving affirmatively any negligence on his part.

We conclude, therefore, that the demurrer to this petition was properly overruled, and that the plaintiff in his petition states facts sufficient to constitute a causejof action against the defendant for the alleged negligence.

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Bluebook (online)
4 Ohio C.C. 449, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/columbus-hocking-valley-toledo-railway-co-v-shannon-ohiocirct-1890.