Daniels v. Bay City Traction & Electric Co.

107 N.W. 94, 143 Mich. 493, 1906 Mich. LEXIS 683
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 27, 1906
DocketDocket No. 180
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 107 N.W. 94 (Daniels v. Bay City Traction & Electric Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Daniels v. Bay City Traction & Electric Co., 107 N.W. 94, 143 Mich. 493, 1906 Mich. LEXIS 683 (Mich. 1906).

Opinions

Blair, J.

The Philadelphia Securities Company, trustee, filed its bill in the circuit court of the United States for the eastern district of Michigan, northern division, to foreclose certain mortgages made by the Bay Cities Consolidated Railway Company, and receivers were appointed, who were authorized to operate the railway. On July 90, 1903, a decree was made in said cause, directing the sale of the property subject to the payment of current costs and expenses of operating the property, and subject also to the payment of any and all claims for damages and taxes against the receivers, and providing that the purchaser or purchasers of said property shall assume all contracts and obligations of the receivers, excepting only such as are to be paid out of the purchase price, and shall pay and discharge all receivers’ indebtedness and liabilities and any and all claims heretofore filed in this cause or that may hereafter be filed, within four months from the date of entering this decree, but only when and as the court shall allow such claims, and allow the same to be liens prior to the mortgages foreclosed.

“It is further ordered, adjudged, and decreed that as soon as the special master shall have reported upon the sale of said property, and such report shall have been confirmed by this court, the said special master shall make, execute, and deliver to the purchaser or purchasers a conveyance thereof, and the said Bay Cities Consolidated Railway Company, at the time of the execution of such conveyance by said special master, as a further assurance to the purchaser or purchasers, shall execute proper conveyances in like manner aforesaid, or join with the special master in the execution of the deeds or conveyance made by him, and shall thereby convey and release to the purchaser or purchasers all its right, title, and interest in and' to all said railroad, franchises, and other property conveyed by said special master to such purchaser or purchasers ; and the said Michael P. Heraty and John C. Weadock, [495]*495receivers, shall make and deliver a good and sufficient conveyance to said purchaser or purchasers of all their Tight, title, and interest in and to any and all property vested in or standing in their names to which they have acquired title as such receivers in the management or operation of ■said property; and, further, that they pay over to the said purchaser or purchasers, or to their successors or assigns, any and all surplus eárnings and income of said railroad that may be in their possession as such receivers .after having fully paid and discharged all debts and liabilities incurred by them as receivers, and all money obligations that may be imposed on them by order of this court or otherwise.”

On September 29, 1903, the special master sold the railway, reported the sale on the same day, and it was approved on the following day, and the special master was •directed, upon receipt of the purchase money bid for the property, viz., $500,000, to make, execute, and deliver to the United Traction Company which was the purchaser, a proper deed of conveyance. The special master was also required to publish, at least once a week for a period of six weeks, a notice requiring the holder of any claims against the Bay Cities Consolidated Railway Company or said receivers to present the same for allowance on or before the 20th day of November, 1903, and any claims presented and allowed by the court to be liens prior to the mortgage were required to be paid by the purchaser as provided in the decree, and all claims not presented within the time above limited should be absolutely barred. No notice requiring presentation of claims was published as ordered. Attached to the order was the form of the ■deed which he was required to execute, and this deed was •executed and delivered on the 1st day of December, 1903, up to which date the receivers continued to operate the property, making reports to the court, the first being made •on the 14th day of October and the last on the 1st day of December. This report covered receipts and disbursements from the 30th day of September, 1903, to the 1st day of December, 1903, showing a total of receipts during [496]*496such months, including $2,507.90 on hand on said 1st day of October, 1903, of $16,775.43, and a total of disbursements during such two months of $12,503.75, and a net cash balance on hand on the 1st day of December, 1903, of $4,271.68. Upoii receipt of the final report on the 1st day of December, it was referred to the special master, and, on the 3d day of December, the report was approved and the .receivers discharged. In the final report of the receivers, mention was made of the several actions then pending against them on account of claims for damages, and these claims were assumed by the purchaser, but ne mention was made of the claim of the plaintiff herein. The United Traction Company was consolidated with the Traction & Power Company under Act No. 197 of the Public Acts of 1891 under the name of ££ Bay City Traction & Electric Company.”

On October 29, 1903, during the time when the railway was being operated by the receivers, after it had been sold to the United Traction Company and before the United Traction Company had paid the purchase price, the plaintiff in this case was injured by colliding with one of the cars so operated by the said receivers. The injury was occasioned by reason of a collision between a delivery wagon, in which the plaintiff was driving, and a street car, which occurred on the westerly approach of the Third Street Bridge in West Bay City. The approach to the bridge is 36.39 feet in width, and for a distance of 158 feet there is, on either side, a stone coping, which rises to a height of 3 feet above the brick pavement. The railway has a track on either side of the approach. Some 38 feet east of the west end of the south retaining wall, the tracks begin to curve gradually towards the retaining walls, continuing the curve to point about 20 feet from the bridge, when they run directly east onto the bridge on either side near to the structural steel work. At the beginning of the curve the south rail of the south track is 10.79 feet from the retaining wall, while at the end of the curve the distance is narrowed to 7.5 feet. Just beyond the termi[497]*497nus of the curve the coping angles sharply towards the structural steel work of the bridge until it is only some 2 feet and 4 inches from the south rail. At the beginning of the curve the two tracks are 6.72 feet apart, while at the end of the curve they are 12.63 feet apart. The plaintiff was driving from the west towards the east, having been in West Bay city for the purpose of making delivery of certain tinwork. The plaintiff is 76 years of age. He claims that-when he came onto Midland street, which is the street leading to the bridge, at a point about 1,000 feet west of the bridge, he stopped and looked up the hill, which would be towards the west; did not see any car, and followed two big wagons that were driving easterly across the bridge on the south side. That after he crossed the Michigan Central Railroad Company’s tracks a distance of about 100 feet, when he would be about 800 feet from the bridge, he heard the car coming across the Michigan Central tracks. He then urged his horse to a faster gait and kept on going until he got on that part of the approach between the retaining walls where the stone coping is, when he turned onto the track and the car hit the hind end of his wagon, sending the plaintiff ahead and throwing him onto the bridge. He was accustomed to driving horses all of his life. His hearing was slightly affected.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
107 N.W. 94, 143 Mich. 493, 1906 Mich. LEXIS 683, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/daniels-v-bay-city-traction-electric-co-mich-1906.