Denison & Sherman Railway Co. v. Powell

80 S.W. 1054, 35 Tex. Civ. App. 454, 1904 Tex. App. LEXIS 445
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 13, 1904
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 80 S.W. 1054 (Denison & Sherman Railway Co. v. Powell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Denison & Sherman Railway Co. v. Powell, 80 S.W. 1054, 35 Tex. Civ. App. 454, 1904 Tex. App. LEXIS 445 (Tex. Ct. App. 1904).

Opinion

EIDSON, Associate Justice.

This action was brought by the appellee to recover $25,000 damages, alleged to have been sustained on account of injuries received by his wife through the negligence of appellant. On October 7, 1002, appellee’s wife was driving south on Myrick Avenue, in the city of Denison, in a one-horse wagon with her two children, when her horse became frightened at one of appellant’s cars, which was coming in a direction meeting her, and finally ran the vehicle against a post or tree and threw her from the wagon, whereby she sustained the injuries alleged in appellee’s petition. On ¡November 7, 1902, appellee instituted this suit.

The allegations of negligence were substantially as follows: That *455 appellant’s car was negligently run at a high rate of speed, that is, about twenty miles per hour, and in violation of an ordinance of the-city of Denison which limited the speed to the rate of twelve miles an-hour; that appellant, its agents, servants and employes, had negligently placed or permitted to be placed and to remain on said car on its side' and front streamers or banners advertising or calling attention to some form of entertainment at one of the pleasure parks situated along the line of appellant’s railway, between the cities of Sherman and Denison; that the approach of said car at the high rate of speed it was running, and the appearance of said ear and said streamers or banners fluttering in the breeze and coming in the direction of the horse and vehicle, so driven by plaintiff’s said wife, said car at the time presenting an unusual and unnatural appearance, caused the said horse so driven by plaintiff’s wife to become greatly frightened and unmanageable, and as said car approached said vehicle the appellant’s agents and servants «in charge of said car negligently and recklessly made and emitted loud noises with a bell, gong or whistle, which added to the fright of said horse, already caused by the approach and appearance of said car having thereon said streamers or banners, and increased the danger to appellee’s wife and children; that said horse being so frightened and unmanageable, ran the vehicle in which plaintiff’s wife and children were driving on and against a tree or post on or about the east side of said street and the track of said railway, and thereby threw plaintiff’s wife out of said vehicle and violently to the ground, by reason of which she sustained serious and permanent injuries.

Appellant pleaded general and special demurrers, general denial, and special answer setting up contributory negligence and assumed risk. Appellee by supplemental petition responded to appellant’s answer by general demurrer and general denial.

The record shows no action taken by the court below on the demurrers of either party, hence they will be considered as waived. The trial was had before a jury and resulted in a-verdict and judgment in favor of the appellee for $4000.

Appellant’s first assignment of error is as follows:' “The court erred in the fourth paragraph of the general charge in submitting to the jury the issue as to whether or not defendant’s employes in charge of the car saw that the ringing of the bell or sounding of the gong was the occasion of fright on the part of plaintiff’s wife’s horse and continued to ring said bell or sound said gong after such discovery; the evidence not being sufficient to authorize the submission of such issue.”

We overrule this assignment of error, as the record shows sufficient testimony to authorize the submission of the issue to the jury complained of. The appellant under the above assignment of error submits the proposition that the appellee’s pleading was not sufficient to authorize the submission of said issue, to the jury. We think this proposition is not authprized by the assignment of error; but even if it is properly submitted under that assignment of error, we think the *456 court below committed no error in submitting the issue complained of to the jury, because the pleadings of appellee were sufficient to authorize such submission.

The following allegations in appellee’s petition authorized the submission of the issue complained of: “That the approach of said car at the high rate of speed it was running, and the appearance of said car and said streamers or banners fluttering in the breeze and coming in the direction of the horse and vehicle so driven by plaintiffs said wife, said car at the time presenting an unusual and unnatural appearance, caused'the said horse so driven by plaintiffs wife to become greatly frightened and unmanageable; and as said car approached said horse and vehicle, thg defendant’s agents and servants in charge of said car negligently and recklessly made and emitted loud noises with the bell, gong or whistle, which added to the fright of said horse, already caused by the approach and appearance of said car, having therepn said streamers and banners. * * * That defendant’s railway going north was up grade to a point opposite or about opposite the residence of said T. Y. Munson, and from there down to the point where plaintiffs wife was injured and to the point' where said horse first became frightened, was down grade first and then up grade to said point;. and plaintiffs wife was in plain view of the motorman in charge of said car as soon as the same started on said down grade and said motorman saw her; that it was his duty to keep a lookout, and that if he had kept a lookout and exercised ordinary care he would have seen her; but said motorman and defendant’s other agents and servants in charge of and upon said car, negligently failed to make any effort to prevent plaintiff’s said wife from being injured, and negligently failed to keep a proper lookout, which if done, they would have seen said plaintiff’s wife, and by ordinary care and diligence could have stopped the car in time to have prevented injury to plaintiff’s wife.”

Appellant’s second assignment of error complains of the general charge of the court in instructing the jury that the defendant would be liable if the gong or bell was sounded, after either the conductor- or motorman discovered that plaintiff’s wife’s horse was being frightened thereby, without regard to whether or not the gong or bell was so sounded by the one who made the discovery. If either the motorman or conductor saw that the sounding of the gong was frightening the horse of appellee’s wife, and would likely cause her injury, if the gong was continued to be sounded, it was the duty of either or both of -them to stop or have stopped the sounding of the gong.

It appears from the testimony that both the conductor and motorman saw appellee’s wife and the vehicle and the horse some time before the accident occurred, and it also appears from the testimony that the horse got frightened at the car as soon as the same came within sight of appellee’s wife, and that his fright increased and" he became more unmánagea-" ble up to the time of the accident, and that the bell was ringing when *457 appellee’s wife first saw' the car, and that it continued to ring up to and after the time of the accident. And it further appears that appellee’s wife and the horse were in full view of both the motorman and conductor for a considerable distance before the accident occurred.

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Bluebook (online)
80 S.W. 1054, 35 Tex. Civ. App. 454, 1904 Tex. App. LEXIS 445, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/denison-sherman-railway-co-v-powell-texapp-1904.