Devine v. Chicago City Railway Co.

104 N.E. 826, 262 Ill. 484
Illinois Supreme Court·Decided February 21, 1914·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinions

Mr. Justice Farmer

delivered the opinion of the court:

John Flanley, while in the /act of boarding a street car of the Chicago City Railway Company, was thrown to the ground and so injured that he died. His administrator brought this action against the street railway company for damages, alleging that the death was caused by the negligence of the defendant. A recovery was had by plaintiff in the superior court of Cook county, and the judgment of that court was affirmed by the Appellate Court for the First District. The record is brought to this court for review by a writ of certiorari.

The injury which resulted in the death of John' Flanley occurred at the corner of Forty-seventh street and Center avenue, in the city of Chicago. Forty-seventh street runs east and west and Center avenue intersects it from the south. There is a double-track street railway on Center avenue, which curves east at its intersection with Forty-seventh street and runs thence east on said Forty-seventh street. The sidewalk at the south-east corner of the intersection of said streets extends to the curb on both streets, and at the corner, just inside the curb, was a telegraph or telephone pole. The side of a car coming north on Center avenue and turning east on Forty-seventh street would come within a few inches of this pole. The car which caused Flanley’s death came from the south on Center avenue and stopped before turning into Forty-seventh street, to discharge and receive passengers. Its front platform was about at the south cross-walk of Forty-seventh street. As Flanley attempted to get on the front platform the car was started, causing him to lose his balance, and as it went around the corner he was brought in contact with the telegraph pole and knocked off, falling under the car and receiving such injuries as to cause his death.

The accident occurred on August 30, 1908, suit was begun the following November, and a declaration of two counts was filed in January, 1909. More than a year, after the intestate’s death two additional counts were filed, to which the defendant pleaded the limitation of one year. Demurrers were sustained to these pleas and the cause was tried on all four counts and the general issue. It is claimed that the court erred in sustaining the demurrer to the pleas, in refusing an instruction and in giving an instruction.

The first count alleged that while the car was standing still, and the deceased, in the exercise of due care, was in the act of boarding it, the defendant, by its servants, wrongfully and negligently started, the car forward suddenly, violently and without warning, “and as a direct result, and in consequence thereof, the deceased was thereby then and there thrown and fell from said car to and upon the track,” was run over, and thereby sustained such injuries that he died. The second count is the same, except that it states that the car, at the time, was running very slowly, and the defendant wrongfully and negligently, suddenly, violently and without warning increased the speed, so that the deceased was thrown off. The additional counts were identical with the original counts, except that after the allegation of the sudden starting or increasing of the speed of the car without warning, these words occur: “And as a direct result, and in consequence thereof, the deceased was thereby then and there brought, into violent contact with a telegraph or telephone pole which was standing alongside of said railway, and he was thereby thrown and fell from said car,” etc. The only difference between the first count and the first additional count, and between the second count and the second additional count, is the insertion of the words above shown in italics.

It is insisted, by plaintiff in error that each of the additional counts states a new and different cause of action from that stated in the original counts, and that as to said additional counts the Statute of Limitations was a good plea. We do not agree with this contention. The negligence charged in all four of the counts is the same, namely, the wrongful, negligent, sudden and violent starting of the car without warning to the deceased, as a result and consequence of which he was thrown or fell upon the track. No negligence is predicated in the additional counts upon the position of the pole with reference to the tracks 'of the street railway. There is no averment of any negligent or wrongful conduct upon the part of the plaintiff in error in operating its railroad in such close proximity to the pole. The additional counts alleged that as a result of the same negligence charged in the two original counts the deceased ■ was ■ brought in contact with the pole and thrown to the ground. The additional counts were but an amplification of the original counts in stating how the sudden and violent starting of the car operated to throw the deceased to the ground. No new or other negligent act was charged in said additional counts, and the court did not err in sustaining the demurrer to the plea of the Statute of Limitations to said additional counts.

Plaintiff in error asked the following instruction, which the court refused to give:

“The court instructs you that the plaintiff cannot recover in this case on the ground, merely and only, because of the proximity of the telegraph or telephone to the car track. That fact is not alleged as a ground of recovery in this .case.”

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Devine v. Chicago City Railway Co., 104 N.E. 826, 262 Ill. 484 (Ill. 1914).

104 N.E. 826 (Devine v. Chicago City Railway Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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