Flaherty v. St. Louis Transit Co.

106 S.W. 15, 207 Mo. 318, 1907 Mo. LEXIS 208
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedNovember 27, 1907
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 106 S.W. 15 (Flaherty v. St. Louis Transit Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Flaherty v. St. Louis Transit Co., 106 S.W. 15, 207 Mo. 318, 1907 Mo. LEXIS 208 (Mo. 1907).

Opinion

LAMM, J.

— Plaintiff had judgment, nisi, for $7,-500, in an action for negligence. From that judgment, the defendant appeals here.

The petition charges and the proof shows that defendant, on the 12th day of June, 1904, was a corporation operating a railroad and the cars running thereon to Creve Coeur Lake in St. Louis county. It is further charged, as follows:

That “whilst defendant’s inbound car was stopped at said place to receive passengers therein, the plaintiff was by defendant’s servants'in charge of said car received as a passenger thereon, and whilst she was on the run-board or step of said car, and whilst she was stepping from said run-board or step' of said car, up and into said ear, to a seat on said car or a place to ride in security on said car as a passenger, and before she had a reasonable time or opportunity to reach a seat or place to ride in security on said car, defendant’s servants in charge of said car negligently caused and suffered said car to start and move forward and to sustain a severe shock, whereby plaintiff was thrown from her said position on said car to the ground, and her left foot was. thereby thrown under the wheels of said car and so badly mangled as to require amputation of all the foot except the heel. Plaintiff was thereby otherwise injured both externally and internally.
“That by her injuries so sustained plaintiff has suffered and will suffer great pain of body and mind; has been and will be permanently disabled from labor, and has lost and will lose the earnings of her labor, and has incurred and will incur large expenses for medi[323]*323canes and for medical and surgical attention ,and nursing; and has been permanently maimed and rendered a cripple for life, to her damage in the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, for which sum she prays judgment.”

The answer was a general denial, and, further, “that plaintiff’s alleged injuries were caused by her own negligence directly contributing thereto, in attempting to board a moving car, before same had come to a stop for the purpose of receiving passengers.”

The uncontradicted testimony tends to show that defendant’s railroad runs from the city of St. Louis to Creve Coeur Lake, some distance in the country, via Delmar Garden; that there was an aggregation of so-called fetching allurements there, besides a possible pleasing prospect of land and water, to-wit, a scenic railroad or “switch-back:,” popcorn and peanut stands, etc.; that at the entrance of said switch-back defendant’s track makes a loop which outgoing cars pass around, and, when turned towards the town, become incoming cars. As we grasp it, the place for receiving and discharging passengers is at a platform after the cars have passed around this loop. There is evidence indicating this was a Sunday evening and so many as two or three thousand people were at Creve Coeur Lake for an outing. Plaintiff, an unmaried woman, in good health, was a domestic in the service of Mrs. Shannon at a weekly wage of $5. Late in the afternoon, at about 4 p. m., a Mrs. From, Mrs. Shannon and Miss Flaherty boarded one of'defendant’s cars and rode to Creve Coeur Lake. They remained there until about 9 p. m. The evening was fine and the locus in quo well lighted. So, too, there is no dispute as to the character of the injuries received by plaintiff. In that regard, the record shows she proved the allegations of her petition. She was permanently injured; her left leg, the injured one, is two inches shorter than the other, and [324]*324her foot was amputated at the heel — the lower extremity of the tibia and fibula and calcaneum (heel bone) being sawed off. Her doctor’s bill is $500'. She was bed-ridden for several months, and is confessedly bound for expenses for medicines. Having remained for a few days at St. John’s Hospital, she was taken to the home of a. married sister, and there nursed day and night while helplessly bed-ridden. At St. John’s she was attended by one of the nurses' employed there. There is no testimony she was nursed at her sister’s home by anyone, save her sister, or members of her sister’s family. There is no testimony she had been a member of that family; to the contrary, she was thirty-three years old and living out at service earning her own living. In connection with her nursing, she offered to prove and did prove (without objection from defendant) that reasonable pay for a nurse rendering similar day and night service was $5 per day. But plaintiff tendered no proof of an express contract of pay. So, too, it was shown by all the testimony that these three ladies undertook to board one of defendant’s return . cars to go home. The car was an open summer car with a canvas roof, known as a moonlight car. It was about forty-seven feet long, its seats ran crosswise and would accommodate, say, ninety-six passengers. Along one side of it there was a “run-board” or “running board, ’ ’ about 19 inches above the rail. This run-board from end to end was the step used to enter and leave the car on its open side, and from this run-board there was a rise of a few inches to the main floor of the car.

So far, there is accord; but as to the incidents of the injury and the cause of it, the evidence is in irreconcilable conflict. Thus, on plaintiff’s part there was evidence tending to show that the car reached the- place designated by defendant for passengers to get on and off; that it stopped; that at the time plaintiff undertook to board the car it was standing still, and there [325]*325were few, if any, passengers on the car; that there was no crowd about the car and no particular rush, it being practically empty at the time; that the three ladies were together and awaiting a car; that Mrs. From got on first and took a seat about the middle of the car; that Mrs. Shannon then followed her and seated herself in the same seat; that thereupon Miss Flaherty followed to get into the same seat; that she got’hold of an upright in the car and got on the run-board; that with one foot on the run-board and one on the floor of the car she was raising herself to get into the car to take a seat, and when in that ticklish fix, poised on balance, so to speak, the signal bell rang and the car suddenly started forward a distance of from two to six feet and threw her violently backward and caused her left foot to get on the rail, and either the forward or back wheels of the hindmost truck caught her foot, thereat the car again stopped, this time with the wheel resting on her foot smashed and pinned fast to the rail. Plaintiff introduced evidence tending to show, further, that there were three cars in a row, all standing still; that the car in question was the middle one; that the forward ear was moved ahead; and that the middle car then hitched up, following the forward one.

Defendant’s evidence was strongly contrary to the foregoing. For instance, it introduced testimony tending to show there was a rush to board the car before it stopped and as the car came round the loop; that the conductor and motorman were crying out to the people to stand back, to keep away and not get hurt or killed, and could not control the crowd; that there was a crowd' congregated there, eager to return to town; that the car came around the loop slowly, the motorman feeding his power gently by moving up a notch, now and then; that he did not stop the car at all. until it reached the platform; and that when he. stopped to allow passengers to enter the car, one of the rear wheels was found [326]

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Beals v. Quigg
11 P.2d 354 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1932)
Dunham v. Miller
133 S.W. 675 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1911)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
106 S.W. 15, 207 Mo. 318, 1907 Mo. LEXIS 208, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/flaherty-v-st-louis-transit-co-mo-1907.