Haden v. Sioux City & Pacific Railroad

48 N.W. 733, 99 Iowa 735
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedMay 19, 1891
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 48 N.W. 733 (Haden v. Sioux City & Pacific Railroad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Haden v. Sioux City & Pacific Railroad, 48 N.W. 733, 99 Iowa 735 (iowa 1891).

Opinion

Given, J.

l I. After the jury was impaneled, lefendant objected to the introduction of any evilence, for the reason that the petition failed'to state a lause of action, which objection was overruled, and she ruling is assigned as error. It is urged, in support of the objection, that plaintiff’s employment as section foreman was in no way connected with the operation of trains, and not within section 1307 of the Code. If this be correct, “then the facts stated in the petition do not entitle the plaintiff to the relief lemanded,” and were grounds for demurrer. Code, section 2648. Code, section 2650, is as follows: “When way of the matters enumerated as grounds of demurrer lo not appear on the face of the petition, the objection may be taken b.y answer. If no such objection is taken, it shall be deemed waived. If the facts stated by the [737]*737petition do not entitle the plaintiff to any relief whatever, advantage may be taken of it by motion in arrest of judgment, before judgment is entered.” The defendant neither demurred nor moved in arrest of judgment, on this ground, and, therefore, must be held to have waived the objection. Linden v. Green, October term, 1890, 85 Iowa, 365 (46 N. W. Rep. 1108) and cases cited.

2 II. Plaintiff offered the Carlisle tables, contained in the Enc. Britannica, to which defendant objected, because no sufficient foundation had been laid, and now complains of the overruling of that objection.

In Worden v.H. & S. Ry. Co., 76 Iowa, 314, this same work was held to be admissible, without preliminary proofs under section 3653 of the Code.

In Gorman v. The M. & St. L. Ry. Co., 78 Iowa, 509, cited by appellant, a different work was offered, after preliminary proofs had been made, which this court held to be sufficient.

There was no error in overruling the objection.

III. Other errors assigned and discussed, involve a consideration of the facts about which there is but little conflict, and which are substantially as follows:

The defendant’s track runs north and south through the incorporated town of Mondamin, trains from the south being in full view for one mile. There was a water tank north of the depot and one or more side-tracks that connected with the main track, at points north and south of the station house.

3 It had been the practice in approaching that station with freight trains, when cars were to be left or water taken, to cut the train in two while approaching the station and run the engine and cars attached past the station to the switch or tank beyond and set out cars or take water, while the other cars in charge of a brakeman followed to and were stopped at the station, for the discharge of passengers and freight.

[738]*738There is some conflict as to how frequently this had been done, but all agree that it had been done a number of times, especially by the train going north in the forenoon. Several witnesses testify that this is a common practice on railroads and was frequently done at that station.

The train under notice had uniformly carried a cupola caboose in the rear of the freight cars and, at and for a month before the accident, had carried a passenger car in rear of that. At the time of the accident, and for a number of years before, plaintiff was in defendant’s employ as a section foreman and had charge of a section from a point south of and through the town to a point north of it. He resided near to and in full view of the tracks at the station, and was frequently there when this train passed. . On July 10, 1889, he and his men were at work at and near the switch stand south of the depot between 10 and 11 a. m., when this train approached from the south. Plaintiff was engaged in making some repair on the switch, at the point of connection with the main track, which required him to go upon the main track. Some distance south of the south switch, a brakeman, knowing that there were cars to set out and passengers and freight to discharge, cut the train in two without any immediate order to do so, leaving nine freight cars attached to the engine, and five loaded freight cars, the caboose and passenger car to follow. Plaintiff saw the train approaching when about one mile away, and as the engine and cars attached approached the switch where he was at work, he and the other men on the track stepped off. Immediately after the engine and cars attached to it had passed, the plaintiff, without looking south, stepped upon the track with his face from the south and was examining the track when he was struck by the advance car of .the rear section of the train and injured.

[739]*739There are some unimportant differences in the statements of witnesses as to the precise movements of plaintiff after he stepped upon the track, but all agree that he did not look south before stepping on the track, that his face was turned from the approaching cars, that he was looking on the ground, and did not hear, or seem to hear, the calls that were made to him by the brakeman and others.

It is unquestionably true that when the first part of the train passed, plaintiff supposed it was the entire train, and, acting upon that belief, went upon the track as he did. There is conflict as to how the brakeman managed the rear part of the train. The brakeman testifies that when the train was cut in two, he was on the front end of the rear section, and set the brake to slow the cars. That he was about six feet from the front end of the car when he saw Haden beside the switch, off the track on the east side, looking down at the track. “He started to go on ahead of these cars, and as he went on I hallooed * * * and started for another brake, and just as I got to another brake I saw him fall. I was about the length of a car and a half from him when I called out to him.” The witnesses all agreed that the brakeman was at the brake on the front end of the first car, and that he hallooed to Haden, but they differ somewhat as to the distance the car was from Haden at the time. One witness says that he thinks it was not over thirty or forty feet, another says the brakeman did not run back on the car. There was no occasion for hallooing until Haden stepped on the track, and as this was evidently but a few moments before he was struck, the time and distance between the warning and accident was short.

IY. We now inquire whether there is any evidence tending to establish the charge of negligence on the part of defendant’s employes. The charge is that [740]*740they negligently cut the train into two parts, that they negligently permitted the main part to proceed north with the detached cars following rapidly at some distance behind, in charge of a brakeman, and that the brakeman neglected to stop the detached cars or give any proper signal or warning.

There is no testimony whatever tending to show that it was negligence to cut the train, or to permit the' rear section to follow the one in advance, at the speed it did. All the witnesses testifying on that subject say that it is a usual way of handling such trains, and no witness says differently, or that the cars were moving at an unreasonable rate of speed. The only possible inference of negligence in cutting and moving the train as it was, must be drawn from the fact that plaintiff was injured, and yet we know that persons are injured by moving trains when there is no negligence in the management. Negligence cannot be inferred from the fact of the accident alone.

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Bluebook (online)
48 N.W. 733, 99 Iowa 735, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/haden-v-sioux-city-pacific-railroad-iowa-1891.