Hunt v. City of St. Louis

211 S.W. 673, 278 Mo. 213, 1919 Mo. LEXIS 80
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedMay 19, 1919
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 211 S.W. 673 (Hunt v. City of St. Louis) 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
Hunt v. City of St. Louis, 211 S.W. 673, 278 Mo. 213, 1919 Mo. LEXIS 80 (Mo. 1919).

Opinion

FARIS, J.

This is an action brought by plaintiff against defendants for personal injuries accruing to him, as he avers, from the negligence of defendants. [220]*220Upon the trial below, defendant Aqua Contracting Company was held not liable upon a directed verdict, and the City of St. Louis, pursuant to the jury’s verdict; while the verdict and judgment went against defendant Heman for the sum of $7500. From the above verdicts and the judgments rendered thereon, the plaintiff appeals as against defendants City of St. Louis and Aqua Contracting Company, while defendant He-man appeals from the judgment’ rendered against him and in favor of plaintiff. Pursuant to stipulation an order was made by us consolidating these cross appeals, and the case is before us for decision upon all three of the questions presented.

The facts of the casualty for which plaintiff sues are fairly simple, and so many of these facts as are necessary to an understanding of the questions presented upon the appeals run substantially thus: On a day prior to the 3rd day of January, 1914, defendant City of St. Louis had entered into a written contract with defendant Aqua Contracting Company for the repair of that portion of Biddle Street extending from Fourteenth Street to Jefferson Avenue, by taking up and removing the old pavement and curbing thereon and putting in place and completing a new pavement and curbing. After’ executing this contract with the City of St. Louis, defendant Aqua Contracting Company duly executed a bond to the City of St. Louis, conditioned upon the faithful and proper performance thereof. Thereafter, the Aqua Contracting Company (hereinafter for brevity called simply the Company) had nothing farther to do with the performance of the contract, or the making of the repairs upon this street, but permitted defendant Heman to do this work in his own way and for his own profit. When the tax bills were made out to the Company the latter delivered them to defendant Heman, who in turn assigned them to one Ruckert, who furnished Heman with money with which to finance and carry out this contract.

[221]*221On the evening of January 3, 1914, about seven or eight o’clock, plaintiff, driving a single horse hitched to a delivery wagon of the Famous-Barr Company, for which he was a driver, was coming south along Twenty-Second Street, approaching Biddle Street at the point where defendant Heman was then engaged in rebuilding the street. On Twenty-Second Street at, a point near to or adjoining Biddle Street, defendant Heman had deposited for his convenience in the repair work a large quantity of rock for the making of macadam. This rock was so piled and of such dimensions that it extended from a point quite near the north side of Biddle Street to a point near the alley north of Biddle Street, a distance of some seventy-five feet or more. • Eastwardly, this pile of material extended from the west curbing of Twenty-Second Street to a point at or near the center thereof. On the east side of Twenty-Second Street a large pile of sand had been deposited. The effect of the piling, upon this street, at the point stated, of the sand and the rock, was to obstruct and narrow the passageway on the street; so that at the time plaintiff came south on this street the passageway for vehicles between the sand and the rock was only from five to eight feet wide. .Moreover, at the same time a brewer’s wagon, drawn by a team of two mules, was coming north in this narrowed and constricted passageway.

Plaintiff was driving in a fast trot, according to his own testimony and that adduced in his behalf. While so using this street and as he approached Biddle Street from the north, the horse which he was driving ran the delivery wagon against the pile of rock, turned the wagon, over, threw plaintiff out on the ground and, becoming frightened, dragged plaintiff a- distance of some seventy-five feet. The result was that the bones in plaintiff’s left foot and ankle were seriously crushed and broken, and he was otherwise hurt and bruised. His injuries were serious, and as á result thereof he was for a long time unable to walk, was put to much [222]*222expense for medical service, and is without question lamed and permanently hurt. No question is made as to the extent of his injuries, however, nor is the amount of the verdict objected to on account of its alleged excessiveness.

Plaintiff’s cause .of action is, as to the City of St. Louis, bottomed upon the alleg'ed negligence of the latter in failing to keep and maintain its public streets and highways free from nuisances and dangerous obstructions and in a- reasonably -safe condition for persons and vehicles traveling thereon lawfully. The cause of actiQn against defendant Hernán and defendant Compány is bottomed upon the fact that they were, as plaintiff avers in his petition, together engaged in doing the work of repair on Biddle Street, and were negligent in piling in Twenty-Second Street large quantities of macadam, sand and other material used in and necessary to be used in .the reconstruction of Biddle Street, and having, so obstructed the street they failed and neglected to observe a certain ordinance of the City of St. Louis which requires the placing of warning red lights on building material when the latter is so placed as to constitute an obstruction in the public streets. The above ordinance, so relied on by plaintiff, requires that if the obstruction on which a red light is required to be placed is not more than ten feet in length, then a single light is sufficient, but if the same is over ten feet and less than fifty feet long, two red lights are required, one at each end, and an additional red light is required for every additional fifty feet, or part thereof, in length of the obstruction.

On the part of plaintiff the evidence tended to show that there were, at the time of the happening to him of the casualty complained of, no red light, or lights whatever, on either the macadam or on the sand. The evidence on the part of defendant tended to show that one red light had been placed by the watchman of defendant Heman on the north end of the pile of macadam, and that this red light (as a number of [223]*223■witnesses testified) was on this macadam at the instant plaintiff was hurt. It was contended furthermore by defendants that there was no necessity for a red light on the south end of the pile of macadam, or upon any other part thereof, since certain street lights on-Biddle Street so lighted up this building material as to make it easily and readily visible.

The testimony on the part of • defendants further tended to show that the horse which plaintiff was driving was, at and just prior to the instant of the casualty, beyond control and running away. This fact was denied by plaintiff, as well as by certain witnesses whom he offered. There was evidence pro and con, and the matter therefore became a question for the jury.

It is contended by plaintiff on his appeal (a) that the court erred in directing a verdict in favor of the Aqua Contracting Company, and (b) in admitting certain evidence, and in giving certain instructions which resulted in the verdict* in favor of defendant City of St. Louis. It is contended by defendant Heman that the court erred in refusing to give certain instructions which were offered by him, and that the verdict against him was induced by these errors. As stated, two appeals were originally taken in this case and were consolidated upon our order, pursuant to stipulation, and the whole case, with all the points above involved, is now before us for determination in a single opinion.

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

Related

Harris v. City of Pleasant Valley
748 S.W.2d 688 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1988)
Frogge v. Nyquist Plumbing and Ditching Company
453 S.W.2d 913 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1970)
Quinn v. Graham
428 S.W.2d 178 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1968)
Fletcher v. City of Aberdeen
338 P.2d 743 (Washington Supreme Court, 1959)
Dulley v. Berkley
304 S.W.2d 878 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1957)
Smyth v. City of St. Joseph
297 S.W.2d 578 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1956)
Brock v. Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad Company
270 S.W.2d 827 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1954)
Flint v. Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad
207 S.W.2d 474 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1947)
State v. McGee
83 S.W.2d 98 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1935)
Howard v. Knutson
77 S.W.2d 158 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1934)
Scanlan v. Kansas City, Mo.
19 S.W.2d 522 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1929)
Plater v. W. C. Mullins Construction Co.
17 S.W.2d 658 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1929)
Harding v. City of St. Joseph
7 S.W.2d 707 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1928)
Bianchetti v. Luce
2 S.W.2d 129 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1927)
Shuff v. Kansas City
282 S.W. 128 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1926)
Gerber Ex Rel. Gerber v. City of Kansas City
263 S.W. 432 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1924)
Wolf v. Kansas City
246 S.W. 236 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1922)
Boyd v. Kansas City
237 S.W. 1001 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1922)
Costello v. Kansas City
219 S.W. 886 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1920)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
211 S.W. 673, 278 Mo. 213, 1919 Mo. LEXIS 80, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hunt-v-city-of-st-louis-mo-1919.