Johnston v. Oregon Short Line Ry. Co.

31 P. 283, 23 Or. 94, 1892 Ore. LEXIS 108
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 25, 1892
StatusPublished
Cited by55 cases

This text of 31 P. 283 (Johnston v. Oregon Short Line Ry. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Johnston v. Oregon Short Line Ry. Co., 31 P. 283, 23 Or. 94, 1892 Ore. LEXIS 108 (Or. 1892).

Opinion

Moore, J.

The appellant commenced an action in the circuit court for Multnomah County against the respondent to recover damages for wrongfully causing the death of David H. Cope. The appellant alleged in his complaint, in substance, that he was the administrator of the estate of David H. Cope, and that the respondent was a corporation duly incorporated and engaged in operating a railroad in this state; that on the ninth day of December, 1890, David H. Cope was an employe of the defendant for hire as switchman in its yard at The Dalles, in this state, and while so engaged was injured by being struck by a target-pole on defendant’s road in the said yard and thrown under the wheels of one of defendant’s cars, whereby his legs were crushed, from which injury he died on the tenth day of December, 1890 ; that defendant had negligently caused to be erected and had maintained in its yard at The Dalles a switch to be used -in switching engines and cars ; that part of said switch consisted of a securely fastened perpendicular shaft, some six feet high, generally called a switch target-pole, which was carelessly erected and maintained in such close proximity to its track as to needlessly hazard the life of said David H. Cope and other employes engaged in switching, and that the dangerous and hazardous condition of said switch was well known to defendant; that at the time of the injury said Cope was in the due performance of his duties; and defendant, regardless of its duties, failed to furnish said Cope and other employes engaged in switching cars at the time such injury occurred with the usual and ordinary switch engine in use in said switch yard at The Dalles, but caused and directed said Cope and other employes to use an ordinary road engine for such switching ; that in switching it was necessary for said Cope as switchman to ride on the cars or engine from one portion of the yard to another; that the switch engine in ordinary use at said yard is provided with footboards, handrails and handstakes on the front and rear of the engine, so that the switchmen may ride thereon in safety, but that [97]*97said road engine had no such footboards, handrails or handstakes, and that in order to do his duty as such switchman, he had to ride on one of the cars which at the time was being switched; that at the time of the injury, without any negligence or fault on the part o'f said Cope, he was struck by said switch target-pole while passing the same, and received the injury complained of; that the defendant failed to provide the switches in said yard with switchlights; that the switch where the said Cope was injured was erected much nearer the track than is usual for like switches to be placed; that the usual switch engine is provided with both head and rear lights, but that said road engine then being used had no light on the rear while switching, and that the absence of said light directly contributed to the injury of said Cope, as said engine was then backing up, pulling the cars which were being switched, and that the switch target-pole could not be seen by said Cope so as to avoid the injury; that by reason of the negligence of defendant, and without any negligence, and without the breach of any of the conditions of his employment, and while in the due performance of his duty, said Cope was injured by defendant and his death caused thereby, to the damage of his estate.

A demurrer was interposed to this complaint on the ground that the same did not contain facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action, which the circuit court sus tained, and plaintiff was given leave to amend, which he did by alleging, in addition to the original complaint, that said Cope was employed for hire, being a “night” switchman, and also adding, “but said Cope had only been employed in said yard a few days, and his work was in the night-time and the dangerous condition of said switch and yard was unknown to him. ” An answer and reply were filed, the issues completed, and appellant submitted, his testimony, whereupon the respondent moved the court for a nonsuit, which was granted, from which judgment this appeal is taken, and the following are assigned as errors: First, the court erred in sustaining the demurrer [98]*98to appellant’s original complaint and requiring him to amend and allege that deceased had no knowledge of the dangerous condition of the switch, as knowledge of the condition of any unusually dangerous or hazardous machinery or appliance is a matter of defense; second, the court erred in refusing to allow the witness, Holland, to answer the two questions put to him, viz., “What Cope said as to his injury when he went to him to pick him up at the switch where he was injured,” and “whether or not it was proper for him to ride on the ladder of the car, where he was riding at the time of the injury”; third, the court erred in sustaining defendant’s motion for a nonsuit and refusing to submit the evidence to the jury, for the reasons, that (1) whether the switch in question was maintained too near the track, and (2) whether deceased assumed the risk as one of the ordinary risks of his employment, were questions of fact for the jury, and not questions of law to be determined by the court.

1. The appellant prepared and filed a bill of exceptions which is simply a transcript of a stenographer’s notes taken at the trial of the cause. This bill of exceptions contains the objections of counsel for both parties, the rulings of the court on such objections, and the exceptions taken, and respondent files a motion to strike the bill of exceptions from the record, relying upon the decision of this court in Eaton v. O. R. & N. Co. 22 Or. 497 (30 Pac. Rep. 311), In that case objection to the form of the bill of exceptions was taken in the court below and protest there made by plaintiff’s counsel. In this case the order admitting and allowing the bill of exceptions says that the same was presented to counsel for defendant, and by consent it was allowed as a bill of exceptions. There is much immaterial matter contained in this bill of exceptions; but as the question is raised that the court erred in sustaining the motion for a nonsuit, this necessitates an examination of more testimony than almost any other question that could be presented. It is a general rule that unless the bill of exceptions contains all [99]*99the evidence, it will be presumed there was sufficient to support the verdict: White v. Goodrich Trans. Co. 46 Wis. 493 (1 N. W. Rep. 59). For these reasons, the motion to strike the bill of exceptions from the record must be denied.

2. Mr. Wood, in his work on Railway Law, § 386, thus states the facts which must be established by the servant in order to recover for injuries received from defective appliances and machinery: “The servant, in order to recover for defects in the appliances of the business, is called upon to establish three propositions — first, that the appliance was defective; second, that the master had knowledge or notice thereof, or ought to have had, and, third, that the servant did not know of the defect, and had not an equal means of knowing with the master. ” Is it necessary for the plaintiff to allege the third ground as laid down by Mr. Wood ? In Kahn v. Love, 3 Or. 206, this court held that “the plaintiff in an action for damages occasioned by defendant’s negligence, must so frame his complaint as not to leave an inference that he was guilty of negligence that contributed to his injury.” In Welch v. O. R. & N. Co. 10 Or.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
31 P. 283, 23 Or. 94, 1892 Ore. LEXIS 108, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnston-v-oregon-short-line-ry-co-or-1892.