Lake Erie & Western Railroad v. Fike

74 N.E. 636, 35 Ind. App. 554, 1905 Ind. App. LEXIS 120
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 31, 1905
DocketNo. 5,393
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 74 N.E. 636 (Lake Erie & Western Railroad v. Fike) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lake Erie & Western Railroad v. Fike, 74 N.E. 636, 35 Ind. App. 554, 1905 Ind. App. LEXIS 120 (Ind. Ct. App. 1905).

Opinion

Myebs, P. J.

Appellee begun this action in the-Miami Circuit Court against appellant fi> recover damages for personal injuries received at the crossing of Broadway street and appellant’s railroad, in the city of Peru, Indiana. On change of venue the case was sent to the Wabash Circuit Court, and there tried by a jury, resulting in a verdict and judgment for appellee. Interrogatories were submitted to the jury, which, with their answers thereto, were returned with their general verdict.

The overruling of appellant’s motion for judgment in its favor on the interrogatories and answers of the jury, notwithstanding the general verdict, is here assigned as error. After a careful examination of the record in this case, it seems to us the real question is presented by this assignment.

The facts in this case, as taken from the interrogatories and answers, may be stated as follows: On February 10, 1902, appellant was a duly organized railroad corporation owning and operating a line of railroad running through the city of Peru, Miami county, Indiana; that appellee was on said date residing near the town of Mexico, about four or five miles north of said city of Peru, and for thirty years continuously prior thereto had there resided; that .appellee’s usual course of travel to said city was along Broadway street in said city; that on said date the Wabash Railroad Company crossed Broadway street in said city with three main and two side-tracks, all running east and west, and appellant crossed said Broadway street with one track running east and west about sixty or seventy feet south of the south track of said Wabash Railroad Company; that between the tracks of the two railroad companies, and on the east side [556]*556of Broadway street, was a small park, and immediately east of the park a joint passenger station of such, railroads was situated; that near the east side of Broadway street, and immediately north of appellant’s track was a small house, occupied by a flagman in the employ of appellant; that botween the tracks of said two railroad companies, about 150 feet west of the west side of Broadway street, was located appellant’s freight station, and west and south thereof was appellant’s freight yard, and beginning about twenty-five feet west of the west line of Broadway street a number of tracks lead off from appellant’s track which crosses Broadway street to' various places in appellant’s freight yard; that on said date a freight-train, destined for points north of the city of Peru, was made up in appellant’s said freight yard, to which was attached two locomotives in the form of what is commonly known as a “double header,” and to.reach its destination it was necessary for said freight-train to cross said Broadway street at the point where the accident occurred; that said freight-train in starting on its journey came within fifteen or twenty feet of the west side of said Broadway street on appellant’s track and stopped, where it remained until the engineer on the leading engine received the signal from the conductor of said train to start; that the stop was made for tire purpose of repairing a defect in the air-brake attachment on said train, and, when this repair was made, the conductor, who at that time was near the rear end of the train, signaled the engineer to start the train for its destination; that it was the duty of the engineer on the first or leading engine to receive and obey the signals of the conductor with reference to the starting of the train; that the engineer on the leading locomotive was in his proper place, leaning out of the window on the south side of the cab, looking west to get the signal from the conductor to start; that, on receiving the signal to start the train, it was the duty of the engineer of the leading locomotive to sound the whistle twice in succession, which meant “Off brakes,” [557]*557which was the proper and only notice, in the practical operation of freight-trains, to be given to the employes engaged in the management and handling of the train, and was necessary to be given for the. safety of those so employed; that, in the proper handling of said train, and in obeying the orders of the conductor, it. was necessary for the engineer to sound the whistle before looking toward said Broadway street crossing; that on said date, between 1 o’clock and 2 o’clock in the afternoon, while appellee was on his way to said city, in a sled drawn by a three-year-old horse, and on said Broadway street, and while said train and locomotives were standing as aforesaid, he stopped at a point just north of the tracks of the Wabash Railroad Company and north of appellant’s track, which crossed said street, and there remained until signaled by appellant’s flagman to proceed across said tracks; that, upon receiving the signal from said flagman, appellee started across said tracks along the east side of Broadway street, and when near or on the track of appellant, and without any warning or anything to indicate to him that appellant’s engineer would sound the whistle, before he could get across said track, appellant’s engineer on the leading engine, in response to the signal of the conductor, gave the signal “Off brakes,” by sounding the whistle on the locomotive twice in succession, which frightened appellee’s horse; that the width of Broadway street at the point crossed by appellant’s tracks was seventy feet, and, at the time the whistle was sounded, appellee was about ninety feet east of said first locomotive; that said engineer on said-locomotive at the time of sounding said whistle had no knowledge that appellee was crossing or desired to cross said tracks, but had he looked ho could have seen appellee at the time the whistle was sounded; that appellee at said time was the only traveler crossing said tracks ; that the flagman at the time of giving the' signal to appellee to cross the tracks, had no knowledge that the engineer would give the signal “Off brakes,” and he had no knowledge when such freight-[558]*558train would move, nor was- it his duty to' give signals, to the engineer of such freight-train with respect to the starting or stopping of the train, nor did the engineer have any knowledge that the flagman had signaled appellee to cross its tracks; that appellee had crossed the same tracks with the same horse at least a dozen times during the winter of 1901 and 1902, and was acquainted with the situation and location of the various tracks crossing Broadway street at the point where the injury occurred, and knew that trains frequently ran over said tracks; that appellee’s horse was gentle, and had heard the whistle of locomotives prior to the day the injury occurred; that said leading locomotive could be seen 200 feet north of where it stood, and appellee, at the time of starting across the tracks, knew that appellant’s locomotive was standing on its track near said Broadway street, and that, under all the circumstances, the signal given to appellee to cross the tracks at the time appeared to the flagman to be proper, and the engineer was in the usual discharge of his duties when he started the train and sounded said signal with the whistle. The whistling of the signal “Off brakes” was the only time the whistle was sounded at that time and place.

1. In passing upon the point now before us, we are not unmindful of the well-settled principle of law, that the general verdict covers all the issues in the case, and can not be overthrown by the answers to interrogatories, unless, as stated in Chicago, etc., R. Co. v. Leachman (1903), 161 Ind.

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Bluebook (online)
74 N.E. 636, 35 Ind. App. 554, 1905 Ind. App. LEXIS 120, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lake-erie-western-railroad-v-fike-indctapp-1905.