Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Co. v. Stupak

23 N.E. 246, 123 Ind. 210, 1890 Ind. LEXIS 179
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 7, 1890
DocketNo. 14,388
StatusPublished
Cited by37 cases

This text of 23 N.E. 246 (Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Co. v. Stupak) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Co. v. Stupak, 23 N.E. 246, 123 Ind. 210, 1890 Ind. LEXIS 179 (Ind. 1890).

Opinion

Coffey, J.

This was an action by the appellee against the appellant for personal injuries. The amended complaint was in a single paragraph, and, omitting the caption, is in the words and figures following:

The plaintiff, John Stupak, for amended complaint complains of the defendant, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Company, and says that said defendant was, at the time of the commission of the grievances and happening of the injuries hereinafter mentioned, and still is, a railroad corporation, organized and existing under the laws of the State of Indiana, and owning and operating a line of railroad which runs eastward from the city of Chicago, in the State of Illinois, and extends over and across the counties of Lake, Porter and La Porte, in the State of Indiana ; that said defendant in the operation of its said railroad has for the last four years run a certain locomotive engine and train of flat-cars for hauling gravel, stone, slag and other material along its said railroad for the purpose of repairing its track; that, from the 1st day .of April, 1883, until the following September, said defendant used said engine and train of flat-cars in hauling gravel, stone and slag from a pit near a station on said railroad in Lake county,Indiana, known as Pine, and distributing the same along said railroad in said Lake and Porter counties, and had employed as laborers on said train, and as track repairers in utilizing and disposing of the material so hauled upon and along the track by said train, a large number of men, to wit, one hundred and thirty, who lived at various points along the line of said railroad between said station of Pine and the city of La Porte, in said State of Indiana; that the agents and servants of said defendant in charge of said train and said work, by direction of said defendant, would leave the flat-cars at the pit at night, and take the said locomotive engine and two cabooses or coaches which the defendant had provided therefor, and convey the said laborers to their respective places of abode, and in the same manner convey them to their places of work [213]*213every morning ; that about thirty of said laborers were engaged during said time in raising and repairing the track, and the others, numbering about one hundred, worked on said train of flat-cars, loading the same with gravel and other materials at said pit, and riding on said train along the track for the purpose of unloading said material; that it was the duty of said body of track repairers under their employment, when called upon so to do by their foreman, to go upon said train and assist in unloading the same; that said defendant had in its service and employment on the 13th day of August, 1883, and for four months prior thereto, as engineer of the locomotive engine used to propel said train of cars upon said work as aforesaid, one Walter Pool, who was habitually careless and negligent in the discharge of his duties as such engineer in running and operating said engine and hauling said train of flat-cars during all of said time, in this, that during said time said engineer habitually and generally run and propelled said engine and train of flat-.cars at a high, unusual and dangerous rate of speed, and habitually and generally, carelessly and negligently started and stopped said engine and train of cars during said time with great, unusual and dangerous suddenness, and habitually and generally during all of said time, carelessly and negligently stopped and started said train of flat-cars with great danger, without giving any signal or warning thereof whatever, and while laborers were engaged in unloading said train of flatcars, and was not possessed of sufficient skill to manage and operate said locomotive engine and train of flat-cars in an ordinarily careful and prudent manner, of all of which said defendant had due notice long before said 13th day of August as aforesaid, but carelessly and negligently retained said Pool in its service and employment as such engineer after such notice, and until the happening of the injuries hereinafter mentioned ; that on or about the 25th day of July, 1883, the plaintiff entered into the service of said defendant as one of its track repairers on the work hereinbefore mentioned, and [214]*214he lived near Burdick Station, along the line of said railroad in said Porter county, and rode back and forth from his home to his place of work in one of the cabooses or coaches attached to said locomotive engine, and provided by the defendant for the purpose of conveying laborers to and’ from their places of work as aforesaid; that at the time he engaged in the service of the defendant as aforesaid he was wholly unacquainted with said Pool, and had no notice or knowledge whatever of his careless and negligent habits and lack of skill as an engineer as aforesaid, or of his character or reputation as an engineer, or in any other capacity ; that plaintiff continued in the service of the defendant as aforesaid, and on the 13th day of August, 1883, he was ordered and directed by his foreman to go upon said train of flat-cars and assist in unloading the same; that said train was then standing still, with the locomotive engine attached thereto, under the control and management"of said Pool, when plaintiff, pursuant to said direction from his foreman as aforesaid, and as it was his duty to do, went upon said train of ears, and while standing on one of said cars shovelling off material in the line of his duty as such servant of said defendant, and without any fault and negligence upon his part, said Pool carelessly and negligently, and without giving any signal or warning whatever, suddenly put said engine and train of cars in rapid motion, whereby the plaintiff was thrown off his feet, and fell between two of said cars, and was run over and cut, bruised and mangled, and had his arms crushed and broken, so that he was permanently disabled and wholly and permanently lost the use of both his arms, and was by such injuries rendered sick and sore, and for a long time his life was despaired of; that he suffered great bodily and mental pain and distress from his said injuries, and expended a large sum, to wit, four hundred dollars, for medical services and nursing in attempting to cure himself thereof; that he was, at the time of receiving said injuries, in the enjoyment of good health, and was earning one thousand dollars per year, [215]*215but on account thereof has not been able to do any kind of labor since, and is unable even to feed himself, or attend to his personal wants, and will remain permanently in such helpless condition, all to his damage of twenty thousand dollars. Plaintiff further says that at the time he went upon the train of cars to assist in unloading the same, on the 13th day of August, 1883, as aforesaid, he had never been on said train of flat-cars but once before, and then for a few minutes only, and he had no notice or knowledge whatever of the careless and negligent habits of said Pool in handling and running said engine and train of cars, and had no notice or knowledge whatever of the character or reputation of said Pool as such engineer, or in any other capacity; that said injury occurred wholly without the fault or negligence of plaintiff, but was caused by the carelessness and negligence, and want of skill of said Pool in managing said engine and train of cars as aforesaid, and by the negligence and carelessness of the defendant in retaining said Pool in its service as such engineer, after it had notice of his carelessness, negligence and incompetency as aforesaid. Wherefore plaintiff asks judgment for twenty thousand dollars, and other proper relief.”

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Bluebook (online)
23 N.E. 246, 123 Ind. 210, 1890 Ind. LEXIS 179, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lake-shore-michigan-southern-railway-co-v-stupak-ind-1890.