Landers v. Ohio River R.

33 S.E. 296, 46 W. Va. 492, 1899 W. Va. LEXIS 74
West Virginia Supreme Court·Decided April 22, 1899·Published·Cited by 11 cases

Opinions

McWhorter, Judge:

This -was an action for damages for personal injuries to John Landers, an infant, who sued in the Circuit Court of Mason County by William H. Landers, his next friend, against the Ohio River Railroad Company, in which he laid his damages at twenty thousand dollars. The case was tried at a special term of said court, held in November, 1895, and a verdict was rendered for plaintiff for eight hundred dollars, upon which judgment was rendered on the 7th day of December, 1895. The declaration contained four-counts, to which, and to each count, defendant demurred, which demurrers the • court overruled, and which overruling is assigned by the appellant as error; but, as counsel for appellant points out no ground for sustaining it, [493] and does not rely upon it in bis brief, and as tbe declaration seems to be in good form,following in a general way, andas nearly as may be, Hogg, PL & Forms, pp. 344-346, and I tbink sufficiently alleging good cause of action, I see no ■reasons for disturbing tbe action of tbe court in overrul-ling tbe demurrer.

It appears from tbe record that on tbe evening of July 17, 1893, at tbe town of Point Pleasant, in said county, a through freight train of tbe defendant, containing about 27 cars, came into tbe yard from tbe southward, remaining a few moments, or a short time, and, as it pulled out on its regular run going north from tbe station, tbe plaintiff, a boy or young man of about 17 years of age, who lived with bis father, near Pomeroy, Ohio, a few miles above Point Pleasant, and who, in company with a young man, Charles Sanley, bad walked down to tbe latter town that day “in search of work,” and failing to find it, and desiring to return home, having no money to pay bis fare, climbed on tbe train, and stood on tbe ladder between tbe cars. Some eighteen or twenty others got on at tbe same time. Plaintiff testifies: That be was standing alone between tbe cars. “There was a fellow standing there talking to tbe conductor, and be was standing there talking to him, and I seen him [the conductor] talking and point-in at me,” and the fellow who was talking to tbe conductor “came right there to me, and kicked me off tbe train.” That the conductor, when pointing towards plaintiff, said something; but plaintiff could not tell what it was on account of tbe train making so much racket. Says be kicked him in tbe back, between tbe shoulders, and that be fell on the side next tbe river, and, when he went to get up, saw there was something wrong with bis left ankle, tried to get up, and could not. Some fellows came and “packed” him up by tbe flour mill. Did not know who picked him up. Two doctors came, and pulled around on bis foot, and got it to tbe place as near as they could, bandaged it up, and gave him some medicine to put on it, and Robert Johnson took him to bis home, and kept him over night. The next day was sent up on a boat to Enterprise, and hauled home in an express from there. That after be got home Dr. Shafer treated him, made two visits, dressed bis ankle, put salvé on it, and bandaged [494] it up again; left salve, and directions how to treat it; put it on a pillow on a chair. Was in the house over three-weeks, and over five weeks before he could'walk without a crutch; then used a cane. Suffered greatly. Said it' pained him very much in cloudy weather, and hurt him so-he could not sleep of nights much, and kept a good strong bandage on it all the time. Could not get around as well as before he was hurt. Could not wear boots, nor lace-shoe tight, but had to keep it loose. Says, when the man came to him, he was doing nothing but standing and riding on the train, and he said to him, “You get off of here, you d— s— of a b — ,” and whaled away, and kicked him off; that the train was running at right good speed. Dr. E. J. Mossman was called to him, with Dr. Neale. Mossman testifies that they found the large bone broken, and a fracture and dislocation of the ankle joint. The smaller bone on the outer side was driven down over the bones of the ankle; in other words, there seemed to be a jamming, of tim-bones of the ankle joint up between the other two, — the bones of the leg. The ligaments were very much torn by reason of this fracture, — by reason of' this break, — and even when he saw it there was considerable swelling. Dr. Mossman was corroborated by Dr. Neale, both of whom testified^ as to the condition of the injury at the time of the-trial, as did also Dr. L. V. Guthrie, showing that it was-still asevere injury, giving more or less trouble, and that it was a permanent injury. Several other physicians al-so testified as to the condition of the injury at the time of the-trial, corroborating the testimony as to the permanency of the injury, and the effect of it in the future of his life.. The question is as to the liability of the defendant, and the correctness of the rulings of the court, and whether there is evidence tending to support the verdict of the jury. If the liability^ is established, the judgment is reasonable-enough, and is not complained of as to amount.

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Landers v. Ohio River R., 33 S.E. 296, 46 W. Va. 492, 1899 W. Va. LEXIS 74 (W. Va. 1899).

33 S.E. 296 (Landers v. Ohio River R.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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