Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. Ashley

183 S.W. 921, 169 Ky. 330, 1916 Ky. LEXIS 696
Court of Appeals of Kentucky·Decided March 22, 1916·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

Opinion of the Court by

Judge Hurt

Reversing.

The appellee, Nancy Ashley, intending to take passage upon a train of the appellant, Louisville & Nashville Eailroad Company, from Frankfort to Pleasure-ville, obtained a ticket and proceeded to the train, which was standing in the yard of appellant at Frankfort. She accosted a brakeman, who was standing near the train, and informed him of where she desired to go, when he directed her to take the rear coach of the train. This was a car of the Pullman Company, and when she arrived at the car she informed the porter in charge of the car of her destination and inquired of him, if that was the car that she should enter and he directed her to get into it. She was accompanied by a young woman, who, also, entered the car with her, where they took seats in cháirs, near the middle of the coach. Neither of them was intending to take passage in the Pullman, and did not know that an extra fare would have to be paid by them for riding in the car. They had each ridren on trains over this road previous to this time, but had not occupied the Pullman or chair car, but the coach which they had always occupied was the rear coach upon the train, which position in the train was occupied by the coach they were now occupying. The appellee’s account of what transpired thereafter, and which resulted in an injury to her arm- and shoulder, and in which she was corroborated by the woman who accompanied her, was substantially as follows:

When the train had passed the water tank, a short' distance to the west of Frankfort, and was running at a high rate of speed, the porter came through the car and demanded of appellee her fare, when she presented him the ticket which she had obtained for passage on the train, and he said to her that he did not want that, but that she would have to pay “a quarter” extra for riding in the car. She said that she did not know that, when she came into the car and that she was only going [332] a short distance to Christianburg — and did not want to pay it. He said, “You will have to get up and go into the other coach then.” She said, “That she was somewhat old, and could not walk well while the train was running and could not get around well on a train, and would rather wait until it stopped. ’ ’ He came a second time to her, and said, “I told you to go back into another coach, ” in a very positive voice and emphatic manner She kept her seat, and when near Benson* he came again and said, "I have told you to go back into another coach — -this is the third time.” The train was running at a high rate of speed, and she was a large fleshy woman, burdened with a bundle and a suitcase, and the train had not come to a stop at any time since she had been directed to leave the coach and go into another. She then arose and started to leave the coach, when the train, which was then running upon a curve, gave a lurch, which threw her down upon a chair and then to the floor, and bruised her arm and shoulder. She arose from the floor and waited a few moments until the train slowed up, in its approach to Benson, when, with the assistance of the woman who accompanied her, she-went out of the Pullman coach into the next coach. The porter offered her no assistance of any kind, and does not seem to have been present when she fell. The evidence of the porter was to the effect, that before directing appellee to go into the chair car, at the depot at Frankfort, he inquired of her if she desired to ride in the Pullman, and that she said that she did, and then when she 'refused to pay the fare required for riding in the chair car, in addition to the ordinary fare for riding upon the train, that he told her that she would have to go into another car, but directed her to remain until the train stopped, and that he offered to assist her in going into another coach, but she refused to permit him to do so. These statements of the porter were contradicted by appellee and her companion.

This suit was brought by the appellee to recover the damages, which she alleged she had suffered, and alleged that hex injuries were caused by the negligence of the servants of appellant.

The appellant denied the negligence and the injuries, and plead, as a further defense, the contributory negligence of appellee.

[333] The jury returned a verdict for appellee in the sum of $1,200.00, and a judgment was rendered accordingly.

The appellant’s motion for a new trial was overruled and it has appealed.

The appellant relies for a reversal of the judgment upon the grounds: (1) That there was no evidence of any negligence upon the part of appellant; (2) the damages allowed are excessive, and given under the influence of passion and prejudice; (3) errors of the court in admitting incompetent evidence for appellee, and rejecting competent evidence offered for appellant; (4) errors' of the court in giving instructions to the jury.

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Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. Ashley, 183 S.W. 921, 169 Ky. 330, 1916 Ky. LEXIS 696 (Ky. Ct. App. 1916).

183 S.W. 921 (Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. Ashley) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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