Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. Banks

31 So. 573, 132 Ala. 471, 1901 Ala. LEXIS 216
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedDecember 18, 1901
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 31 So. 573 (Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. Banks) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. Banks, 31 So. 573, 132 Ala. 471, 1901 Ala. LEXIS 216 (Ala. 1901).

Opinion

HARALSON, J.

— 1. The case though simple as to the real facts, is distressingly cumbered with pleadings, covering some 55 pages of the transcript. Nearly everything attempted was demurred to on both sides, and after all, there was no judgment on any of the demurrers to the counts of the complaint, to- the pleas, or replications. We have a case presented, therefore, where we must ascertain on what definite; issues it was really tried.

2. The real facts stated concisely are, that Lawrence, the. deceased, wa,s an employe in the defendant’s yard at Decatur or New Decatur, whose business it was to make up trains; that one Ben McDermott was the engineer in charge of the engine and tender which ran against deceased; that there were in the yard, the main track and some seven other side or switch tracks on the west side of the main track; that deceased was standing a very few feet on the east of the main track, with a switch list in his hand, at the time McDermott was coming south down the main line, with his engine and tender attached, the tender running foremost, moving at the rate of some six miles an hour, and that deceased, —as McDermott testified, — when the tender wasi in three or four feet of him, made a movement from the place1! at which he was standing, which was a safe one, toward the track down which the engine and tender were, coming, and ran and jumped on the track; was knocked down or fell, was caught under the tender and rolled some distance down the track. When taken out, as other evidence shows, he was so badly injured, he died soon afterwards.

[479]*479The theory of the complaint is, that the death was not caused by knocking deceased down, for as contended, his death was not caused by that act, but came from his afterwards being rolled over or pushed along the track by the moving tender; that the engineer discovered his peril but failed to reverse his engine, sand the track and apply the brakes soon enough before deceased was knocked down but not killed, and by reason of such failure, and a failure to use preventive means afterwards, the deceased was dragged and fatally injured.

The complaint set out in variant forms in many counts, the negligence of the defendant’s engineer, in his failure to do and observe this, that and the other alleged duty, whereby the injury resulted; and the pleas, in extended form, set up the negligence of the deceased in leaving a place of safety and going upon the main track in the face, of peril to his life, in consequence of which he contributed proximately to his own destruction.

The plaintiff, first denying the allegations of these pleas, replied specially: (2nd) “After said deceased was by those on the engine observed on the track, those in charge of the engine, failed to use all proper means to stop the'engine, and by reason of such failure, the said Joe Lawrence met his death.” The third, fourth and fifth replications to the pleas were demurred to, and as appears by a shorthand rendering, these demurrers were sustained. The demurrers must, therefore, be treated as waived. As to these replications it may he said they were of no significance in the trial of the cause and no notice of them. may be here taken, since all the matters set up in them were fully gone over in the evidence introduced.

The sixth replication, upon which much stress is laid, was that “The said engineer after discovering the peril of said Lawrence, failed to reverse the engine, sand the track and apply the brakes until the said Lawrence was knocked down but not killed, and by reason of such failure, the said Lawrence was dragged, and fatally injured.” These two replications (the second and sixth) treat of no more than simple negligence.

[480]*480The defendant, joining issue on the second replication, rejoined specially to the sixth, “that when plaintiff's intestate stepped upon the track, and between the rails of the track on which said engine was, said engine was so close to said Lawrence that defendant's engineer could not stop the same by any appliances within his power in time to avoid hitting said Lawrence.” The plaintiff moved to strike this last rejoinder, which was granted, but the ruling is shown only in the judgment entry and not in the bill of exceptions, and there is no formal judgment rendered, as shown, on the motion.

The 8th, 10th, 11th and 12th counts in the complaint were framed to set up wantonness on the part of the engineer in causing the death of the plaintiff’s intestate. They were demurred to on many grounds questioning their sufficiency, but as no judgment was rendered on the demurrers, they must be treated as waived. We have, then, several counts setting up, simple negligence, and these four, intended to set up wantonness on the part of the engineer in inflicting the injury on deceased. We have heretofore attempted to malee plain the necessary averments of wantonness or willfulness, or luckless indifference to probable consequences, with a knowledge and present consciousness that the injury would probably result. In A. G. S. R. R. Co. v. Burgess, 119 Ala. 563, we said: “Of course, an intent to injure on the part of defendant’s employe is not essential to liability, notwithstanding contributory negligence. It is enough if they exhibit such wan-tonnesK and recklessness as to probable consequences as implies a willingness to inflict injury, or an indifference as to whether injury is inflicted, though they may not have any such affirmative purpose.”—B. R. & E. Co. v. Pinckard; 124 Ala. 372. Again, to1 make the matter plainer, if possible, it was said in the late case of L. & N. R. R. Co. v. Brown, 121 Ala. 226: “To the implication of willfulness, or wantonness, or reckless indifference to probable consequences, it is essential that the act done or omitted should be done or omitted with a knowledge and a present consciousness that the injury would-probably result; and that this consciousness [481]*481is not to' be implied from mere knowledge of tlie elements of the dangerous situation, for this the party charged may have and yet act. only negligently and inadvertently in respect of the peril, but it must be alleged, either in terms, that he willfully, or wantonly, or with reckless indifference failed to discharge the duty resting upon him, or that he was at the time conscious that his course would probably result in. disaster.” When tested by these rales, the counts referred to were lacking in necessary averments to charge wantonness, Avill-fulness, or reckless indifference to consequences, such as under the rules above stated amount to and are the equivalent of Avantonness or Avillfulness. They charge no more than simple negligence.

The case: must be here considered on the counts in the complaint charging simple negligence and the general issue thereon; upon the pleas of contributory negligence and issue thereon, or rather, as nar-roAved from these, on issue joined on the second special replication above, and on issue joined on the rejoinder to the sixth special replication, each as set out above.

3. There Avere but tAVO witnesses avIio saw Lawrence at the time he was stricken by the engine’s tender.

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Bluebook (online)
31 So. 573, 132 Ala. 471, 1901 Ala. LEXIS 216, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/louisville-nashville-railroad-v-banks-ala-1901.