McCann v. Pennsylvania Co.

6 Ohio Cir. Dec. 610
CourtMahoning Circuit Court
DecidedMarch 15, 1895
StatusPublished

This text of 6 Ohio Cir. Dec. 610 (McCann v. Pennsylvania Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mahoning Circuit Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McCann v. Pennsylvania Co., 6 Ohio Cir. Dec. 610 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1895).

Opinion

Frazier, J.

The case of James McCann v. The Pennsylvania Company, is a petition in error, the object of which is to reverse the judgment of the court of common pleas. I will not read' the pleadings in the case, but shall endeavor to state their substance so far as I deem them material to the questions at issue, and in some instances probably, in language or words different from that used by the pleader.

The plaintiff in error, who was the plaintiff below, on the 27th day of October, 1891, filed in the court of common pleas of Mahoning county his petition, in which he states that he is a resident and citizen of the state of Pennsylvania, and that the defendant now is, and during all the dates and times therein mentioned, was a public railroad corporation, duly and legally incorporated and organized under and by virtue of the laws and statutes of the state of Pennsylvania, and as such corporation was in possession of, running and operating a line of public railroad between the city of Youngstown, in the county of Mahoning, and state of Ohio, and the city of Pittsburg, in the state of Pennsylvania. That on said line of railroad in the state of Pennsylvania, at the time of the injury to the plaintiff as complained of, there was a station called Wampum. That there was then and for a long time prior thereto had been connected with said line of railroad, and used and operated by said defendant as a part thereof, a railroad which extended from said station, or a point on said line near thereto, a distance of' about three miles, to coal mines called the Clinton mines, from which defendant as a common carrier took coal to market for the owners thereof. That on the 7th day of May, 1890, and prior thereto, plaintiff had been in the employ of the defendant as brakeman; that on said day defendant had in its possession, and was then using, and for a long time prior thereto had been using in the prosecution of its business a freight or gondola car, the number of which plaintiff cannot give. ThaJ the iron stirrup placed upon said car and used for getting.on said car was on said day, and for a long time prior thereto had been, as said defendant knew or ought to have known, wholly unfit for use, and in a dangerous condition. That it was loose from its fastenings to such an extent that on pressure it movedflback and forth under the car when any one attempted to use it for the purpose of getting thereon. That the tracks of said railroad to said mine at [611]*611the point where plaintiff was injured was then, and for a long time had been, as iefendant well knew or ought to have known, wholly unfit for use, and in a dangerous condition. That the rails and ties, and the fastenings of the rails were Did and worn out, and the ballast between and under the ties insufficient to keep them in place, and the rails at the joints were not perfectly fastened, so that the rails sunk down ; when a car was passing it would strike the end of the next rail and severely jar it. That plaintiff in the discharge of his duty ittempted to get on this car, and set his right foot in the stirrup and caught hold of the hand-hold on the car, and thereby raised himself from the ground, when the stirrup moved backwards under the car, and brought his leg against the car, and prevented his foot from fully entering the stirrup, and just at that moment, and while plaintiff was in that position, the wheels of the car came to a joint in said track, and in passing over the same so badly jarred and jolted the car and stirrup and plaintiff, that his foot slipped out of such defective stirrup, and he was thereby thrown violently to the ground and in front of the wheels, which ran over his left leg, and so badly injured it that amputation was necessary; that plaintiff received his injuries as the direct result of the gross carelessness and negligence oí the defendant, and without any negligence or want or care on his part.

The defendant, by its answer, admits its corporate existence and the operation of the line of railroad extending between the points designated in said petition. It admits that on or about the 7th day of May, 1890, the plaintiff received an injury while in its service as a freight brakeman, but it denies each and every other allegation of the petition, and says that the injury sustained by the plaintiff as aforesaid; was caused solely by reason of his own negligence while in the service of the defendant as aforesaid.

For reply, the plaintiff denies that the injury sustained by him was caused by his own negligence while in the service of the defendant.

Upon these issues a trial was had, and on the first day of July, 1892, a verdict returned for the plaintiff. The defendant filed a petition in error in this court, and while the cause was pending in error, the plaintiff below, to conform his pleading to the decision in the case of Coal and Car Co. v. Norman, 49 Ohio St., 598, decided by the supreme court after the trial of this case, on the 22d day of March, 1898, filed in the court of common pleas, by leave thereof, an amendment to his petition as follows:

“Now comes the plaintiff, and by leave of the court, after judgment, and files his amendment to his original petition, and says, that at the time he was injured he did not know, nor did he know at any time prior thereto, nor did he then or at any time prior thereto have any means of knowing, that said stirrup and said track, at the point of said accident, was in a dangerous and defective condition, as alleged in his original petition.”

Upon suggestion of diminution in this court, the court of common pleas sent up and certified as a part of the record, said amendment filed March 22,1898, and upon a hearing, upon the record as amended, this court reversed the judgment and remanded the cause to 'the court of common pleas. On the 14th day of August, 1894, plaintiff, by leave of the court of common pleas, filed in said court a second amendment to his petition, in which he says, in substance, that on the 7th day of May, 1890, and for a long time prior thereto, said defendant had maintained in connection with the operation of said railroad, and other railroads of which it was then in possession, a large railroad yard at Lawrence Junction, in the county of Lawrence, and state of Pennsylvania, and then had a large number of men in its employ in said yard, and had therein a yardmaster, who had full charge of, and control over all said men and all its employees who had occasion to be in said yard in the discharge of their duties,, under their contracts of employment with said defendant, and who had lawful power and authority, at will, to hire and discharge all employees of defendant who worked in said yard, and some employees who worked elsewhere on said railroads ; that under the rules of said [612]*612defendant, it was the duty of said yardmaster to make up, or cause to be mad up, all trains to be sent out over defendant’s 'said railroads, with power an authority to select from the employees of defendant, the men who were to operat them, and to see that cars are inspected, and those needing repairs sent to thi shop. That on the 7th day of May, 1890, said yardmaster made up, or caused t< be made up, a train of fifteen freight or gondola cars, and placed therein said ca with the defective stirrup, and ordered the crew, of which plaintiff was a brake man, to place them at said coal mine; that at the time said yardmaster-placet said car in the train and gave orders and directions to plaintiff and said crew, hi knew, or ought to have known, that the stirrup was defective and dangerous; am says that said yardmaster failed to inspect or have said car inspected.

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Bluebook (online)
6 Ohio Cir. Dec. 610, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mccann-v-pennsylvania-co-ohcirctmahoning-1895.