McGilvra v. Minneapolis, St. Paul, & Sault Ste. Marie Railway Co.

159 N.W. 854, 35 N.D. 275, 1916 N.D. LEXIS 153
CourtNorth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 24, 1916
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 159 N.W. 854 (McGilvra v. Minneapolis, St. Paul, & Sault Ste. Marie Railway Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering North Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McGilvra v. Minneapolis, St. Paul, & Sault Ste. Marie Railway Co., 159 N.W. 854, 35 N.D. 275, 1916 N.D. LEXIS 153 (N.D. 1916).

Opinion

Bruce, J.

This is an action to recover damages for the destruction of hay and injury to real estate by reason of a fire claimed to have been set by the defendant’s engine at a point about 3 miles southeast of the town of Wishek, in McIntosh county. A judgment for $750.08 was entered for the plaintiff, and against the defendant, and the defendant appeals. This opinion is written after a rehearing.

■Appellant first contends there was no evidence to go to the jury on the question as to whether the defendant caused the fire. All of the evidence that there is upon the subject is that a passenger upon a train of the defendant company saw a fire start up at some distance from the railroad trade ,as the train passed. He said that he did not know whether the fire started from the right of way or Uot. He, however, said that he saw nobody around the place, that the fire was on the east side of the track, and that he thought the wind was from the west.

In addition to this was the testimony of the plaintiff, that he had followed the trial of the fire to a point near defendant’s right of way, but that he could not tell just where it started, as it appeared to have burned in all directions. There is other testimony that the wind was from the northwest and that the track was to the west of the place of the fire.

Meager though this evidence is, we think it was sufficient. Many a man indeed has been hung on circumstantial evidence which was much weaker,than that which is before us. The fire started near the railroad [280]*280track and on the open prairie. No human beings seem to have been in the neighborhood except the occupants of the train. There is no proof that there was any fire communicating agency in the neighborhood but the engine. The grass was dry and the wind was blowing towards it from the track. The fire seems to have started up almost immediately after the engine had passed the spot. There is no evidence that it was seen before the engine had passed. A prima facie case as to the origin of the fire was certainly made by the plaintiff, and this case was in no way rebutted or disproved. Babcock v. Canadian Northern R. Co. 117 Minn. 434, 136 N. W. 275, Ann. Cas. 1913D, 924.

We are not unmindful of the case of Smith v. Northern P. R. Co. 3 N. D. 17, 53 N. W. 173, on which counsel for the defendant lays much stress in his brief and argument. That case, however, is not in point. It was handed down prior to the enactment of § 4654, Compiled Laws of 1913, which makes railway companies liable for the fires which are started by their engines, irrespective of the question of negligence. It was, therefore, necessary in that case to prove negligence in the operation of the engine or in its equipment. All that the court held was that the mere fact that a fire started 118 feet from the engine was not itself sufficient proof of such negligence, or of the lack of a proper equipment. It was admitted that the fire was started by the engine, and the question of its origin was not involved or discussed. Here the question before us Is a question of origin, and not of negligence.

The next point raised is that the plaintiff failed to offer any competent proof of his ownership of the east half of section 1, township 131, range 71, and thus to lay a foundation for the recovery of damages for the destruction of the hay upon said land. It is claimed that his evidence consists merely of a certain agreement which purported to have been signed by John T. Bressler, trustee, and by the plaintiff, and which declared that the said McGilvra had rented the land for the year 1914, and had agreed to pay $40 “for the use of the above land for hay and pasture purposes for the season of 1914, and thereafter for five years at the same rate, payable in advance, with the privilege to fence the land and remove the same in case the land is sold. This lease made subject to the sale of the land at any time, and may be canceled on date of the sale of the land, and the rental pro rated to that date.” It is argued that all the proof that there is of the making of this instrument is the [281]*281testimony of the witness Gannon, who testified that he was acquainted with the signature of John T. Bressler, and that the signature on the contract was his. It is argued that § 5569 of the Compiled Laws of 1913 provides that “proof of the execution of an instrument, when not acknowledged, may be made either (1) by the party executing it, or either of them; or, (2) by a subscribing witness; or, (3) by other witnesses mentioned in §§ 5019 and 5020,” — and that §§ 5019 and 5020, Revised Codes of 1905 (being §§ 5571 and 5572, Comp. Laws 1913), merely provide for proof of the execution by proof of the handwriting of the party and of a subscribing witness, and then only:

1. “When the parties and all the subscribing witnesses are dead; or,

2. When the parties and all the subscribing witnesses are nonresidents of the state; or,

3. When the place of their residence is unknown to the party desiring the proof, and cannot be ascertained by the exercise of due diligence; or,

4. When the subscribing witness conceals himself, or cannot be found by the officer by the exercise of due diligence in attempting to serve a subpoena or attachment; or,

5. In case of the continued failure or refusal of the witness to testify for the space of one hour after his appearance.”

None of these elements were present in the case which is before us, and the question is whether the statutes in question are applicable in the case at bar, and whether the mere identification of the signature of Bressler and by one not a subscribing witness, was sufficient.

It is clear to us that §§ 5569, 5571, and 5572 of the Compiled Laws of 1913, were merely intended to be applicable to proof before the registers of deeds when unacknowledged instruments are sought to be recorded, and that in other instances the general rules as to proof will apply.

The witness Gannon testified that he knew the signature of Bressler, and that it was his signature that was on the instrument. It is true that he did not testify that he saw Bressler write his name, or that the signature was genuine. The latter fact, however, was of course implied, and in addition to this there was evidence of acts of possession on the part of the plaintiff. A prima facie case, therefore, was certainly established. Jones, Ev. 2d ed. § 526; Pullen v. Hutchinson, 25 Me. [282]*282249; Mosher v. Farmers’ & M. Nat. Bank, 51 Neb. 55, 70 N. W. 540; Egan v. Murray, 80 Iowa, 180, 45 N. W. 563; Moody v. Rowell, 17 Pick. 490, 28 Am. Dec. 317.

Nor is there any merit in the contention that there is no proof of the authority of the trustee to execute the lease in question. The evidence shows that the title to the land was in John Bressler, trustee, that the lease was executed by John T. Bressler, trustee,- and that the plaintiff was occupying the land at the time of the fire.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
159 N.W. 854, 35 N.D. 275, 1916 N.D. LEXIS 153, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcgilvra-v-minneapolis-st-paul-sault-ste-marie-railway-co-nd-1916.