Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Co. v. Blachley

109 S.W. 995, 50 Tex. Civ. App. 141, 1908 Tex. App. LEXIS 540
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 4, 1908
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 109 S.W. 995 (Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Co. v. Blachley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Co. v. Blachley, 109 S.W. 995, 50 Tex. Civ. App. 141, 1908 Tex. App. LEXIS 540 (Tex. Ct. App. 1908).

Opinion

BOOKHOUT, Associate Justice.

Appellee, on the 34th day of October, 1906, instituted suit against appellant in the District Court of Grayson County, Texas, to recover damages in the sum of $40,000, on account of personal injuries he claims to have received on the 18th day of May, 1906, at Durant, Indian Territory, while in the employ of appellant as a railway brakeman.

By his first amended original petition filed in said court on the 8th day of April, 1907, he alleged, in substance: That while in appellant’s employ as a brakeman on its local freight train on said date in the town of Durant, it became the duty of his crew to do some switching, that in the performance of his duty it became necessary for him to go upon one of the water ears for the purpose of setting a brake upon the same; that in attempting to set the brake on said car the braking apparatus broke and he was precipitated to the ground and injured. That said car was old, worn, out of repair and unsuitable for the purpose for which it was being used, in that the timbers were rotten, the brake chain, brake connections and braking apparatus were improperly constructed and the connections thereon were not suitable for the purpose for which they were being used, in that the chain was rusty, worn and the clevis which connected it to the brake lever was old, cracked and partially broken; that the brake chain was too short and was improperly connected with the brake lever, in that it was connected with a clevis which was improper for the purpose for which it was being used, because it was too small and the brake lever being larger than the opening in the clevis, it was forced into the brake lever, cracking the clevis; that the clevis was further out of repair, in that the bolt which went through the clevis did not have a nut on it; that either the nut had not been placed on there originally or else it had worked off and the bolt had become loose. That said brake, rod, chain, clevis and connections were improperly constructed and through the negligence of appellant had been permitted to get out of repair so as to render the same dangerous to be used for the purpose for which it had been constructed; that all of said defects were known to appellant, or, by the exercise of ordinary care on its part by making a proper inspection thereof, would have been known, but the same were wholly unknown to the appellee. That appellant was guilty of negligence in failing to make a proper inspection of the car, and in failing to repair the same, and was further guilty of negligence in having and leaving near its track at the point where appellee was injured, a pile of iron and rubbish of various kinds and material. That the appellee in falling from said car was thrown upon a pile of old iron of various and irregular shapes and was bruised and gashed in various parts of the body; that his left foot was'cut on *143 the rubbish and so injured as to subsequently render necessary the amputation of the same about eight inches below the knee, appellee suffered great physical and mental anguish and will continue to so suffer as long as he lives; that he was forty years old and strong and ablebodied and capable of earning and was earning eighty-five dollars per month and his time was reasonably worth that amount. That his earning capacity by reason of said injury has been impaired to the extent of seventy-five dollars per month; that he had been rendered incapable of following his chosen calling of a railroad man.

Appellant answered by general demurrer, special exceptions, general denial, and then by special answer alleged: That appellee’s injuries were proximately caused and contributed to by his own negligence and want of ordinary care and his fellow servants; that they resulted from one of the risks assumed by appellee. That of the said defects and causes producing the same the appellee had full notice, or by the exercise of ordinary care on his part would have had full notice and ample time to have avoided the same.

Said cause was tried before a jury on the 10th day of April, 1907, and resulted in a verdict and judgment in favor of appellee in the sum of $8,444. Defendant’s motion for new trial haying been overruled it perfected an appeal.

1. The injuries to appellee, for which he seeks to recover of appellant damages, were received, in the Indian Territory, and it is insisted by appellant that appellee’s right of recovery and appellant’s liability are governed by a proper construction of a law enacted by the Congress of The United States on the 22d day of- May, 1890, entitled “An Act to Provide a Temporary Government for the Territory of Oklahoma, to Enlarge the Jurisdiction of the United States Court in the Indian Territory and for Other Purposes.” Appellant filed a proper petition and bond for removal, asking a removal of the cause to the Circuit Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Texas. The application for removal was denied. It is here contended that the trial court erred in denying said application. This same question arose in the case of this appellant v. Hollan, decided by this Court" on February 1, 1908, and was decided against appellant. We adhere- to that ruling.

2. There was no error in the fourth paragraph of the court’s charge which instructs the jury as follows: “Plaintiff had the right to assume that the defendant had exercised ordinary care to furnish cars reasonably safe and properly equipped and supplied with appliances reasonably necessary and proper to enable him to perform the duties required of him with a reasonable degree of safety, and he was not required under the law while engaged in the capacity of brakeman to inspect the cars and appliances thereon while engaged in the discharge of his duties for the purpose of ascertaining their condition.” This charge announced a correct proposition of law and taken in connection with the entire charge, could not, as appellant contends, have misled the jury. Missouri, K. & T. Ry. Co. v. Blackman, 32 Texas Civ. App., 200; St. Louis & S. F. Ry. Co. v. McClain, 80 Texas, 97; Texas & Pac. Ry. Co. v. O’Feil, 78 Texas, 488.

In this connection the jury were instructed as follows: “When the *144 plaintiff entered the services of the defendant company as brakeman, he assumed all the risks and dangers ordinarily incident to such employment, but he did not assume any risks arising from the negligence of the defendant, if any there was, unless he knew, or in the ordinarj discharge of his duty, must necessarily have known of such negligence in time to have avoided injury thereby.”

3.

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Bluebook (online)
109 S.W. 995, 50 Tex. Civ. App. 141, 1908 Tex. App. LEXIS 540, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/missouri-kansas-texas-railway-co-v-blachley-texapp-1908.