Northern Pac. Ry. Co. v. Maerkl

198 F. 1, 117 C.C.A. 237, 1912 U.S. App. LEXIS 1622
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedAugust 5, 1912
DocketNo. 2,053
StatusPublished
Cited by52 cases

This text of 198 F. 1 (Northern Pac. Ry. Co. v. Maerkl) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Northern Pac. Ry. Co. v. Maerkl, 198 F. 1, 117 C.C.A. 237, 1912 U.S. App. LEXIS 1622 (9th Cir. 1912).

Opinion

ROSS, Circuit Judge

(after stating the facts as above). [1] It was stipulated by the parties:

“That the ear under which George Maerkl, the deceased, was injured, at the time was a Northern Pacific refrigerator car; that the defendant is now, and at the time of the injury of the said George Maerkl was, the owner of a line of railway extending from the state of Wisconsin to the Pacific Ooast, and also certain branch lines in the state of Washington, and during said time was transacting an extensive interstate and intrastate business as a common carrier; that in its business as a common carrier refrigerator cars were extensively used indiscriminately in both interstate and intrastate transportation as occasion might arise; and that the car in question had been [4]*4-so used for a long time, and was at the time of the injury of said George ; Maerkl. Being repaired by the'defendant in its yards for use in interstate ahd intrastate commerce as occasion might arise.”

The case ’shows that Maerkl, with three other carpenters, was put ■to work on the car oh a certain Saturday, and that on that day they took down the transoms, needle beams, and ceiling; the deceased and' one of his ■ coworkers working at one end of the car and the other .two at the other end. The following Monday the deceased returned 'to work upon the car, and while he was underneath it, removing the 'packing from between the center sills, his coworker removed one of .the end sills, resulting .in the immediate falling of the center sills on Maerkl, inflicting injuries from which he shortly died; the evidence going to show that the flooring of the car had never been fastened to those sills.

.Two of the points urged on the part of the plaintiff in error are that ■the; car, at the time of Maerkl’s injury, was not used in interstate com-ifterce, and that, therefore, he was not employed in such commerce, and 'as a,further.consequence'that the act of Congress commonly known as the ‘‘Employer’s Liability Act” does not apply to the case.

. It appeared from the evidence that the place where the repairing was done was on the main line of the defendant company, between Tacoma, Wash., and Portland, Or., and was connected with it by switches over which the cars' needing repairs were run, and over which, after repairing, they were again put into the service of the company for use in interstate and intrastate commerce as occasion required; and the parties are agreed that’this particular car upon which the deceased was at work when injured had been for a long time indiscriminately used in interstate and intrastate commerce, and was to be again so used when repaired. That a car so used is one of the instruments of interstate commerce does not admit of doubt. Interstate Commerce Commission v. Illinois Central R. R. Co., 215 U. S. 452, 474, 30 Sup. Ct. 155, 54 L. Ed. 280. And in Southern Railway Co. v. United States, 222 U. S. 20, 26, 27, 32 Sup. Ct. 2, 56 L. Ed. 72, in holding that the Safety Appliance Act of March 2, 1893 (27 Stat. 531, c. 196 [U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 3174]), as amended March 2, 1903 (32 Stat. 943, c. 976 [U. S. Comp. St. Supp. 1911, p. 1314]), embraces all locomotives, cars, and similar vehicles used on any railway that is a highway of interstate commerce, and is not confined exclusively to vehicles engaged in such commerce, the court said:

“We come, then, to the question whether these acts are within the power of Congress under the commerce clause of the Constitution, considering that they are not confined to vehicles used in moving interstate traffic, but embrace vehicles used in moving intrastate traffic. The answer to this question depends upon another, which is: Is there a real or substantial relation or connection between what is required'by these acts in respect of vehicles used in moving intrastate traffic, and the object which the acts obviously are designed to attain, namely, the safety of interstate commerce and of those who are employed in its movement? Or, stating it another way: Is there such a close or direct relation or connection between the two classes of traffic, when moving over the same railroad, as to make it certain that the safety of the interstate traffic and of those who are employed in its movement will be promoted in a real or substantial seiise' by applying the re[5]*5quirements o£ these acts to vehicles used In moving the traffic which is intrastate as well as to those used in moving that which is interstate? If the answer to this question, as doubly stated, be in the affirmative, then ihe principal question must be answered in the same way. xVnd this is so, not because Congress possesses any power to regulate Intrastate commerce as such, hut because its power to regulate interstate commerce is plenary, and competently may be exerted to secure the safety of the persons and property transported therein and of those who are employed in such transportation, no matter what may be the source of the dangers which threaten it; that is to say, it is no objection to such an exertion of this power that the dangers to be avoided arise, in whole or in part, out of matters connected with intrastate commerce. Speaking only of railroads which are highways of both interstate and intrastate commerce, these things are of common knowledge: Both classes of traffic are at times carried in the same car, and when this is not the case the cars in which they are carried are frequently commingled in the same train and in the switching and other movements at terminals. Cars are seldom set apart for exclusive use in moving either class of traffic, but generally are used interchangeably in moving both; and the situation is much the same with trainmen, switchmen and like employes, for they usually, if not necessarily, have to do with both classes of traffic. Besides, the several trains on the same railroad are not independent in point of movement and safety, hut are interdependent, for whatever brings delay or disaster to one, or results in disabling one of its operatives, is calculated to impede the progress and imperil the safety of other trains. And so the absence of appropriate safety appliances from any part of any train is a menace, not only to that train, but to others.”

It is equally plain, we think, that those engaged in the repair of such a car are as much engaged in interstate commerce as the switch-man who turns the switch that passes the car from the repair shop to the main track to resume its place in the company’s system of traffic, or any of the operatives who thereafter handle it in such traffic. In Colasurdo v. Central Railroad of New Jersey, 180 Fed. 832, it was held by the Circuit Court, and affirmed by the Court of Appeals for the second Circuit (192 Fed. 901), that the Employer’s Liability Act of Congress of April 22, 1908 (35 Stat. 65, c. 149 [U. S. Comp. St. Supp. 1911, p. 1322]), applies to a repairer of a switch used for both interstate and intrastate commerce. We are of the opinion that it is also applicable to the case of the deceased, Maerkl.

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Bluebook (online)
198 F. 1, 117 C.C.A. 237, 1912 U.S. App. LEXIS 1622, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/northern-pac-ry-co-v-maerkl-ca9-1912.