Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad v. State ex rel. Bitzer

58 Md. 372, 1882 Md. LEXIS 37
CourtCourt of Appeals of Maryland
DecidedJuly 11, 1882
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 58 Md. 372 (Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad v. State ex rel. Bitzer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad v. State ex rel. Bitzer, 58 Md. 372, 1882 Md. LEXIS 37 (Md. 1882).

Opinion

Gjelason, J.,

delivered tlie opinion of the Court.

At the trial of this caso, in the Circuit Court for Carroll County, exceptions were taken by the appellant, to the granting of the three prayers of the appellee, as well as to the rejection of all its prayers, except the seventh, thirteenth, fourteenth and seventeenth, as also to the instruction given by the Court in lieu of the third, fourth, tenth, and eleventh. A motion in arrest of judgment was also filed, which was overruled, and we will dispose of that before considering the prayers.

The motion is based on twelve reasons, which are especially assigned in the motion filed.

The first and second reasons assigned are, that the appellee did not comply with the third section of Article 65 of the Code, under which the suit is brought, by delivering, with the declaration, to the defendant, or its attorney, a full particular of the persons for whom and in whose behalf the action was brought, and the nature of the claim in respect of which damages were sought to be recovered. The object of this section of the Code was to have the defendant furnished with information, which would enable it to plead to the declaration and make its defence to the suit. In the case of The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company vs. The State, use of Woodward, 41 M.d., 297, this Court has said that the particular, when furnished, is intended for the same purpose and has the same effect as a bill of particulars in other cases, and restricts the plaintiff’s proof and limits his recovery to the claim therein stated. The particular is to be given to the defendant for his own benefit, and, as the defendant in this case did not demand it, but filed its pleas without it, it may be considered as having waived its right to have it. But we do not think that this section is mandatory. The [398]*398right of action existed before the declaration was filed, and, in this case, the declaration, when filed, stated the names of the parties for whose use the suit was brought, and described them as the widow and children of Samuel Bitzer, deceased; stated particularly the injury to, and consequent death of, Samuel Bitzér, "and the nature and amount of their claim, and it is difficult to conceive what more particular statement could have been furnished to the defendant. The 65th Article of our Code seems to have been copied from Lord Campbell’s Act of 9 and 10 Victoria, ch. 93, and sec. 4 of that Act has been construed in the case of Murphy vs. Logan, 10 Irish Com. Law, 87. In that case no particular had . been furnished or delivered to the defendant, and that fact was pleaded in bar of the action. To this plea a demurrer was interposed and Perrin, Judge, in delivering the opinion of the Court, said, that the delivery of a particular to the defendant was “ a requirement merely in accordance with the rules and practice of the Court in which the action may be depending. But the right of action accrues prior to the issuing of the declaration, and exists altogether independently of the fact of the -declaration being issued or not. If the defendant require particulars, he should call upon the plaintiff to furnish them; or, in case of his refusal, apply to the Court to compel him to do so and the demurrer was sustained.”

The requirement to deliver a “particular,” as provided by sec. 3 of the Code, is merely directory, and in nowise affects the right of the plaintiff to maintain the suit. It is no part of the record; is not even required to be filed, but merely delivered to the defendant or its attorney. Motions in arrest are for matters apparent on the face of the record, and for this reason, as well as for those before stated, the first and second causes assigned, furnish no ground for sustaining the motion. The declaration alleges that Sarah Bitzer is the widow, and the other [399]*399equitable plaintiffs are the children of Samuel Bitzer, that his foot was caught in the imperfect track of the defendant through the wrongful act, default or neglect of the defendant, and not through his own default or negligence, that he was thereby thrown down and the car crushed beneath its wheel truck and body, the left leg and body of said Samuel Bitzer in a horrible manner, thereby causing his death, and the plaintiff claims ten thousand dollars. The declaration, therefore, contains sufficient averments in substance that Samuel Bitzer was rightfully on the defendant’s road in his lawful employment; that the latter’s road was imperfect through its negligence, and that said Bitzer though not negligent himself had his foot caught in the imperfect track of the defendant, and that in consequence thereof the cars which he had in charge, ran over him, and caused his death, 'for which the equitable plaintiffe claim ten thousand dollars damages for the loss sustained by them, in consequence of his, the said Samuel Bitzer’s death.

It was not necessary to allege that the defendant’s negligence was such that, if death had not ensued, Samuel Bitzer himself would have been entitled to recover for the injury done him. There was nothing therefore in any of the other reasons assigned, which furnished any ground for sustaining the motion in arrest, and it was therefore properly overruled.

The three prayers granted at the instance of the appellee, state the law with respect to negligence and the measure of damages, as it has often been heretofore announced by this Court, in cases arising under the 65th Article of the Code, and no valid objection can be urged against them, and there is evidence in the record to support them, and which was properly submitted to the jury, and they were rightly granted. There was no evidence of any such gross or glaring neglect on the part of Samuel Bitzer, as would justify the Court in saying that it amounted in law to contributory negligence. The evidence of negligence [400]*400on the part of the appellee as well as on the part of the appellant was conflicting, and it was properly left to the jury whose peculiar province it was to consider, and pass upon it. The appellant’s first prayer was, therefore, properly refused.

The appellant’s second prayer seeks an instruction that the appellee was not entitled to recover for the various reasons especially assigned therefor. All these reasons* except the fourth, have been disposed of in what we have said with respect to the reasons assigned in the motion in' arrest and the appellant’s first prayer. The fourth will he disposed of in connection with the appellant’s eighth* ninth, twelfth, fifteenth and sixteenth prayers. They are all based on the theory, that if the appellant’s track was out of repair and imperfect through its own neglect, and that in consequence of such imperfect condition of its track, Samuel Bitzer lost his life, that still the appellee was not entitled to recover, because the said Bitzer was a coemployé of the appellant’s employes. This theory is based upon the agreement, set out in the record, between the New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Company, the Camden and Amboy Railroad and Transportation Company, the Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad Company, parties of the first part, the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company, the appellant, of the second part, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company of the third part. • This agreement was entered into for the purpose of securing comfort, speed and safety in the through passenger travel between New York and Washington, and to secure harmony of action between said parties to accomplish that object.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

University of Maryland Medical System Corp. v. Muti
44 A.3d 380 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 2012)
Sun Cab Co. v. Walston
289 A.2d 804 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 1972)
Zink v. State Ex Rel. Renstrom
104 A. 264 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 1918)
Hull v. Philadelphia & Reading Railway Co.
104 A. 274 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 1918)
St. Louis & S. F. R. Co. v. Sanford
1915 OK 857 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1915)
Judson & Little v. Tucker
156 S.W. 225 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1913)
Chicago, R. I. & P. Ry. Co. v. McCulley
1911 OK 368 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1911)
Berry v. New York Central & Hudson River Railroad
88 N.E. 588 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1909)
Jennings v. Philadelphia, Baltimore, & Washington Railway Co.
29 App. D.C. 219 (District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 1907)
Lehigh Valley R. Co. v. Dupont
128 F. 840 (Second Circuit, 1904)
Vonderhorst Brewing Co. v. Amrhine
56 A. 833 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 1904)
Brady v. Chicago & G. W. Ry. Co.
114 F. 100 (Eighth Circuit, 1902)
Brennan v. Berlin Iron Bridge Co.
50 A. 1030 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1902)
Bosworth v. Rogers
82 F. 975 (Seventh Circuit, 1897)
Kastl v. Wabash Railroad
72 N.W. 28 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1897)
Hurlbut v. Wabash Railroad
31 S.W. 1051 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1895)
Northern Pac. R. v. Graft
69 F. 124 (Ninth Circuit, 1895)
Hughson v. Richmond & Danville Railroad
2 App. D.C. 98 (District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 1894)
Robertson v. Boston & Albany Railroad
35 N.E. 775 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1893)
Morgan v. Smith
35 N.E. 101 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1893)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
58 Md. 372, 1882 Md. LEXIS 37, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/philadelphia-wilmington-baltimore-railroad-v-state-ex-rel-bitzer-md-1882.