Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Co. v. Broderick

102 N.E. 887, 56 Ind. App. 58, 1913 Ind. App. LEXIS 3
Indiana Court of Appeals·Decided October 15, 1913·No. No. 7,986·Published·Cited by 12 cases

Opinion

Caldwell, J.

The record discloses that on May 9, 1907, appellee’s minor son, John Broderick, then thirteen years old, had his left leg crushed by one of appellant’s locomotives, or by a ear drawn by said locomotive, at or near the Ray street crossing in the city of Indianapolis. This action was commenced by appellee, the father of the boy, against [61] appellant, in the superior court of Marion County, to recover compensation for loss of services, etc., based, on the injury. The negligence charged against appellant, as disclosed by the complaint, was the violation of a certain ordinance of the city of Indianapolis, by running the locomotive within the city without ringing the bell attached thereto, and by operating the locomotive and train of cars within the limits of the city at a greater rate of speed than four miles per hour. The answer to the complaint was a general denial. There have been three trials of this cause in said court. At each of the first two trials, the jury disagreed. The third trial resulted in a verdict and judgment in favor of appellee, for the sum of $1,500, from which this appeal was taken. The error assigned is the overruling of the motion for a new trial. Under such assignment, appellant’s brief presents for consideration the following questions: (1) The sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the verdict; (2) the alleged error of the court in refusing to give appellant’s requested instructions Nos. 1 and 14, respectively, and (3) in giving of its own motion, instructions Nos. 12 and 14, respectively.

1. Appellee challenges the sufficiency of appellant’s brief as measured by the requirements of Rule 22 of this court. The rule has been interpreted both by this court and by the Supreme Court to mean that appellant’s brief should be prepared so that each of the judges of the court in which the cause is pending on appeal, may comprehend the questions presented, from an inspection of the brief, with recourse to the transcript only in case of disagreement between appellant and appellee as to what is therein contained. It is only in a secondary sense that the rule is promulgated for the convenience of the court. Primarily, its purpose is that public interests may be served, by the expedition and dispatch of the business before the court. Appellant’s brief, when measured by the rule strictly construed, while ably prepared, is technically insuf[62] ficient in several particulars, but it is evident that there has been a good faith effort to comply with the rule, and under such circumstances, this court, as disclosed by former decisions, is disposed to hold the brief sufficient.

The record discloses that at the time when plaintiff’s son received his injury, Ray street extended east and west through the city of Indianapolis, and that appellant’s lines of railroad extended in a north and south direction through the city, intersecting Ray street at grade and practically at right angles. A short block east of the intersection, there was the common intersection of Ray street and Delaware street extending north and south, and Madison avenue, coming into the intersection from the northwest. Bach-man’s mill, a two-story structure, fronted on Madison avenue, and extended westward along the north property line of Ray street to very near appellant’s tracks. Appellant’s railroad at Ray street crossing consisted of three tracks, of which the east track was a stub track, extending northward from a bumper on the north side of Ray street near the southwest corner of the mill. The middle track was appellant’s main line, and the west track was a running or passing track. The main track and the running or passing track both extended across Ray street, and thence to the south. Chestnut street extended north and south and intersected Ray street at the point of the intersection of the latter and the railroad track, but the evidence was not clear as to whether the tracks were within the limits of Chestnut street or immediately east of it. It was seven feet from the west rail of the east or stub track to the east rail of the main track, and twelve feet from the west rail of the main track to the east rail of the running track. The record does not disclose the exact distance between the east rail of the stub track and Bachman’s mill, but there was evidence that the space between the mill and a box ear which was standing on the south end of the stub track at that time, was about two feet. The main track was straight from Ray street [63] north to Madison avenne, a distance of about 600 feet, at which point it curved slightly to the west. The stub track ran parallel with the main track on the west, and with the west end of Bachman’s mill on the east, to Madison avenue, and there joined the main track. South street was about 4,400 feet north of Ray street, and the south street yard& were north of South street. There was evidence that the railroad approached the crossing from the north on a slightly rising grade. At the time of receiving his injury, appellee’s son was thirteen years of age, of at least average activity, strength and intelligence, and his senses of sight and hearing were good. The foregoing facts shown by the evidence were undisputed.

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Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Co. v. Broderick, 102 N.E. 887, 56 Ind. App. 58, 1913 Ind. App. LEXIS 3 (Ind. Ct. App. 1913).

102 N.E. 887 (Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Co. v. Broderick) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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