Ross v. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Co.

149 Ill. App. 286, 1909 Ill. App. LEXIS 450
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJune 10, 1909
DocketGen. No. 5,101
StatusPublished

This text of 149 Ill. App. 286 (Ross v. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ross v. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Co., 149 Ill. App. 286, 1909 Ill. App. LEXIS 450 (Ill. Ct. App. 1909).

Opinions

Mr. Justice Willis

delivered the opinion of the court.

Appellee sued appellant to recover damages sustained by the death of George H. Boss, deceased, by the next of kin, being the parents, brother and sister.

The death of the deceased is alleged to have been caused by the negligence of the appellant on March 13, 1905. This case was before this court at a former term by an appeal, prosecuted by the present appellant, from a judgment in favor of appellee for $6,000 and the opinion rendered on that appeal reversing the judgment because of error in instructions and remanding the case for a new trial may be found in 136 111. App. 518. On the second trial a verdict was returned and judgment rendered in favor of appellee for $7,500. From that judgment this appeal is prosecuted.

No change has been made in the pleadings since the former appeal, and the facts disclosed by the evidence are substantially the same as appear in the statement of facts on the former appeal.

The deceased was an employe of appellant in its switch yards at Bock Island. The negligence alleged in the declaration in brief is that it failed and neglected to have a reasonably safe and sufficient headlight on a locomotive switch engine, by reason of which negligence the deceased, while in the exercise of due care in the performance of his duties, was by a collision thrown from a car and killed. Demurrers to the original declaration and to an additional count were overruled, after which appellant filed pleas and the issues were joined.

It is contended by counsel for appellant in their argument that the court erred in not sustaining the demurrer to the counts of the declaration. There was no motion in arrest of judgment in the trial court, and there is no assignment of error filed in this court having any reference to the pleadings or to any action of the trial court thereon, therefore the questions argued in that respect are not before us for review.

It is also insisted that the verdict cannot be sustained under the evidence. The evidence shows that the deceased was a switchman in the employ of appellant. He is described as the foreman of a switching crew composed of the foreman, an engineer, a fireman and a switchman. The yard in which the crew worked is a double yard composed of two yards lying adjoining and parallel with each other. They cover a strip of ground extending east and west about 1,400 feet along the river front in Bock Island and between 200 and 300 feet north and south. The main track of appellant’s railroad runs east and west through the center of these grounds. On each side of the main track is a lead or ladder track. From the south lead track, switch tracks branch off at intervals to the south and west; the west ends of these switch tracks do not connect with any track but end in bumping posts. The south switch yard is known as the Twenty-fourth street yard. The switch yard north of the main track is known as the Twentieth street yard, and the switch tracks in this yard connect with the lead track at both ends. George Boss with his switching crew worked in the Twentieth street yard with engine No. 156, sometimes described as the Twentieth street engine. Charles Boss, a brother of George Boss, was foreman of a crew that worked in the Twenty-fourth street yard with engine No. 106, sometimes described as the Twenty-fourth street engine. These engines, while their work was mainly confined to their respective yards, yet occasionally had to cross over and do some work in the other yard. It was the duty of the foreman to hunt up the cars that were required to be moved, from the many cars that stood on the various switch tracks, and to indicate to the switching crews what cars were to be moved and where they were to be moved to, for loading or unloading or in making up trains. Knight was the switchman with the crew of which George Boss was the foreman. It was Knight’s duty to follow the engine, throw switches, couple and uncouple cars; and at times George Boss did some work similar to that done by Knight. On the night of the injury and on the preceding night the evidence shows that George Boss was working around the yard checking up cars to such an extent that he was not near engine 156, except on two occasions. On the night preceding that of the injury the crew of engine 156, except George Boss, went to the roundhouse, a mile east of the switch yard, for their engine. While near the roundhouse the front or east headlight of that engine burned out and broke the glass in front of the headlight so that the lamp in it would not burn. The foreman of the roundhouse directed that a switchman’s lantern showing a white light should be hung beneath the place for the headlight. There was a proper headlight on the rear or west end of the engine, so that when it backed west toward the Twentieth street depot, the yard where George Boss was, it showed a headlight as it approached him. When the engine and crew reached Boss, while the engine was standing under an electric street light and the engine was still east of Boss, he asked why they were so late and was told the headlight had burned out. After Boss was told the headlight had burned out he went into the depot. The proof, however, fails to show either that George Boss was told or saw that the headlight had not been repaired, or that he actually knew or saw that the engine was being run with a common lantern instead of a regular headlight at its east end, or that he was east of the engine that night, so that it does not appear that he must have seen it was working without the east headlight. The engine worked all that night with a common lantern in front in the place of a headlight on its east end. On March 13th this engine was again sent out with its crew, except the foreman, about 7 o’clock, without a front headlight but with a lantern hanging below the broken glass. On this night, Boss was waiting for the engine at the Twentieth street depot and when it came up he gave the crew some instructions; the engine then backed west and Boss crossed the tracks six to ten feet east of it under the street electric light, followed it west a short distance, and then disappeared amongst the cars on the tracks, attending to his duties. This is the only time Boss is shown to have been east of the engine while the headlight was out. On the night of the injury, engine 106 had been in appellant’s Natick yards several miles east of Bock Island and did not return to the Bock Island yards until just before Boss was injured. The crew of engine 106 knew nothing about the headlight being out on engine 156. About 10:30 on the night of the 13th engine 106 came from the Natick yards pushing a string of cars to the Bock Island yards. The train was stopped and the switchman of the crew looked down into the yard west of the viaduct for the headlight of engine 156, the course of business being such that engine 156 went often into the west end of the yard for work customarily done there about that time. The switchman not seeing the headlight of engine 156, a string of cars was cut loose and kicked down the lead track with one man on it to set the brakes. Engine 156 was in the Twenty-fourth street yard on what is called the Peoria house track, with the switch from that track to the lead track open, showing a green light, the engine having gone on the Peoria house track to get a car for train No. 398, that was being made up for Peoria. George Boss had thrown the switch for engine 156 to back its train of cars west on the Peoria house track, and then had gone west. This appears to have been the only time engine 156 was in the Twenty-fourth street yard that night.

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Bluebook (online)
149 Ill. App. 286, 1909 Ill. App. LEXIS 450, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ross-v-chicago-rock-island-pacific-railway-co-illappct-1909.