Saint Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Co. v. Cleere

88 S.W. 995, 76 Ark. 377, 1905 Ark. LEXIS 89
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedJuly 22, 1905
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 88 S.W. 995 (Saint Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Co. v. Cleere) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Saint Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Co. v. Cleere, 88 S.W. 995, 76 Ark. 377, 1905 Ark. LEXIS 89 (Ark. 1905).

Opinion

McCueeoch, J.,

(after stating the facts.) 1. The initial question presented for our consideration is, should the action have been abated on account of the remarriage of the administratrix? In passing upon that point we waive the question whether, conceding that the remarriage of • the administratrix ipso facto revoked her letters and left no administration pending, the widow and heir at law could properly be made parties plaintiff, and the cause be allowed to proceed in their names. This was done, and the cause proceeded in their names as well as in the name of the administratrix, though the final judgment was rendered in favor of the administratrix.

The statute provides that “every such action shall be brought by and in the name of the personal representative of such deceased person; and if there be no personal representative, then the same may be brought by the heirs at law of such deceased person.” Kirby’s Digest, § 6290.

But we uphold the ruling of the court upon a different ground from that of the right of the widow and heir to be substituted as parties plaintiff. The plaintiff derived her powers from letters of administration issued to her from the proper court exercising probate jurisdiction in the State of New York, where the decedent lived and claimed his citizenship at the time of his death, and where the plaintiff also resided.' A foreign executor or administrator is permitted by the statutes of this State to sue here. Kirby’s Dig. § 6003. Under the laws of that State, which must control us in determining the question, and of which we take judicial knowledge (Act April 11, 1901, Kirby’s Digest, § 7823), married women are legally capable of acting as administratrices, and, that being true, it necessarily follows that the marriage of an administratrix did not revoke her letters. The course of legislation in that State on the subject is reviewed in the case of Re Benj. Cur ser Estate, 89 N. Y. 401. See also Hamilton v. Levy, 41 S. C. 374; Moss v. Rowland, 3 Bush, 505; Kansas Pacific Railway Co. v. Cutter, 16 Kan. 568.

No error was committed in refusing to sustain the plea in abatement.

2. Numerous errors are assigned in the giving of instructions asked by plaintiff, and in refusing to give certain instructions, and modifying others asked by the defendant.

Nine separate instructions were given at the request of the plaintiff, and fifteen at the request of the defendant, some of which were modified. All of them need not be copied here, but only such as we deem it important to discuss.

Instruction number three given at plaintiff’s request is as follows:

“3. If you find from a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant railway backed one of its engines over a track between the coaches and the platform, without a guard or lookout, or, not having such a guard or lookout, without signal or warning which, under the circumstances, would reasonably attract the attention of a man of ordinary care and prudence who was rightfully engaged in passing between the coaches and the station platform, the railway was guilty of negligence, and you should so find.”

Error is alleged in that the word “guard” is used in the instruction, though the statute only requires a lookout to be kept; and that the instruction assumes the existence of the fact that plaintiff’s intestate was rightfully upon the track.

We do not think that the instruction is open to either of the objections named. The court was there telling the_ jury what would constitute negligence on the part of the railway company. It is true that the statute only requires that a lookout be kept, but the court in effect said that if either a guard or lookout was kept, or if, in the absence of such guard or lookout, such signals or warnings were given as would, under the circumstances, reasonably attract the attention of a man of ordinary care and prudence rightfully engaged in passing between the coaches and station, then the company was guilty of no negligence. An instruction on that subject which omitted the word “guard” would have been erroneous and prejudicial to appellant’s interest, as there was some testimony tending to show that a guard was maintained near by who warned persons about.the tracks, and, in the face of that testimony, it would have been improper to instruct the jury that the failure to keep a lookout was negligence. On the other hand, if the servants of the company kept neither a guard nor lookout, nor gave signals or warnings such as would reasonably attract the attention of a man of ordinary care and prudence rightfully engaged in passing between the station and the coaches then .open for the reception of passengers, then they were guilty of negligence, and the jury were properly so instructed.

This instruction must, of course, be considered in connection with the others, and particularly the following, given at the instance of the defendant:

“17. The court instructs the jury that defendant’s only duty in running said engine was to use ordinary care, with reference to speed of same, to keep a.lookout while passing through the station, and to give signals by ringing the bell; and if the proof shows that these things were done, then there was no negligence, and your verdict should be for defendant.”

The two, when read together, constitute a correct and complete exposition of the law on the question of negligence, as applicable to the facts of this case, and were quite as favorable to appellant as the facts warranted.

No higher degree of care was exacted of appellant’s servants by the instruction complained of than is done by the following language contained in the fourteenth instruction asked by appellant’s counsel, viz: “Although it is the duty of the railway company, by lookout, by bell signals, and by such other means as ordinary prudence may .dictate, to endeavor to protect him, it has the right to assume that he has knowledge of his surroundings, and knows that the. engines and trains may pass, and that he will use ordinary care to protect himself,” etc.

Nor does the instruction involve an assumption by the court of the fact that Tomlinson was rightfully upon the track. The question whether he was, at the time he was killed, crossing the tracks upon the invitation of the railway company was the chief point at issue in the case, and the proof and instructions were directed specifically to it. All the instructions must be considered together, and the question was plainly submitted to the jury for determination upon instructions given at the instance of each party, and the jury could not possibly have understood that the existence of that fact was assumed by the court. Brinkley Car Works & Mfg. Co. v. Cooper, 75 Ark. 325; Fort v. State, 52 Ark. 180.

The eighth instruction, given at the request of the defendant, is an example of the manner in which the question was submitted:

“One who, after having escorted a passenger to his coach, leaves the coach, and then returns without any necessity therefor, and for his own pleasure merely, is a licensee, and cannot be said to have returned upon an implied invitation of the carrier, and the carrier owes him no duty save to keep a lookout, and not to wantonly injure him.”

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

Related

Members Mutual Insurance Company v. Blissett
492 S.W.2d 429 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1973)
McFarland v. Illinois Central Railroad Co.
127 So. 2d 183 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1961)
Hightower v. Dr. Pepper Bottling Co. of Shreveport
117 So. 2d 642 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1960)
McCraw, Administratrix v. Simpson
187 S.W.2d 536 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1945)
Shields v. Utah Light & Traction Co.
105 P.2d 347 (Utah Supreme Court, 1940)
Lorberbaum v. Christopher
269 N.W. 646 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1936)
Missouri Pacific Railroad v. Bennings
53 S.W.2d 599 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1932)
The City of Rome
48 F.2d 333 (S.D. New York, 1930)
Southern Railway Co. v. Moore
155 S.E. 740 (Supreme Court of South Carolina, 1930)
Western Union Telegraph Co. v. Eckhardt
2 S.W.2d 505 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1927)
Western Union Telegraph Co. v. T. C. Davis Cotton Co.
280 S.W. 977 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1926)
Railways Ice Co. v. Howell
117 Ark. 198 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1915)
Ferguson & Wheeler Land, Lumber & Handle Co. v. Good
165 S.W. 628 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1914)
Missouri, K. & T. Ry. Co. v. West
1913 OK 510 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1913)
Ellis v. Terrell
158 S.W. 957 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1913)
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Co. v. Hamilton
123 S.W. 379 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1909)
McKinnon v. Johnson
57 Fla. 120 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1909)
St. Louis Southwestern Railway Co. v. Graham
102 S.W. 700 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1907)
Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad v. Doughty
91 S.W. 768 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1905)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
88 S.W. 995, 76 Ark. 377, 1905 Ark. LEXIS 89, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/saint-louis-iron-mountain-southern-railway-co-v-cleere-ark-1905.