Schaff v. Daugherty

1925 OK 66, 239 P. 922, 112 Okla. 124, 1925 Okla. LEXIS 558
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedJanuary 27, 1925
Docket15280
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 1925 OK 66 (Schaff v. Daugherty) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Schaff v. Daugherty, 1925 OK 66, 239 P. 922, 112 Okla. 124, 1925 Okla. LEXIS 558 (Okla. 1925).

Opinion

THREADGILL, C.

The case unde|r consideration is an appeal from the judgment of the district court of Pawnee county in an action wherein the defendant in error, Ella Daugherty, as administratrix of the estatej of Emery Garfield Daugherty, deceased, was plaintiff, and defendant in error, Charles E, Schaff, as receiver of the properties of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Company, was defendant. The parties will be designated herein as they appeared in the trial court.

The undisputed facts in the ease are substantially as follows:

Oil May 21, 1922, defendant’s south-bound passenger train number 3, running on the main line of his railroad system from Parsons, Kan., through Oklahoma and into Texas. leit Parsons, Kan., abo-ut 8 o’clock p. m., and was a night train through Oklahoma. The train was in charge of Winfield Scott Hall, as conductor, and --Harshfield, as engineer, and plaintiff’s deceased as! firejman. It was a night of general rain from Kansas to Texas in the territory through which the railway extended. At some places the downpour of rain was greater than at others, but a general rain extended along the ■entire way. When the train reached Yinita, where it’ stopped about five minutes, the conductor and engineer received a message from the station in Muskogee to look out for danger, which! was as follows:

“C. E. No. 3
“Very hard rain -and wind between Pryor .and Vinita. Run very careful and look out for places liable to wash. CH 9:50 P. JBM.”

The train left Vinita about 10 o’clock, and at a point about four miles from Vinita, and about 1,000 feet south of White Oak creek it was wrecked. The track was washed out or gave way and the ejngine was derailed and turned over, killing the engineer and fireman. A heavy cloud of wind and rain had passed over that neighborhood before the train reached it and it was raining bard at the time of the wreck; water was all aroun dthe track; the roadbed at this place was lower than at other points in that vicinity, and it was ballasted with chat at the place of the accident instead of crushed rock. There is some conflict in the evidence as to the speed of the train at the time of the wirejck. Tibie conductor thought it was running about 15 miles per hour, but other witnesses estimated its speed at from 25 to 40 miles an hour.

The rules of the railroad, governing the operation of trains during rains and storms, in force at th^ time, were as follows:

“Rule 413. All trains will run slow during and immediately after heavy storms, keeping a close lookout for all places that are liable to wash out Or slide.”
“Rule 414. In cases of severe storms or violent wind, whether by day or night, section foremen are required to make thorough examination of their sections and see that all is safe. Bridge foremen will also be on hand, ascertain as far as! possible the! condition Of bridges and trestles, and report to the proper officers.”
“Rule. 105. Both conductors and engine-men are responsible for the safety of their trains, and under conditions not provided for by the ¡rules, must take every precaution for their protection.”

Another rule in force as to thej duty of the track or section foreman was as follows:

“Immediately after heavy rains, wind, or snow storms, if of short duration, or during such storms if they continue for a considerable period, foremen must go over their sections! wlbtether day or night, and personally know that all is safe!. They must take with them proper danger signals and should they find an unsafe place leave a flagman to protect in the direction opposite to that which they are going and personally protect in the opposite direction as they proceed, continuing toi the end of their sections, when, if everything is safe will return to point of trouble, and make speedy repairs, properly protecting by flag in botlhl directions and report to superintendent and roadmaster by wire quickly as possible, giving full particulars, stating whether or not track is impassable, the limit of speed necessary for trains to run and what is required to make permanent repairs.”

The section foremen on the section where the accident took place and on the adjoining sections testified that they went to bed early *126 in the evening, and did net know about the heavy rains, and did not go over their sections in compliance with this rule. The train was an interstate train, and the action is governed by the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (U. S. Comp. Stat., sees. 8657-8665).

The deceased at the time of his death was 41 years of age, and had an expectancy of 27.45 years. He left surviving his widow, who was about 40 years of age, and 4 children, two boys and two girls, ages 17, 18, 11, and 7, respectively at the time of the trial in September 1923. The deceased was a strong able-bodied man. weighing about 194 pounds; had be^n in the employ of the railroad company many years, and was a fireman, drawing a salary from $165 to $200 per month, and his wife and children were wholly dependent upon him for support, and all his earnings were used in their support, with the exception of $35 or $40 per month for his personal expenses. The plaintiff pleaded facts of negligence on the part of the defendant, and asked for $50,000 damages. Th«j defendant pleaded assumption of risk and contributory) negligence.

1. The case was tried to a jury September 27, 1923, but before the jury was sworn, defendant interposed a motion to quash the jury panel called into the box to try the cause and the entire array for the reasons: (1) Said panel and no! part of same was selected, certified, drawn, summoned, or impaneled according to the provisions of the statutes; (2) the court has m> jurisdiction to summon a special jury panel or tales-men until after the petit jury has been legally drawn and summoned, and same is not sufficient.

It appears from the record that the jury commission met on July 3, 1923, and made up a list of 200 jurors to serve on petit jury of district court for the year,. and delivered the same to the court clerk, who recorded the same. The list was headed “District Court Jury List” and same was signed by two of the commissioners, but was not certified. The list was not certified till after thej trial and during the hearing of the motion for new trial and at that time the certificate was made by one of the jury commissioners. There seems to be no complaint as to the form of this certificate, but it is objected to on the ground that it was too late to cure the failure ta cejrtify the list at the time it was made and before it was delivered to the clerk.

Section 3516, Comp. Stat. 1921, provides that the board of jury commissioners shall make two separate certified lists of petit jurors, one for the district court and one for the county court, the one to' be delivered to the clerk of the district court, and the other to be delivered to the county judge or clerk of the county court. This law was enacted by thej Legislature of 1908, at tJhie time the records of the district court and county court were under two different managements, and there could be no misunderstandings as to which list was for the district court and which for the county court.

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Bluebook (online)
1925 OK 66, 239 P. 922, 112 Okla. 124, 1925 Okla. LEXIS 558, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schaff-v-daugherty-okla-1925.