Shafer v. Town of Madisonville

136 So. 774, 18 La. App. 146, 1931 La. App. LEXIS 582
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 7, 1931
DocketNo. 860
StatusPublished

This text of 136 So. 774 (Shafer v. Town of Madisonville) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shafer v. Town of Madisonville, 136 So. 774, 18 La. App. 146, 1931 La. App. LEXIS 582 (La. Ct. App. 1931).

Opinions

ELLIOTT, J.

Mrs. Elizabeth Shafer, wife of Sidney B. Boudreaux, member of an outing party from New Orleans, consisting of about 400 girls, accompanied by their mothers, went on a pleasure trip across Lake Pontchartrain. • The trip was made on May 27/ 1927.

The steamboat Susquehanna, owned and operated by Susquehanna, Inc., was used by the excursionists for the purpose of making the_ trip.

The party first visited Mandeville, then proceeded to Madisonville, where they dis[147]*147embarked and went ashore, that being part of the trip. For that purpose it was. necessary to land on the wharf, from which they proceeded to the streets of the town, and, after spending the allotted time in Madisonville, the party came back to the boat moored at the wharf for the purpose of returning to their homes in New Orleans.

In returning to the boat by way of the wharf the plaintiff received an injury on account of which she brought this suit against .the Susquehanna, Inc., and the town of Madisonville. She alleges on the subject: That on her return to and while on the wharf, and 'about ten or twelve feet from the boat, and in the direct route between .the gangplank and the shore, she stopped a moment to speak to a friend, when her left leg went through the wooden flooring of the wharf, which was so rotten that it broke under her weight, letting her leg go down through the broken wood to her knee, which caused her to fall on her right arm, resulting in severe contusion of .the elbow, shoulder, left knee, and ankle. That in the fall the skin was torn from her left leg on both sides of her ankle and knee, splinters of wood being driven into the flesh, causing hemorrhage within the tissues, which in all was very painful.

That the wharf was old and the wood so rotten that it gave way under her weight while she was standing still upon it.

That the Susquehanna, Inc., was the owner of the Susquehanna, and it was the duty of the steamer and its mister and owners to furnish a safe place for its passengers to leave and embark, etc.

That it was gross, carelessness and negligence on the part of the town of Madison-ville to operate for hire and permit to be used by the public a wharfi which was unsafe and dangerous on account of its rotten flooring. That her injury was due solely to the carelessness and negligence of the Susquehanna, Inc., and the town of Madisonville, .their agents, employees, and servants. She claims of them, in solido, $10,000 on account of her injuries.

The Susquehanna, Inc., after excepting that plaintiff’s petition sets forth no cause or right of action, answered, denying generally all the averments in her petition. It urged no special defenses, and prayed that 'plaintiff’s demand be rejected. The answer of the town of Madisonville is similar to that of the Susquehanna, Inc., except that it admits that the Susquehanna did land at the wharf in Madisonville referred to by plaintiff; that such landing was made' without the knowledge or consent of the town authorities, contrary to its wishes. It urges no special defenses, and prays that -plaintiff’s demand be rejected.

The suit was filed on February 20, 1928, but it was not tried until April 21, 1930, more than two years, later. The lower court for written reasons assigned rejected plaintiff’s demand against both defendants. The plaintiff has appealed.

The exception of no cause- or right of action urged by the Susquehanna, Inc., not having been „ruled on by the lower court, and not being urged in .the brief, is- not a question before us.

As for plaintiff’s charges of - negligence, carelessness, and fault on the part of the Susquehanna, Inc., the disembarkation was safely made at the town wharf, which was the property of the town of Madisonville. 'It was on her return to the boat after vis[148]*148iting in the town that plaintiff was injured. The Susquehanna, Inc., is not responsible for the condition of. the wharf or the pavilion referred to by the witnesses. Her demand against Susquehanna, Inc., was therefore properly rejected.

But a different situation appears as to the town.

The town of Madisonville was incorporated by special enactment of the Legislature, February 18, 1817. See Acts 1817, p. 106. Section 3 of ¿his act confers on the town very general authority on the subject £f police; but no reference is therein made to the subject of wharves.

The town was re-incorporated by Act No. 327 of 1852. Section 7 of this act provides that:

“They shall have jurisdiction over the public landings and wharves and alter and repair the same when necessary.”

It appears from a case, W. B. Cook, tax collector & Police Jury of St. Tammany v. Dendinger, 38 La. Ann. 261, that in 1883 the town, acting under the provisions of Act No. 110 of 1880, amended its charter exempting the town from the power of the police jury over woods, roads, and highways and the imposition of parish taxes and licenses, but the report of the case does not indicate any change made in the provisions of Act' No. 327 of 1852, sec. 7, concerning its jurisdiction over the public landings and wharves and th£ right to alter and repair the same when necessary.

There is nothing in the record which indicates that the town of Madisonville has ever seen proper to adopt for its. government Act No. 136 of 1898; section 40 of which provides that existing municipalities can only come under the provisions of this act as the result of an election.

We therefore assume, in the absence of any showing to the contrary, that the town is still governed by the provisions of Act No. 327 of 1852 and according to which the repair of the public landings, and wharves belonging to the town should be performed, by the town when necessary, and it follows that failure to repair when necessary renders the town liable in damages for injuries caused by its negligence.

The mayor, Mr. Oulliber,- testifies that the wharf in question belongs to the town. With reference to the pavilion in which the accident to the plaintiff happened, he says in answer to questions:

“Q. Who had a right to put a pavilion there?
“A. The town of Madisonville bought it from the Jahncke Service Co.” '

We take it that his answer means that the town owns the pavilion. The ownership of the pavilion by the town further appears by evidence introduced showing that before the accident to plaintiff .the town authorities had carpenters to repair the floor of the pavilion. It appears that they took various pieces of old flooring and put in new pieces, but the work was not finished, and the town authorities, owing to the unfinished repairing and dangerous condition of the pavilion floor, directed the carpenters to put up barricades around it so as to keep people and cattle out of it until the work could be finished. A proper inference from the testimony on this subject requires the conclusion that the town authorities knew that the floor of the pavilion was rotten and dangerous to be walked on. They started to have it repaired previous to the trip of the Susquehanna and the arrival of .the excursionists in question, but for some unexplained reason the work was temporarily discon[149]*149tinued and the carpenters were directed to barricade the pavilion in such way that people could not get into it, the purpose being of course to keep people from getting in there and getting hurt due to the condition of the floor.

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Related

Cristadoro v. Von Behren's Heirs
44 So. 852 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1907)
Cook v. Dendinger
38 La. Ann. 261 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1886)
Collins v. City of New Orleans
3 La. App. 299 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1925)

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Bluebook (online)
136 So. 774, 18 La. App. 146, 1931 La. App. LEXIS 582, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shafer-v-town-of-madisonville-lactapp-1931.