Southern Kansas Ry. Co. of Texas v. Graham

155 S.W. 653, 1913 Tex. App. LEXIS 858
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided March 22, 1913·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

HUPP, C. J.

The appellee, W. C. Graham, brought suit in the justice court against the appellant, the Southern Kansas Railway Company, for damages occasioned by killing a mule of the alleged value of $175. Judgment was rendered in favor of appellee in that court, from which appellant appealed to1 the county court of Roberts county, in which court appellee obtained judgment for' $150 against appellant, and from which judgment the case is brought to this court. The grounds of negligence alleged are that appellant was running its engine at a dangerous rate of speed, and failed to sound the whistle or ring the bell, and that the engine and cars of appellant were run against the mule and killed it. The appellant pleaded general denial and that the accident occurred in the yard and switch limits and in the depot grounds of appellant in the town of Miami; and also that appel-lee contributed to the injury by negligence in permitting the animal to run at large. The facts are sufficient to support the trial court’s conclusion that the mule was lulled by an engine of appellant, and also perhaps that it was the engine pulling the train that passed through Miami at 3 o’clock a. m., August 12, 1912. The mule was killed in the yard limits of appellant at Miami about 100 yards in a northeasterly direction from the depot, and at a pointy where appellant was not required by law to fence its right of way. It was therefore necessary for appellee to show, by pleading and testimony, that appellant was guilty of negligence which was the proximate cause of the injury. We have concluded the trial court was in error in finding that appellee had shown such negligence on the part of appellant. The appel-lee hobbled his mule out about 250 yards from the railway track on the night it was killed, and some time during the night it presumably strayed on the track. No one saw the accident.

[1] The court found, and the testimony is sufficient to support the finding, that the train was running at a rate of speed exceeding 18 miles per hour. Pour mules were at the camp of other campers in the town of Miami some time about 1 o’clock the night the mule was killed. The particular mule in question was not identified as one of them, but one of the four was recognized as a mule belonging to appellee. The engineer in charge of the engine pulling the train testified that, if he struck the mule, he did not know it. The testimony shows that he whistled for the station, and also for the signal board, and that he received the signal to go on through. The testimony is conflicting *654 as to whether or not the bell was ringing as it passed through the town of Miami. How or when the mule got on the track is not shown. If it was standing on the track where it could be seen, the facts do not show it. In so' far as the evidence shows, it is just as reasonable to infer that the mule got on the track in front of the moving train from a point concealed from those operating the engine as to infer it was seen in time to have prevented injury to it, or to frighten it off by sounding the whistle or by ringing the bell. If appellant was negligent in the rate of speed or in failing to sound the whistle or ring the bell, there are no facts showing that such negligence was the proximate cause of the injury. It might be surmised that the injury occurred in some particular way; but, in order to show actionable negligence, there must be proven some fact from which it could be reasonably inferred. There is no fact which shows that appellant was then negligent in the rate of speed or why the whistle should have been sounded or the bell rung. If there was any fact showing the mule was seen or could have been seen on the track in time to have cheeked the train at a less rate of speed than it was then going, and thereby have prevented the injury, or that the mule could have been driven off by the whistle or bell, it was not proven. We do not think the court was warranted in assuming such fact from the testimony upon the trial. In the case of Railway Co. v. Anson, 101 Tex. 198, 105 S. W. 989, the Supreme Court said: “How -can it be said that it was caused by negligence of the defendant, when the circumstances under which the injury was inflicted are wholly unknown? It may be conjectured that the ponies were on the track and that, if the engineer had kept a lookout, he would have discovered them in time to have avoided the injury, or it may be surmised that they were not on the track, but near it, and being startled by the approach of the train endeavored to pass in front of and so near to it that it was impossible to have stopped the train in time to have avoided the injury. The evidence leads to no definite -conclusion upon the point. It is not negligence under all circumstances to run a train at a high rate of speed.” Railway Co. v. Baker, 99 Tex. 452, 90 S. W. 869; Railway Co. v. Carr, 91 S. W. 858; Mahler v. Railway Co., 90 S. W. 206; Railway Co. v. McMillan, 37 Tex. Civ. App. 483, 84 S. W. 296; Railway Co. v. Johnson, 14 Tex. Civ. App. 566, 37 S. W. 973.

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

Southern Kansas Ry. Co. of Texas v. Graham, 155 S.W. 653, 1913 Tex. App. LEXIS 858 (Tex. Ct. App. 1913).

155 S.W. 653 (Southern Kansas Ry. Co. of Texas v. Graham) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

San Antonio & A. P. Ry. Co. v. Bruihl
240 S.W. 663 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1922)
Gulf, C. & S. F. Ry. Co. v. Cooper
219 S.W. 496 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1920)
St. Louis, B. & M. Ry. Co. v. Knowles
180 S.W. 1146 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1915)
International & G. N. Ry. Co. v. Leuschner
166 S.W. 416 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1914)
International & G. N. Ry. Co. v. Bandy
163 S.W. 341 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1914)
Chicago, R. I. & G. Ry. Co. v. O'Dell
160 S.W. 1098 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1913)