St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Co. v. Ingram

187 S.W. 452, 124 Ark. 298, 1916 Ark. LEXIS 43
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedMay 22, 1916
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 187 S.W. 452 (St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Co. v. Ingram) 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
St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Co. v. Ingram, 187 S.W. 452, 124 Ark. 298, 1916 Ark. LEXIS 43 (Ark. 1916).

Opinion

Smith, J.

This is the second appeal of this case. The opinion upon the former appeal will be found in 118 Ark. 377, and the facts as there stated are substantially the same as those developed at the trial from which this appeal is prosecuted, except in the respects to which attention will be called. At the trial from which the first appeal was prosecuted, appellee predicated his right of recovery on the Act of the General Assembly of this .State approved March 8, 1911 (Acts 1911, p. 55), but on the remand of the cause appellant amended its answer and alleged that, at the time of his injury, appellee was employed in interstate commerce and that his right of recovery, therefore, depended upon the Federal Employers’ Liability Act of April 22, 1908, and not upon the State statute .under which the first trial was had. Appellee conceded that this was correct, and all the instructions given were drawn to conform to the Federal statute.

The difference between the two statutes, so far as it is material here to consider the difference, is that, under section 2 of our statute, the railroad company is deemed to have knowledge of the defect in its appliances, and proof of the existence of the defect is prima facie evidence of negligence; while, under the Federal statute, the common law rule in this respect has not been changed.

(1) Under the State statute the servant need only to prove that he was injured by reason of a defective appliance to make a prima facie case; while, under the Federal statute, the presumption prevails, even after proot of the defect, that the railway company was not aware of its existence, and until it is shown that the railway company knew, or, in the exercise of ordinary care, should have known, of the defect, it is not charged with that knowledge.

At the trial from which the first appeal was prosecuted it was shown-that appellee was injured by reason of the fact that a skid broke and threw a piece of piling on him. There was expert evidence showing that a sound skid should have safely supported a weight several times greater than that of the piling which caused the skid to break. Thereupon the court directed the jury to find for the plaintiff upon the question of negligence, and submitted to the jury the question only of the assessment of damages., We held that this was error, as, under the evidence, the jury should have been permitted to pass upon the question of the primary negligence of the company. Attention was called to the evidence of the foreman of the gang, of which appellee was a member, wherein he stated that “he observed the guard rails after they were taken from the bridges and that there were no defects in them.” At the trial from which this appeal is prosecuted the foreman was not so definite on the subject of the inspection of the timbers from which the skids were made. Indeed, appellant undertook to impeach, him by proof of contradictory statements on this subject contained in his evidence on the former trial. At this last trial he was asked, “How close did you ever get to the skids that were being used?” and he answered, “I suppose I passed them in my work laying on the ground.” He was asked the following questions and gave the answers set out: “At that time did you give them any particular inspection?” A. “No, sir.” “You just saw them like passing by this courthouse, and see them?” A. “Yes, sir.” “Did you ever make inspection of the skid that broke with a view to see if it was defective?” A. “No, sir.”

It appears, therefore, that the jury was warranted in finding that no inspection was, in fact, made.

Appellant insists, however, that the evidence is not sufficient to warrant the finding that reasonable care required that an inspection be made; and it also insists that an inspection such as would have been required by the exercise of ordinary care only would not have revealed any defect in the skid. In other words, if a defect existed the exercise of ordinary care in inspecting the skid would not have disclosed its existence.

As at the former trial, so in this, the.proof showed that a skid the size of the one in nse when appellee was injured should have safely supported several times the weight of the piling which caused it to break. The expert witness stated it should have sustained ten times the weight of the piling. The conclusion, therefore, is warranted that the skid was, in fact, defective.

It will be borne in mind that appellee was not employed at the skid which broke and he was not, therefore, afforded an opportunity to make an inspection of it.'

(2) Appellant insists that this case is controlled by the principle announced in the case of St. Louis, I. M. & S. Ry. Co. v. Andrews, 79 Ark. 437, in that an inspection which ordinary care only would have suggested, would not have revealed the defect in the skid.

The Andrews case contains a very clear declaration of the law on this subject. The master is required to make aii inspection only when ordinary care suggests the necessity for it. And the inspection made must be such as ordinary care suggests' as being necessary under the circumstances of the case.

(3) Was the jury warranted, under the evidence in this case, in finding that such a duty rested upon appellant and that there was a negligent failure to discharge it ? As has been shown, the jury was warranted in finding that an inspection was not made, and no attempt is made to show that appellee was guilty of contributory negligence. The timbers were old and had been long in use on a bridge and thereby exposed to the action and effect of the weather. They had been so exposed for a sufficient length of time to suggest the necessity that they be replaced with newer timbers. They had been “dapped” or notched so as to fit down over the ties about two inches. Before they had been “dapped” they were 6x8 timbers. When they were removed these notches were trimmed down so that the timber became 4x8. The interval between the time they were “dapped” and after-wards trimmed down represents the time they were used as guard rails on the bridge, and the. length of this time is not shown further than that it had become necessary to replace them. These guard rails were trimmed down to be used as stakes to put on the sides of flat cars as uprights to hold lumber or logs on the flat cars when wired at the top, and -might have been safe when used for this purpose without also being safe for skids. At least the jury might have so found. This skid was not produced at the trial, and the nature of the defect can only be conjectured. Yet that it was defective is reasonably certain, or it would have safely held up the weight which caused it to break. Although similar skids have been safely used for loading this" piling it is not shown that this defective skid had been so used. Notwithstanding the timber had been dressed down to be used as a guard stake, the foreman directed its use as a skid and did this without causing any inspection to be made to ascertain whether its previous use and exposure had rendered it unfit for that purpose. We think this evidence presents the question whether the master discharged his duty in failing to make an inspection.

(4) It is insisted that error was committed by the court in holding competent to serve as a juror one J. T. Craft, who was a member of the regular panel of the petit jury. It was shown that Mr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
187 S.W. 452, 124 Ark. 298, 1916 Ark. LEXIS 43, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/st-louis-iron-mountain-southern-railway-co-v-ingram-ark-1916.