Stuck v. K. & M. Railway Co.

89 S.E. 280, 78 W. Va. 490, 1916 W. Va. LEXIS 134
CourtWest Virginia Supreme Court
DecidedJune 1, 1916
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 89 S.E. 280 (Stuck v. K. & M. Railway Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering West Virginia Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stuck v. K. & M. Railway Co., 89 S.E. 280, 78 W. Va. 490, 1916 W. Va. LEXIS 134 (W. Va. 1916).

Opinion

Mason, Judge :

This is an action to recover damages from a railway company for personal injuries. The accident which caused the injuries occurred on the 28th day of March, 1908, in the city [491]*491of Charleston. There was a trial of the case in 1911, npon which the trial court, on motion of the defendant, excluded the evidence of the plaintiff and directed a verdict for the defendant, and entered judgment thereon, from which the plaintiff brought the case to this court on writ of error. The judgment of the circuit court was reversed and a new trial awarded. Stuck v. K. & M. Railway Co., 88 S. E. 105. Another trial was had in the circuit court, resulting in a verdict for the plaintiff- for $20,000.00, judgment entered, and again brought to this court on writ of error. The injuries sustained by the plaintiff were painful and permanent, and appeal to one’s sympathies. His right leg and left arm were cut off, his left leg mutilated, and his head injured. The railway company says it was guilty of no negligence causing this most unfortunate accident and should not be required to respond in damages for what it could not avoid, or for an accident to which it did not contribute. It is quite certain that the plaintiff was injured by defendant’s train, but who was in fault ?

The facts in brief are that plaintiff, who was then between nine and ten years old, had been playing marbles with .a number of other boys on Crescent Road, a public road near the K. & M. railroad track. Plaintiff and an elder brother had started to go to their home on Bigley Avenue, a short distance from where they were playing. Crescent Road parallels the railroad and leads to their home, but it is a little farther to their home by this road than by the railroad, and the boys started to go along the railroad. It will be well to bear in mind that the accident occurred between Bigley Avenue crossing and the Crescent Road crossing. These crossings are about 2000 feet apart. Bigley Avenue crossing is above or south of where- the accident occurred, and Crescent Road crossing is below or north. It was about forty feet from the point in the public road where the boys were playing marbles to the railroad track. There was a side track between the public road and the main track of the railroad, extending above and below where the accident occurred. Some railroad cars were on this side track, but where, with reference to the point on [492]*492the road where the boys were playing marbles, is a controverted and material fact.

The plaintiff and his brother Fred and Mont Spradling say that the cars were on the side track just opposite and extending above the point where they were playing marbles. True, Spradling says there were no ears on the siding where the plaintiff was injured — that he was injured some 10 or 15 feet above where the cars on the side track were. His testimony on the subject is: '

“Q. Then he (the plaintiff) was not hurt between the cars, but was hurt on the Bigley end?
“A. He was hurt, I just cannot say how many feet at the other end of the cars.
“Q. At the other end, the Bigley end?
‘?A. At the Bigley end.
‘ ‘ Q.. And he was not hurt then between any cars ?
“A. I could not say whether he was hurt the first time, he was hurt the second time.
”Q. When you first saw him he was beyond the cars?
“A. Yes, sir.
“Q. How far beyond the cars?
“A. Well, about — I could not say exactly how far.
‘ ‘ Q. The length of this court room ?
"A. No, sir, it was about 10 or 15 feet, I guess.”

But this witness had already said that there were cars on the siding. So that from these three witnesses we learn that the cars on the siding were opposite and extending above where they were playing marbles.

Beryal Jarrett, another witness for the plaintiff, in his testimony says:

‘ ‘ Q. Can you locate this cut of cars which was on the side track between the point where you were playing marbles and the Crescent Road crossing of the K. & M. Railway, if there was such a cut there?
“A. Well this end of the cars was just opposite it.
“Q. When you speak of this end, that was the end nearest to Bigley Avenue?
"A. Yes, sir.
‘‘Q. And if I understand your testimony, Eddie did not— [493]*493when Eddie, ieft you, he did not go between the ears to the main line, but staid on the hill side of the ears until he got around them, is that right?
“A. Why, I didn’t — the last time T seen him he.was alongside of the track walking.
“Q. You did see him cross the path from Crescent Road to the side track, did you?
“A. Yes, sir.
“Q. And that path, is that path the lower — above the end of the cut. of cars that you say was standing there?
“A. Yes, "sir, this path runs like this, (illustrating) and he jumped from the path and went down, and the last time that I seen him he was in the middle of the side track walking.
“Q. At a point between the side track and the main line, in the siding? . .
“A. In the siding, yes, sir.
‘ ‘ Q. And when you saw him walking on that siding, as you say, above the cut of cars, where was the engine of the train, if you know?
“A. Well, it was one hundred feet or so from there.
“Q. Only a hundred feet away from him?
“A. A hundred feet or two hundred, the best that I remember .now. ’ ’

His testimony leaves it uncertain as to what he intends to say, if anything, as to the location of the cars on the side track, with reference to the point where the boys were playing marbles.

In contradiction to this testimony as to the location of the ears on the siding, Allensworth, the fireman on the train, and Tinklepaugh, the conductor, and Harry Edwards, all say that the cars on the side track were below where the boys were playing.

W. C. Stalnaker, a brakeman on the train, says:

“Q. I will ask you to state to the jury what if anything out of the ordinary occurred that you 'noticed between Crescent Road crossing and Bigley Avenue crossing ?
“A. The only'thing out of the ordinary that I noticed was a crowd of boys gathered around.
[494]*494‘ ‘ Q. And where were you on- that caboose' from that point until it reached Bigley Avenue crossing ?
“A. What is that?
‘ ‘ Q. From the point where you saw this knot of boys ?
“A. I was standing, on the rear of the caboose, and I stuck my head out of the door and spoke to the conductor.
‘1Q.

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Bluebook (online)
89 S.E. 280, 78 W. Va. 490, 1916 W. Va. LEXIS 134, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stuck-v-k-m-railway-co-wva-1916.