Wiest v. Coal Creek Railroad Co.

84 P. 725, 42 Wash. 176, 1906 Wash. LEXIS 548
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 7, 1906
DocketNo. 5725
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 84 P. 725 (Wiest v. Coal Creek Railroad Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wiest v. Coal Creek Railroad Co., 84 P. 725, 42 Wash. 176, 1906 Wash. LEXIS 548 (Wash. 1906).

Opinion

Dunbar, J.

— The complaint in this case alleges, in substance, the corporate capacity of the defendant; that defendant owns and operates a railroad leading from Coal Creek slough to the logging camp of the Eue & Clyde Logging Company, in Cowlitz county, a distance of about two and one-half miles, hauling logs thereon, with engines and logging cars belonging to said defendant, from said logging camp to said Coal Creek slough; that on November 9, 1903, while plaintiff was in the employ of, and working for, said Eue & Clyde Logging Company, in its said logging camp, said company, by agreement with defendant, loaned plaintiff to defendant at defendant’s request, for the purpose of acting and working on said defendant’s logging train as a brakeman in making a trip on a train of logs from said camp to said Coal Creek slough, and that plaintiff so worked as a brakeman on said trip at the request of defendant and by defendant’s license and permission and under its direction; that in making said trip the train consisted of five logging cars> heavily loaded with green logs, and in charge of Tom Allen, conductor and foreman of the defendant’s crew; that plaintiff had no previous knowledge and experience as a brakeman upon a railroad train; that this was well known to defendant; that notwithstanding this, the defendant recklessly, carelessly and negligently gave plaintiff no instructions as siich brakeman, or any warning of the danger and risk of such employment, though defendant well knew that its said railroad track, by reason of its heavy grades and defective equipment, was a peculiarly dangerous one, and that this was unknown to plaintiff; that defendant had constructed said railroad in a careless, negligent, and unworkmanlike manner, in that its grade was too steep for safety and its rails too light for logging railroad traffic or a heavy strain; and on said trip used a defective, old, and worn-out engine which was originally built for light, quick traffic, and which was not equipped [178]*178with good and sufficient brakes^ and was not fitted for hauling so heavy a load, not properly geared and without whistle or bell, and without any means of signalling to brakeman or crew; and had so carelessly and negligently equipped said ear with such poor defective brakes, and in such a manner, that only one brake to a car could be set when said oar was loaded; and had negligently overloaded the said train, of which plaintiff had no knowledge; that said train, by reason thereof, got beyond control of its crew, and proceeded down the steep grade aforesaid at a terrific and unmanageable rate of speed, causing the entire train to leave the track and pile up in a disastrous wreck. The complaint proceeded to state that the plaintiff, realizing the uselessness of longer remaining upon the train, at the instance of the conductor Allen, jumped from the train, struck the bank, rolled down upon the track and had one of his feet cut off, and received other injuries; and asked damages in the sum of $20,500.

A demurrer was interposed to the complaint, which was overruled. The answer was a denial of the negligent acts alleged in the complaint, and an allegation that the. defendant entered into a contract with the Hue & Clyde Logging Company, whereby the defendant was to transport the logs over its railroad from tbe logging camp of the said Rue & Clyde Logging Company to Coal Creek slough for a compensation, under which contract the Rue & Clyde Logging Company was to load the logs upon the cars of the defendant and have full charge and control of the loading of said cars, and that the only obligation of tbe defendant was to convey; alleged that the Rue & Clyde Logging Company did load the oars and train on the said 9th day of November, 1903, upon which the plaintiff alleges he was, and that tbe plaintiff was an employee of the said Rue & Clyde Logging Company at said date and time; alleged assumption of risk on the part of the plaintiff, and contributory negligence. Upon the completion of the respondent’s testimony, motion for nonsuit was [179]*179made, which was overruled. Appellant introduced its testimony, rebutting the testimony which was introduced by the respondent. The jury was instructed, and returned a verdict in favor of respondent for $5,000.

The appellant in its brief presents twenty-eight assignments of error. While it is barely possible that, on the trial of a reasonably short ease, twenty-eight reversible errors might occur, yet ordinarily where so many errors are assigned, it is an indication that no particular assignment of error is relied upon. The first error assigned is the action of the court in overruling the demurrer to the plaintiff’s complaint. The appellant insists that the complaint is so general that it is not specific enough to be sufficient, and does not therefore state a cause of action. We think it is sufficient to say in relation to this assignment, that the complaint plainly states a good cause of action. This disposes of the second assignment, that the court erred in not sustaining the objection to the introduction of any testimony.

It is also alleged that the court erred in not sustaining defendant’s objection to the question, “Was there anything about this brake, in operating it on that road in that manner, which would render it unsafe by reason of its position on the car, or its construction, or being difficult to get at, or any of those things?” Inasmuch as'the allegations of the complaint were that the cars were equipped with poor, defective brakes, and were equipped in such a manner that only one brake to a car could be set when said cars were loaded, it would seem that the question was pertinent and directed to the proof of the allegations of the complaint. The next objection is that the court erred in not sustaining the defendant’s objection to the question, “Were any of those brakes broken at that time?” This assignment may be classed with the one just above referred to. An examination of these alleged errors in relation to the introduction of testimony shows that they are without merit, and that no error was committed in [180]*180the introduction of testimony or in sustaining objections thereto.

iSTeither did the court err in denying defendant’s motion for nonsuit, at the close of plaintiff’s case, as there was testimony which, if not contradicted, would sustain the main allegations of the complaint. It is claimed that the court erred in giving the following instructions to the jury:

“The plaintiff charges that the defendant’s railroad was constructed in a careless, negligent and unworkmanlike manner, in that its grade was too steep for safety for the operation of the train of the character of the one claimed to have been operated when the injury occurred; that the train on this occasion was too heavily loaded'for the equipment to handle, and that the brakes on the cars were insufficient and out of repair.”

It is alleged that the court eared in giving this instruction because it submitted to the jury issues upon which no evidence had been offered. The court in this particular was merely stating to the jury the issues which had been made up by the pleadings. The court if it had seen fit might have read the pleadings to the jury, or it might have stated them in a concise way as it did. And so far as the criticism is concerned, that it was an instruction upon which no evidence was offered, this cannot be maintained in view of what the record shows; and as to what the testimony was under the allegations of the'complaint and answer, the court submitted that question to the jury.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
84 P. 725, 42 Wash. 176, 1906 Wash. LEXIS 548, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wiest-v-coal-creek-railroad-co-wash-1906.