St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Co. v. Pollock
Citation | 123 S.W. 790,93 Ark. 240 |
Parties | ST. LOUIS, IRON MOUNTAIN & SOUTHERN RAILWAY COMPANY v. POLLOCK |
Decision Date | 20 December 1909 |
Court | Supreme Court of Arkansas |
Appeal from Hot Spring Circuit Court; W. H. Evans, Judge; affirmed.
STATEMENT BY THE COURT.
Appellee was a passenger on appellant's train. He was passing between the coach and smoking car. On the platform between the cars and in the direct line of the passage way there was a little step box or stool about seven or eight inches high. Appellee stepped over this box in passing from one car to the other, and as he did so the train gave a sudden jerk. It was a jerk as if the train was rounding a curve, and appellee's heel struck the box, and he fell backward hitting his back against the stool, and was injured. Appellee could have moved the stool out of his way, but, instead of doing so, he stepped over it, when the train jerked, causing him to fall. The train was vestibuled, and the box was a stool used by the train men in assisting the passengers to get on and off the cars.
Appellee sued appellant, predicating his cause of action upon the above facts, and alleging that appellant negligently placed and permitted the stool to remain in the aisle of the platform, and negligently permitted the train to give a violent jerk, throwing and injuring appellee as indicated above.
Appellant denied the material allegations. Appellant's evidence tended to prove that the train was running smoothly, that appellee made complaint to the conductor of a step being across the pathway, that the conductor went and found the step or stool in front of the door about five inches. He moved it back of the door of the vestibule where it should have been placed by the porter. The appellee did not tell the conductor that he was hurt. The Hot Springs special train on which appellee was riding was a solid train all vestibuled. The cars all go together. One car can not roll one way and then the other. They go in a bend, and can't possibly jerk one car and not jerk altogether. The motion of the cars in turning a curve is a swaying motion, but not a sudden lunge. It might cause a person to stagger and lose his balance if unfamiliar with its motion.
The instructions of which appellant complains are as follows:
The modification to appellant's prayer number 2 above is shown in capital letters. To this modification appellant objected, and duly excepted to the rulings of the court. The verdict and judgment were for $ 500.
Appellant duly prosecutes this appeal.
Judgment affirmed.
Kinsworthy & Rhoton, and Chas. Jacobson, for appellant.
Section 6607, Kirby's Dig., must be strictly construed, and should not be extended beyond the cases where it obviously applies. 70 Ark. 481; 88 Ark. 12; 73 Ark. 548. A passenger who passes from one car to another while train is in motion is guilty of contributory negligence. 47 La.Ann. 1671; 111 Ala. 447; 146 Mass. 205; 81 Me. 84; 151 Mass. 220: 146 Mass 605.
Wood & Henderson, for appellee.
Instruction No. 3 1/2 was in accordance with section 6773 of Kirby's Dig., and was proper. 65 Ark. 235; 73 Ark. 548; 80 Ark. 19; 81 Ark. 579; 83 Ark. 217; 87 Ark. 308; Id. 581; 88 Ark. 204. Appellee was not guilty of contributory negligence in trying to step over the stool. 79 Ark. 137; 78 Ark. 55; 85 Ark. 326.
OPINIONWOOD, J., (after stating the facts.)
There was evidence tending to show that appellee's injury was caused by a sudden jerk, or the swaying motion of appellant's train while it was running and rounding a curve, causing him to strike the stool with his heel and to fall. This warranted submitting the question to the jury as to whether appellee's injury was caused by the running of the...
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