Bailey v. Cincinnati, N. O. & T. P. R. Co.
| Decision Date | 08 September 1892 |
| Citation | 20 S.W. 198 |
| Parties | Bailey v. Cincinnati, N. O. & T. P. R. Co. |
| Court | Kentucky Court of Appeals |
Appeal from circuit court, Scott county.
"Not to be officially reported."
Action for personal injuries by James Bailey against the Cincinnati New Orleans & Texas Pacific Railway Company. Judgment for defendant. Plaintiff appeals. Affirmed.
The appellant, James Bailey, was seriously injured by an accident resulting from his effort to board the train of the appellee as it passed one of its depots in the town of Saddieville. He was desirous of going to Georgetown on the train, and, while engaged in business with someone in a business house about 50 yards from the depot, was told that the train had reached the station. The passengers for Saddieville had left the car, the baggage placed on the platform, and the papers sold by the newsboy, and the train was moving off before the appellant reached the depot. He had a bundle of papers in his left hand, and, while the train was in motion, he seized the railing with his right hand and attempted to ascend the steps leading into one of the cars, but failed to board the train. He was dragged beyond the platform, and, his hold upon the railing loosening, or his foot slipping in some way, he fell headlong into a ditch, and was badly injured. This ditch or hole had been dug by the company to let in pipes for the purpose of supplying water to the tank, and was left open and uncovered by the hands who were digging it. They had been at work in the ditch, but had left it and sought shelter from the rain that had just fallen. It is insisted by the appellant that the failure of the company or its employes to cover over this ditch was the proximate cause of the injury and therefore the court below erred in instructing the jury to find for the defendant. We cannot so conclude from the testimony before us, and, taking plaintiff's own statement, the injury resulted from his own negligence, and not that of the company. The ditch was being dug about 10 or 20 feet from the platform of the depot. It was covered up at night, and the testimony shows that the work had been temporarily suspended by reason of the rain. The train was moving off when the plaintiff attempted to get on, and had been moving from the time the plaintiff left the door of the house until he reached it, a distance of 50 yards. The version of the plaintiff is that he had gotten one foot on the...
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