Blais v. Minneapolis & St. Louis Ry. Co.

• Decision Date: 23 July 1885
• Citation: 34 Minn. 57
• Parties: FRANCIS BLAIS <I>vs.</I> MINNEAPOLIS & ST. LOUIS RAILWAY COMPANY.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

34 Minn. 57

FRANCIS BLAISvs.

MINNEAPOLIS & ST. LOUIS RAILWAY COMPANY.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

July 23, 1885.

Appeal by defendant from a judgment of the district court for Rice county, where the action was tried before Buckham, J., and a jury, a verdict rendered for plaintiff, and a motion for a new trial denied.

J. D. Springer and Geo. N. Baxter, for appellant.

Geo. W. Batchelder, for respondent.

MITCHELL, J.

The plaintiff and his son were hauling timber to a place about half a mile distant from defendant's road. After dark, and about 6 o'clock in the evening of January 29, 1883, plaintiff, having discharged his load, left his team unhitched and unguarded at the side of the highway, and went to help his son unload at a point some rods distant, and out of sight of his own team. While he was absent, his team started and ran down the highway, and on coming to the railway crossing turned off the highway, crossed over the cattle-guard, and followed down defendant's railway track, came in collision with a passing train, and sustained the injuries complained of. What enabled the team to cross over the cattle-guard was the fact that it was filled with snow and ice up to the level of the track. To leave a team of horses untied in such a place at so late an hour and in winter, when they are especially liable to become restive, would seem to us exceedingly careless conduct. But we shall assume that this was a question for the jury.

The remaining question is whether it was negligence on the part of the railroad company to allow the cattle-guard to become and remain filled with ice and snow. So far as appears, this was an ordinary highway crossing, and the highway was used the same as, and not differently from, any ordinary country road in the winter season. It also appears that this was an unusually severe winter, the railroads having been much obstructed by frequent and severe snowstorms, particularly during the months of January and February, and that it took all their available force to open and keep open their tracks for traffic. It does not appear how long this trench had been thus filled up, but, presumably, from the commencement of winter; for the evidence shows that it is the custom of railroads in this state not to attempt to remove the accumulations of snow from the cattle-guards in the winter, but to allow them to remain until they thaw in the spring. It also appears from the evidence that it would be impracticable to keep these trenches clear of snow, except at the outlay of a very large expense; that every time they filled up it would be necessary, in order to remove the snow and ice, to take up the rails and remove some of the ties, — a job that would occupy a gang of four or five men several hours. To any one acquainted with our climate in the winter, it must be apparent that this process would necessarily have to be repeated very frequently, sometimes almost constantly, for these pits would be liable to be filled up, not only by each fresh fall of snow, but also by the drifting of snow previously fallen, as well as by the action of passing engines and snow-plows. Including farm as well as highway crossings, these cattle-guards are very numerous. On this portion of defendant's road between the stations of Kilkenny and Mulford — a distance of four miles — there are eleven. The mere statement of these facts will suggest to the mind of any one the magnitude and difficulty of the task of keeping all these pits or trenches clear of snow...