Griffin v. Boston & A.R. Co.

Decision Date01 January 1889
PartiesGRIFFIN v. BOSTON & A.R. CO.
CourtUnited States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

148 Mass. 143
19 N.E. 166

GRIFFIN
v.
BOSTON & A.R. CO.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Hampden.

January 1, 1889.


Report from [148 Mass. 143]superior court, Hampden county; JAMES M. BARKER, Judge.

Tort by the administrator of the estate of Bartholomew Griffin, against the Boston & Albany Railroad Company, of which company said Griffin was an employe at the time of his death. The action was based upon Pub.St. c. 112, § 212, as amended by Acts 1883, c. 243. At the trial it appeared that at about 11 o'clock on the night of June 9, 1886, Griffin was employed as a night watchman at the passenger station of the defendant, in Springfield; that among other things it was his business to look out for people crossing the tracks, and to see that people were not injured by passing trains; that this was not his sole duty, but was one of the things he was hired to perform; and that he was employed, among other things, to clean the depot, lock and open the doors, preserve order during the night, and act as depot police; that in the depot there are three tracks, running east to west; that on the night in question about 11 o'clock, a freight train was going west, and about the same time another train was going east on the south track; that the train going west was on the middle track, and that Griffin was standing on the south side of the depot; that the lights in the depot were in bad condition, the electric lights flickering so that they were not bright; that the train going east had passed, and the train going west, Griffin supposed, had passed him, and passed outside the depot, but that this train going west on the middle track had become detached by reason of the spreading of a link of the coupling; that the train going east had left considerable smoke after it, and this, in addition to the flickering lights, left it darker than usual in the depot; that as the train that was going east went by on the south track, or almost immediately after that, Griffin [148 Mass. 144]started to cross over to the north side of the depot, upon which side his duties were the same as on the other; that he saw the train going east, and supposed the other train going west had entirely passed, not knowing about its being broken; that just about that time a switcher came in the west end of the depot, and was coming on the track he was crossing, and almost instantly the detached portion of the train going west, which was moving rapidly and quietly, came along without light or signal, no...

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