Hignett v. Inhabitants of Norridgewock

Decision Date26 February 1909
Citation105 Me. 189,73 A. 1086
PartiesHIGNETT v. INHABITANTS OF NORRIDGEWOCK.
CourtMaine Supreme Court

(Official.)

On Motion from Supreme Judicial Court, Somerset County.

Action by Joseph B. Hignett against the Inhabitants of Norridgewock. Verdict for plaintiff, and defendant moves to set the same aside. Motion overruled. Judgment on verdict.

Action on the case to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have been sustained by the plaintiff while riding horseback along a townway in the defendant town by reason of his horse stepping into a hole in the traveled part of the way. Plea, the general issue. Verdict for plaintiff for $441.67. The defendants then filed a general motion to have the verdict set aside.

The case is stated in the opinion.

The declaration in the plaintiff's writ is as follows:

"In a plea of the case for that heretofore to wit, on Monday, the 4th day of June, A. D. 1006, there was a certain public highway, legally established, in said town of Norridgewock. Said highway is known as the River road, and leads from Norridgewock to Madison, on the south side of the Kennebec river, which said highway the said defendants were then and there bound by law to keep in repair so as to be safe and convenient for travelers with horses, teams, and carriages, and the plaintiff avers that on the said 4th day of June, A. D. 1906, he was lawfully traveling over and along said highway, riding upon a safe and kind horse, near the culvert at the foot of the Yoe Hill, so called, and the plaintiff says that said defendants did not keep said highway in repair so that it was safe and convenient for travelers with horses, teams, and carriages, but, on the contrary, said highway was unsafe, inconvenient, and defective; that there was a hole about a foot square and one and one-half feet deep in the traveled part of the road, occasioned by the dirt part of the road sinking into the drain of said culvert, at or near the foot of said Yoe Hill; that said culvert was defectively built and maintained, so that the road caved into the drain of the culvert, on the south side of the culvert, making a dangerous and unsafe place in the road, and that said highway at that point had been dangerous, unsafe, and defective for a long time prior to the said 4th day of June, A. D. 1906, to wit, for more than 24 hours. And the plaintiff says that while riding along said highway, upon said safe and kind horse, and while in the exercise of due care and caution, and when near said culvert at the foot of said Yoe Hill, the horse stepped into said hole in the traveled part of said highway on the south side of said culvert, and violently threw the plaintiff, upon the ground, striking upon his shoulder and right side, all of which was due solely to the carelessness, negligence, and fault on the part of the said defendants, and with no fault, negligence or want of due care on the part of the plaintiff, and the plaintiff says that he was severely injured thereby, and received a sprained shoulder, that the edges of the bone of the right shoulder were broken, his hips and back were wrenched and strained, and he was injured internally, so that he has spit blood since the accident, and received other injuries, the full extent and nature of which cannot be ascertained at the present time, or specified more clearly; that he received a severe shock to his system, and was greatly lamed and hurt, and has suffered great bodily pain and mental anxiety and distress for a long period of time, and has been compelled to pay out large sums of money for medical attendance, care, and nursing, and that he is now incapacitated for performing his usual duties and labor. And the plaintiff further avers that within 14 days after receiving said injury, to wit, on the 17th day of June, A. D. 1006, he notified the municipal officers of said town of Norridgewock, in writing, setting forth his claim for damages, specifying the nature of his injuries, and the nature and location of the defect which caused said injury, and the plaintiff further avers that the municipal officers and road commissioner of said town of Norridgewock had 24 hours' actual notice of the defective condition of said highway at said culvert, as heretofore specified, whereby and by force of the statute in such case made and provided an action hath accrued to the plaintiff to have and recover of said defendants, for the damage and injury so to him sustained as aforesaid, to the damage of said plaintiff (as he says) the sum of $2,000."

Argued before EMERY, C. J., and WHITE-HOUSE, CORNISH, KING, and BIRD, JJ.

Forest Goodwin, for plaintiff.

Le Roy R. Folsom and Augustine Simmons, for defendant.

KING, J. Action to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have been sustained by the plaintiff while riding horseback along a townway in the defendant town by reason of his horse stepping into a hole in the traveled part of the way. The case is before this court on defendant's motion to set aside a verdict for the plaintiff.

1. The first, and perhaps chief, contention in support of the motion is that the plaintiff's proof located the alleged defect at another and different place in the way than that described as its location in the required written notice to the town after the accident.

The language of the written notice, as to the location of the defect, is: "The particular place on said road where I was injured was at or near the foot of the Yoe Hill, so called, at a culvert that runs across the water course at that point. There was a hole about a foot square and one and one-half feet deep in the traveled part of the road caused by the dirt part of the road sinking into the drain of said culvert. The culvert was defectively built and maintained, so that the road caved into the drain of the culvert on the south side, making a dangerous and unsafe place in the road." The record discloses the following facts and conditions:

The accident occurred at a culvert crossing the road between two hills—that on the north called Yoe Hill, and that on the south Hignett's Hill. These hills are neither very steep nor long. From the place of the accident to the top of Hignett's Hill is stated to be 753 feet, and to the top of Yoe Hill about 300 feet. There are two other culverts crossing the road at or near the bottom of these hills—one 213 feet north, and the other 203 feet south of this culvert.

It seems a fair conclusion from all the evidence...

To continue reading

Request your trial
5 cases
  • Bolen-Darnell Coal Co. v. Rogers
    • United States
    • Arkansas Supreme Court
    • May 1, 1911
    ... ... 463, ... 37 N.W. 813; Crites v. New Richmond, 98 ... Wis. 55, 73 N.W. 322; Hignett v. Inhabitants of ... Norridgewock, 105 Me. 189, 73 A. 1086; Dempsey ... v. Rome, 94 Ga. 420, 20 ... ...
  • Creedon v. Inhabitants of Town of Kittery
    • United States
    • Maine Supreme Court
    • December 19, 1918
    ...and in fact the defect was not at the place indicated by the notice, but at a point some distance therefrom. See, also, Hignett v. Norridgewock, 105 Me. 189, 73 Atl. 1086, Beverage v. Rockport, 106 Me. 223, 76 Atl. 677, and York v. Athens, 99 Me. 82, 58 Atl. Second, that the notice does not......
  • Bolen Darnall Coal Co. v. Rogers
    • United States
    • Arkansas Supreme Court
    • May 1, 1911
    ...779; Cantwell v. Appleton, 71 Wis. 463, 37 N. W. 813; Crites v. City of New Richmond, 98 Wis. 55, 73 N. W. 322; Hignett v. Inhabitants of Norridgewock, 105 Me. 189, 73 Atl. 1086; Dempsey v. City of Rome, 94 Ga. 420, 20 S. E. 335; McQuillan v. City of Seattle, 10 Wash. 464, 38 Pac. 1119, 45 ......
  • Beverage v. Inhabitants of Rockport
    • United States
    • Maine Supreme Court
    • December 9, 1909
    ...no other derrick on either road. It distinguished the highway on which the obstruction was located as clearly as in Hignett v. Norridgewock, 105 Me. 189, 73 Atl. 1086, the large "hole in the traveled part of the road" distinguished the middle culvert from the northerly With respect to the n......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT