Hunicke v. Meramec Quarry Company

• Decision Date: 19 December 1914
• Citation: 172 S.W. 43,262 Mo. 560
• Parties: AUGUST HUNICKE, Administrator of Estate of FRED R. HUNICKE, v. MERAMEC QUARRY COMPANY, Appellant
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

172 S.W. 43

262 Mo. 560

AUGUST HUNICKE, Administrator of Estate of FRED R. HUNICKE, v. MERAMEC QUARRY COMPANY, Appellant

Supreme Court of Missouri

December 19, 1914

Appeal from St. Louis City Circuit Court.-- Hon. George H. Shields Judge.

Affirmed.

J. E Carroll and Watts, Gentry & Lee for appellant.

Joseph Wheless for respondent.

OPINION

In Banc

WOODSON P. J.

-- This suit was instituted in the circuit court of Jefferson county by the plaintiff, as administrator of the estate of Fred R. Hunicke, deceased, against the defendant, to recover the sum of $ 10,000 damages for the death of said Fred, caused by the alleged negligence of the defendant in failing to procure a physician or surgeon to attend and treat him upon receiving severe personal injuries while in the employ of the defendant.

The trial resulted in a verdict and judgment for the defendant, which, upon timely motions for a new trial and in arrest of judgment having been filed, were by the circuit court sustained and a new trial ordered for certain reasons assigned, which will be presently noticed.From this action of the court in ordering a new trial the defendant timely and properly appealed the cause to this court.

Counsel for the defendant insist that the petition does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action against it; and for that reason we are required to set it out and pass upon its sufficiency.

Formal parts omitted, the petition reads:

"PlaintiffAugust Hunicke, states that he is a resident of Jefferson county, Missouri, and that he is the duly appointed and qualified administrator of the estate of his son, Fred R. Hunicke, who came to his death in said county of Jefferson on the 12th day of March, 1909; and the defendant, Meramec Quarry Company, is a corporation under the laws of the State of Missouri, engaged in conducting a stone quarry at a point called Wicks, on the main line of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad Company, in said Jefferson county, Missouri, and said defendant company has an office and place of business at Wicks in said Jefferson county, Missouri.

"Plaintiff further states that his said son, Fred R. Hunicke, on and for some time prior to the 12th day of March, 1909, was in the employ of the defendant corporation at its said quarry at Wicks; that said defendant company at that time maintained a certain track of railroad extending from the said main line of the said Iron Mountain Railroad Company into the private yards of the said quarry company, to its plant; that on said 12th day of March, 1909, while certain cars loaded with coal for the use of the defendant company were being transported over said spur track into the private yard of the defendant company, plaintiff's said son, Fred R. Hunicke, was struck by said moving cars, and was severely crushed and injured by the same; and plaintiff states that the wheels of said moving cars ran over his said son, and broke and crushed the bones of his right leg several inches below his thigh, and lacerated the flesh, muscles and veins of his leg, and tore a large hole in the same, through which the bones of his leg protruded, so that blood flowed from said wound in large quantities; that said wounds were of such a nature, and the flow of blood therefrom was in such quantities, that it created a sudden emergency that required the immediate attention and service of a physician or surgeon to treat and dress said wound and stop said flow of blood; said injuries being of such a nature as to require the amputation of the deceased's said right leg.

"And plaintiff avers that owing to the said serious injury so occasioned to his said son, and the sudden emergency thus created, it became and was the duty of the defendant company to render prompt and immediate assistance and surgical aid to his said son, in order to stop the flow of blood from his body and to save his life; and plaintiff avers that if prompt and proper surgical attention had been furnished his son, and the flow of blood from his wounds had been stopped within a reasonable time, his said son's life would have been saved, with no other serious consequences than the loss of his said right leg; and plaintiff avers that the said defendant company, recognizing the duty thus imposed upon it by the said sudden emergency, did assume and undertake to render surgical assistance and first aid to his said son, but in so doing acted in such a careless and negligent manner that his said son was allowed to bleed to death before any effective assistance was furnished him.

"Plaintiff avers that the point at which his said son was injured in the yards of the defendant company was within a few hundred feet from the main tracks of the said Iron Mountain Railroad, and distant but two miles from the town of Kimswick, in said Jefferson county, and was only about fifteen miles from the Broadway Station of the said railroad in the city of St. Louis, and that just beyond Kimswick and within a few miles of the scene of said injuries, there are several other towns at which competent and skillful surgeons reside and could have readily been obtained, and to any of which stations on said railroad plaintiff's said son could have readily and speedily been transported and taken to any of such surgeons or physicians, and said defendant company had then and there in its said yard a number of hand cars used in its work of hauling stone, and which were adapted to run on the tracks of said railroad, upon which plaintiff's said son could have been easily taken to any of the neighboring towns or to St. Louis; and plaintiff avers that his said son was injured a few minutes after nine o'clock in the morning of said day, and at a time when a local passenger train, southbound, was standing on the said Iron Mountain tracks very close to the point where his said son was injured; and the said defendant company could readily have detained it, or have intercepted it before it reached said town of Kimswick, so that plaintiff's said son could have been transported on said train to a suitable place where the surgical attention could have been given him.

"Plaintiff further avers that the superintendent of the defendant company in charge of said quarry was present at the time his said son was injured; that said superintendent thereupon directed other servants of the defendant company to carry plaintiff's said son to the office of the company adjacent to the said main line of the Iron Mountain Railroad, and accompanied him to said office, and caused him to be laid on a cot which was there provided for him; that said superintendent examined said injuries, and saw the great amount of blood that was being lost through said wounds, and realized their serious nature and the urgent necessity of securing immediate surgical attention, and his duty in such emergency to furnish the same; that in consequence thereof he immediately telephoned to a competent surgeon in the said town of Kimswick, and asked him to come at once to Wicks, distant two miles from Kimswick, but that said surgeon replied that he was then busy and could not come, but suggested to said superintendent that he send the injured man to him at Kimswick, which said superintendent carelessly and negligently failed and refused to do, as he very easily could have done.And plaintiff avers that instead of making use of means readily at hand to tie up and bind the leg of the plaintiff's son, and stop the loss of blood, by tying a rope or other bandage around said leg above said wounds, said superintendent of said company carelessly and negligently failed to bind said leg tightly and stop the flow of blood, but only wrapped a sheet loosely around the said injured leg in such a way that the blood continued to flow from said wounds; and instead of calling surgical assistance from some other town, or of transporting plaintiff's said son to such a place where surgical attention could be had, said superintendent carelessly and negligently allowed plaintiff's said son to lie in the office of said company for the space of about four hours, without attention, during all which time he continued to lose large quantities of blood from his said wounds; and carelessly and negligently allowed his said son to remain there without attention until the regular train of the said Iron Mountain Railroad, going to St. Louis, arrived at Wicks nearly one hour later than its usual time; that upon the arrival of said train, defendant's said superintendent placed plaintiff's said son on said train, and telephoned to the defendant's office in the city of St. Louis, to convey plaintiff's said son to the hospital; and the officers of the defendant company in St. Louis called an ambulance, and upon the arrival of said train at said Broadway Station, conveyed plaintiff's said son to the Lutheran Hospital, a short distance from said Broadway Station.

"And plaintiff avers that upon the arrival of his said son in the said ambulance at the said hospital, all of the blood in his body had been allowed to escape, so that, although his said leg was immediately amputated, it was impossible to save his life, and he immediately died as the direct result of the loss of blood occasioned by the careless and negligent attention given him in said emergency by the officers and servants of the said defendant company.And plaintiff avers that but for the careless and negligent manner in which defendant's said servants discharged the duty which the defendant company owed and assumed towards his said son, and their carelessness and negligence in allowing him to lie several hours without adequate aid, so that he lost all the blood from his body, his life would have been saved, and he would not have died.

"And plaintiff avers...