Inland Seaboard Coasting Co v. Tolson

• Decision Date: 06 April 1891
• Citation: 11 S.Ct. 653,139 U.S. 551,35 L.Ed. 270
• Parties: INLAND & SEABOARD COASTING CO. v. TOLSON
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

139 U.S. 551

11 S.Ct. 653

35 L.Ed. 270

INLAND & SEABOARD COASTING CO. v. TOLSON.

April 6, 1891.

Nathaniel Wilson and Walter D. Davidge, for plaintiff in error.

C. C. Cole and A. A. Birney, for defendant in error.

GRAY, J.

This was an actin brought March 11, 1884, by Tolson against the Inland & Seaboard Coasting Company to recover damages for the crushing of his foot by the negligent management of a steamboat of the defendant. The plaintiff recovered a verdict for $8,000, judgment on which was affirmed in general term. 6 Mackey, 39. The defendant sued out this writ of error.

At the trial it appeared that the plaintiff was the owner and wharfinger of a wharf in the Potomac river, known as 'Shamrock Pier,' built on piles, in a suitable and substantial manner, early in 1883, and the front of which, 12 feet long, was parallel with the channel of the river, and had three heavy fender piles at each corner; that on September 15, 1883, the plaintiff, having a small basket of pears and an empty demijohn to put on board the defendant's steam-boat for Washington, neglected to signal her as she came up the river, and hailed her as she was passing the wharf, whereupon she backed in to make a stern landing, and struck the piles at the lower end of the wharf with considerable force; that at that time the weather was calm, and the tide just turned flood, and neither the captain nor the pilot was in the pilot-house. The plaintiff testified that, while he was standing near the edge of the wharf by the capstan post, ready to catch a line to be thrown from the steam-boat, she struck the wharf with such force as to start and break the plank flooring, and to catch and crush his left foot between the planks and that post; and that at that moment the mate of the steam-boat reached over and took the basket from his hand. The defendant called as witnesses the pilot and others on board the steam-boat, who testified that the plaintiff, as the steam-boat neared the wharf, called out that there was no need to throw a line, and leaned over and handed the basket and demijohn to the mate, and the mate gave the signal to go ahead, and he and the plaintiff shook hands and joked together, and the boat then struck the wharf, and jammed the plaintiff's foot between the wharf and one of the fender piles; that the boat was then turned about, and made a bow landing at the wharf for the purpose of rendering the plaintiff assistance, and the plaintiff was taken ashore, and then and there, in the presence of the mate and others, said 'that he was hurt by his own fault, that he was standing in a dangerous position.' The defendant also introduced evidence that the plaintiff, the next morning, at his own house, explained to two of his neighbors how the accident happened, and said to them 'that it was his own fault, and nobody else's, that he did not blame any of the boat people;' and stated the circumstances of the accident in the same way as the defendant's witnesses.

Upon the comparative weight to be given to the statements made by the plaintiff shortly after the injury, and to his testimony at the trial, the judge instructed the jury as follows: 'It may at first seem surprising that a man who himself wears the shoe should not be able to tell where it pinches; that a man who has his foot crushed should not necessarily know better than any other party where it was hurt, and how it was hurt, and yet it is not an uncommon thing for other men who saw the thing done to be able to tell better than the man himself how the accident happened The shock and pain may have the effect of rendering the man quite incapable of telling 'just exactly how the thing took place, so if you find the man at different times making somewhat different statements it does not at all follow that it was his intention to mislead Yo u are therefore to look at any difference of statements that he may have made, if you believe he did make different statements, in that point of view. He may not be the best witness as to what did happen to himself or the manner in which the thing may have happened.' The defendant excepted to this instruction, and contended that it invaded the province of the jury to determine the credit to be given to the plaintiff's various and contradictory statements, by directing them to look at the evidence in a particular point of view, and by treating the shock and pain of the injury as affecting not only his statements made the same evening, but also those made to his neighbors the next morning. But the instruction, fairly construed, after calling the attention of the jury to two distinct considerations,—the one, the effect of the shock and pain, 'which could not have been understood to apply to statements made after the shock and pain had subsided;) and the other, that the making of different statements at different times did not necessarily imply an intention to mislead,—suggested to the jury to look at any difference in the plaintiff's statements in that point of view. This was clearly within the judge's authority and discretion in aiding the jury to perform their duty.

The court gave the following instruction: 'If the jury believe from the evidecne that the wharf in question was an ordinarily strong and good one, and suitable for the purpose for which it was constructed, and that in making the landing in question the boat was thrown against the wharf with such force as to tear up some of the planks or boards of the fiooring, this would be prima facie evidence of negligence on the part of the agents of defendant under the circumstances in making such landing, and would justify the jury in so finding, unless upon the whole evidence such prima facie evidence is rebutted.' The defendant excepted to this instruction. The court did not, in this or any other instruction, tell the jury that the burden of proof on the issue of the defendant's negligence was shifted upon the defendant. On the contrary, the jury were afterwards expressly instructed: 'The plaintiff's whole ground of recovery is that the defendant was guilty of negligence. The burden of proof is on the plaintiff to sustain this allegation.' The whole effect of the instruction in question, as applied to the case before the jury, was that if the steam-boat, on a calm day, and in smooth water, was thrown with such force against a wharf properly built as to tear up some of the planks of the flooring, this would be Prima facie evidence of negligence on the part of the defendant's agents in making the landing, unless upon the whole evidence in the case this prima facie evidence was rebutted. As such damage to a wharf is not ordinarily done by a steam-boat under control of her officers and carefully managed by them, evidence that such damage was done in this case was Prima facie, and, if unexplained, sufficient evidence of negligence on their part, and the jury might properly be so instructed. Stokes v. Saltonstall, 13 Pet. 181; Transportation Co. v. Downer, 11 Wall. 129, 134; Railroad Co. v. Pollard, 22 Wall. 341; Le Barron v. East Boston Ferry Co., 11 Allen, 312, 317; Feital v. Railroad Co., 109 Mass. 398; Rose v. Transportation Co., 11 Fed. Rep. 438. In the same connection, the jury were instructed as follows: 'In determining whether the defendant's agents were guilty of negligence in making the landing in question, it would be proper for the jury to consider with the other facts and circumstances shown in evidence whether, under all the circumstances, it was dangerous to make a rear landing with that boat at that time at the wharf in question, and whether either the pilot or captain should not have been in the...