Laing v. Colder

Decision Date08 July 1848
Citation8 Pa. 479
PartiesLAING <I>v.</I> COLDER et al.
CourtPennsylvania Supreme Court

Alricks and Fisher, for plaintiffs in error.

Boas and McCormick, contrà.

July 8. BELL, J.

The evidence mentioned in the first bill of exceptions was rightly excluded. The plaintiff went for general damages, under the common allegation ad damnum. Damages which necessarily result from the act complained of, are properly termed general damages, and may be shown under the common allegation; for the defendant must be presumed to be aware of the necessary consequences of his conduct, and therefore cannot be taken by surprise in the proof of them. But damages that do not necessarily flow from the principal fact, though possibly attendant upon it, are denominated special. As the law does not imply these, they must, to prevent surprise on the defendant, be particularly specified in the declaration, or the plaintiff will not be permitted to give evidence of them. An illustration of this distinction is furnished by Simpson v. McCoy, 15 Mass. Rep. 493. It was trespass for breaking and entering the plaintiff's house; and it was held evidence might be given of keeping the plaintiff out, for that was a direct consequence of the wrongful entry. But the party was not permitted to prove, under the alia enormia, an assault and battery committed at the same time, for the defendant cannot be supposed to come prepared to defend against a complaint of which he has no notice. Now injuries to the person consist in the pain suffered, bodily or mental, and in the expenses and loss of property they occasion. In estimating damages, the jury may consider not only the direct expenses incurred by the plaintiff, but the loss of his time, the bodily suffering endured, and any incurable hurt inflicted; for these may be classed among necessary results. But alleged damages sustained by this plaintiff, from the circumstance of his being the head of a family dependent upon him, have no necessary connexion with the injury done to his person. Such damages may or may not follow a temporary bodily disability. They may, but do not necessarily attend upon it. Whether they do or not, is to be determined, not by a consideration of the principal fact complained of, but by looking to the pecuniary condition of the sufferer, his capacity for labour, his social relations, and, it may be, to other independent facts. Damages of this nature are, therefore, not direct or necessary, but special, as being possible only, and must be specially averred to let in evidence of them.

We see no objection to the evidence comprised in the second bill. What the defendant offered to show, was but part of the same transaction of which the plaintiff has already given proof. Being strictly res gesta, we do not see how, properly, it could have been excluded. If it be admitted the witnesses went further by proving subsequent attention paid to the plaintiff by the defendants' servants, it was not a part of the offer. Any injury that might thus have been done to the plaintiff's case, we are bound to presume was prevented by the instruction of the court on this head.

The third and fourth bills are rightly abandoned, as being founded in a mistake of fact.

The subject of the fifth was clearly evidence, if heard by Laing. A question for the jury was, whether the hurt suffered was ascribable to the negligence of the defendants' agents, or to the laches of the plaintiff himself. Now, certainly, the warning given by Dougherty, to another passenger, about the time or shortly before the plaintiff's arm was broken, if heard by him and disregarded, furnished some evidence of gross carelessness on his part, more especially when connected with the caution of the conductor, Minsker. Whether the plaintiff did so hear, was a question of fact to be determined by the jury, under all the circumstances, as he was within ear-shot, and might have heard. In the absence of remark or confession by him, it was obviously impossible to give express proof of the fact.

The remaining bill, also called the fifth in the paper-book, is there by mistake, not being assigned for error.

After a critical examination of the instructions given to the jury, we have failed to discover any error. It is long since settled that the common-law responsibilities that attach to carriers of goods for hire, do not, as a whole, extend to passenger carriers. Like the former, the latter are not insurers against all such...

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64 cases
  • Forepaugh v. Del. Etc. R. Co.
    • United States
    • Pennsylvania Supreme Court
    • October 7, 1889
    ... ... to do so. For the statement of the law as to limiting such ... responsibility, see Lawson on Carriers, 31; Laing v ... Colder, 8 Pa. 479. There are numerous dicta of writers ... and decisions of courts to the effect that the law of another ... state, ... ...
  • Gilbert v. Korvette's, Inc.
    • United States
    • Pennsylvania Superior Court
    • December 11, 1972
    ... ... plaintiffs, against both defendants. [ 1 ] ... As early as ... 1848, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Laing v ... Colder, 8 Pa. 479, ... [299 A.2d 364] ... 482--483 (1848) held that common carriers owe the highest ... degree of care to their ... ...
  • Gilbert v. Korvette's, Inc.
    • United States
    • Pennsylvania Superior Court
    • December 11, 1972
    ... ... 1 ...         As early as 1848, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Laing v. Colder, 8 Pa. 479, ... Page 364 ... 482--483 (1848) held that common carriers owe the highest degree of care to their passengers: ... 'The ... ...
  • Forepaugh v. Railroad Co.
    • United States
    • Pennsylvania Supreme Court
    • October 7, 1889
    ...policy to permit it to do so. For the statement of the law as to limiting such responsibility, see Lawson on Carriers, 31; Laing v. Colder, 8 Pa. 479. There are numerous dicta of writers and decisions of courts to the effect that the law of another state, contrary to the public policy of th......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

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