Lebrecht v. United Rys. Co. of St. Louis

• Citation: 237 S.W. 112
• Decision Date: 31 December 1921
• Docket Number: Mo. 22387.
• Parties: LEBRECHT v. UNITED RYS. CO. OF ST. LOUIS
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

237 S.W. 112

LEBRECHT v. UNITED RYS. CO. OF ST. LOUIS

Mo. 22387.

Supreme Court of Missouri, Division No. 2.

December 31, 1921.

Appeal from St. Louis Circuit Court; Franklin Ferriss, Judge.

Action by John C. Lebrecht against the United Railways Company of St. Louis. Judgment for the plaintiff, and defendant appeals. Reversed and remanded.

Charles W. Bates, T. E. Francis, and Alva W. Hurt, all of St. Louis, for appellant.

William Zachritz, Robert M. Zeppenfeld, and Harmon J. Bliss, all of St. Louis, for respondent.

WALKER, J.

This is a suit for damages on account of personal injuries, brought in the circuit court of the city of St. Louis in January, 1919. Upon a trial before a jury there was a judgment in favor of the respondent for $12,500, from which the appellant prosecutes this appeal.

The petition is in the conventional form, and charges that respondent's injuries were received through the negligence of appellant when respondent was attempting to board one of appellant's cars as a passenger in the city of St. Louis. The answer was a general denial.

The respondent's testimony was to the effect that on April 11, 1918, intending to go west on a Bellefontaine car, he stationed himself at the usual stopping place for that car, at the intersection of Jefferson and Geyer avenues, in the city of St. Louis; that when the car stopped he undertook to board it for the purpose of becoming a passenger, and to that end took hold of the iron rail on the inside of the rear platform, put his foot on the step, and, as he was about to enter the car, it started and the door was closed, striking him under the arm, so that he could not hold on; that he fell backwards upon the street, striking his right hip and right hand on the pavement. After he fell from the car he got up and boarded the next car, and made a professional call. He had to go to the second floor to make this call. He remained there half an hour and then went home. He was not confined to his bed immediately after the accident, but went out for four or five days. The pain increasing, he went to St. Mary's Hospital, where he was treated by Dr. Louis Rassieur and remained ten weeks. An extension splint and weights were used to pull his leg and take the pressure away from his hip. He used crutches for three months after he left the hospital. During this time he was not able to practice medicine as before, and "he lost everything." After that he was not able to resume practice, with the exception of seeing a few patients at his house. Prior to the accident he had earned $6,000 or $7,000 per year. The first day he went to the office after the accident was on August 22, 1918. He could not tell how much his earnings averaged from that day to the end of the year without referring to his books; that he lost about $6,000 altogether during the four months intervening between August 22, 1918, and the end of that year, by reason of the fact that his practice would have been large during that period as the result of the flu epidemic. He was unable to state what his earnings had been subsequent to his injury without referring to his books, but was permitted to approximate his earnings by stating that, until four or five months before the trial (which occurred about two years after his alleged injury), his income had been about 50 per cent, of what it was prior to the accident. His doctor's fee was $150, and his hospital bill a like amount.

He stated: That he was 61 years of age, and on that account the pain and limping will continue for some little time. His weight is 166 pounds. At the time of the accident it was 160 pounds. He had an injury to his back and spine 12 years ago. He fell into a trapdoor and struck the end of his spine—the coccyx. About 25 years ago he was thrown by a horse and broke his kneecap. That he thought the condition of pain and limping will continue some little time yet.

Dr. Louis Rassieur testified he had known respondent professionally since 1901. He saw him at St. Mary's Hospital April 16, 1918. Respondent was limping and his limb would constantly give way, so he asked respondent to stay at the hospital and he consented. There was a sprain of the sacroiliac joint. That joint is where the hip bone joins the back bone. It was a sprain, and the condition caused intense pain. In his opinion, one so affected is troubled a long time with it, but he could not state definitely that the injury was permanent. In practicing his profession, respondent would not be able to make visits as well as before. Witness diagnosed the injury as a sprain. He took an X-ray, but it did not show any fracture. When respondent left the hospital, he walked with a cane.

Dr. Henry J. Scherck testified for appellant that he made an...