Maryland Electric Rys. Co. v. Beasley
| Decision Date | 11 January 1912 |
| Citation | 83 A. 157,117 Md. 270 |
| Parties | MARYLAND ELECTRIC RYS. CO. v. BEASLEY. |
| Court | Maryland Court of Appeals |
Appeal from Circuit Court, Howard County; Jas. R. Brashears and Wm Henry Forsythe, Jr., Judges.
Action by George Thomas Beasley against the Maryland Electric Railways Company. From a judgment for plaintiff, defendant appeals. Reversed, without awarding a new trial.
Argued before BOYD, C.J., and PEARCE, BURKE, THOMAS, PATTISON, and STOCKBRIDGE, JJ.
Charles A. Marshall and Robinson Griswold, for appellant.
Robert Moss, for appellee.
This suit was brought by the appellee to recover damages resulting from a collision at Shipley Station, on the line of the Maryland Electric Railways Company, between one of the appellant's cars and a team of mules and wagon belonging to the appellee, one of the mules being killed, the wagon and load of peas destroyed, and the harness much broken and injured. The driver of the wagon also sustained injuries for which he has brought suit, the result of which, by agreement of counsel, is to abide the decision of this appeal.
The public road from Severn to Baltimore crosses the railways track at Shipley Station, and is used day and night by a very large number of teams hauling produce of all sorts to market. The county road at that crossing, going towards Baltimore runs near North East and crosses the track at an angle of about 40 degrees. The approach of the railway to the station coming from Baltimore is through a deep cut, the course before entering the cut being nearly due south, but curving in the cut until it emerges from it, until at the crossing the course is about southeast. It appears from the testimony of the plaintiff, as a result of actual measurement by him that a car approaching this crossing from Baltimore comes first into the vision of one at the crossing, or 10 feet therefrom, at a point 450 feet from the center of the crossing, as is shown on the blueprint used at the argument. There is an automatic bell at the station, the purpose of which is to warn travelers of the approach of trains, but there was evidence from a number of witnesses that it rang frequently when there were no cars approaching, and frequently failed to ring when they were approaching. Mr Warthen, who lived at Shipley in May, 1910, said it rang "continuously most of the time" though sometimes it acted properly, that it was a nuisance and disturbed him so much at night that he wrote to the company about it, it might have been a week or as much as two weeks before the accident, but he could not tell just how long. Mr. Stockett said he lived close to Shipley Station up to October, 1909, that he had known this bell to ring 24 to 48 hours on a stretch; that it became a nuisance and he complained to the company, and they gave him a key to the box so he could stop it, and he had stopped it as late as 10 o'clock at night. Mr. Kelley said he often heard it ringing when there was no car coming; that he had waited on that account as much as ten minutes before attempting to cross, and had become so hardened to it that he paid no attention to its ringing during the last year or so. He drove over that crossing the day of the accident, but could not say whether the bell then rang. Mr. Ford who lived about 200 yards distant said seven out of ten times when it would be ringing there would be no car coming; that he crossed there that day, but the bell was not ringing at that time. Richard Hall said he crossed there frequently, going to and coming from Baltimore, when the bell was ringing and there was no car coming. This was in the summer of 1910, but he could not say whether it was before or after this accident, and there was similar testimony from other witnesses.
Wesley Forrester, the driver of the team, testified that he left Mr. Beasley's about seven miles from Shipley about 9:30, June 14, 1910. The night was foggy. His mules walked most of the time and he could see their heads as he drove along; that he had been driving that road five or six years day and night and he knew this bell, and knew it often rang continuously whether cars were coming or not; that as he approached that night he stopped 30 or 40 yards from the track, and heard the bell ringing faintly, but heard nothing else; then went up to the tracks, stopped, looked in both directions, listened but saw nothing, and heard nothing except the bell, and then went on; that the first notice he had that the car was coming was when he saw the headlight right on top of him.
On cross-examination he said he stopped at the track two or three minutes before attempting to cross, and he had stopped at other times when the bell was ringing, as much as 10 or 15 minutes, and had waited until three or four other wagons came along and crossed before him. He said he was not asleep when he approached the crossing, and had not been asleep that night, but that he would not swear that as he came to the crossing he did not have his hands and his head down; that he did not hear either a station signal or a danger signal from the car, and that he is positive he would have heard either or both, if they were given.
Harry Albaugh testified for the defendant that he left Baltimore on the 14th of June, 1910, on the 11:35 p. m. car; that he occupied the front seat on the front car on the right-hand side, the motorman being on the left; that the car had a bright headlight, and he could see blades of grass in the track 200 feet ahead; that he had been keeping notice of the whistle being blown, and just before they got to the curve approaching Shipley a real sharp whistle was given; that just as they came around the curve he saw the head of one mule going very slowly across the track; that he jumped and then saw both mules and saw a man "sitting in the seat with his head down and the reins in his hands carelessly like this (indicating)." The man on the wagon never made a move to get out of the way, and when he saw the car was going to hit them he moved back in the car, but facing front all the time; that he felt the car tremble as the brakes were applied; that the whistle was blown before the team was in sight, and after it was in sight six or eight times; that the bell was ringing all the time when the car stopped until the car backed into the siding, and began again as the Annapolis car approached; that the motorman slowed up before he hit the curve, and he judged the car after that was going about half as fast as before.
Allan T. Hopkins was on the right-hand side about the middle of the front car, there being two on the train, with a bright headlight; the whistle was sounded as they approached the curve, and again just as they came around the curve. He did not see the mules, but saw the motorman apply the brakes two or three seconds before the collision, and that the car was going at a moderate speed.
W. C. Kennedy was in the center of the first car with his window up. When the emergency brakes were applied he looked out and saw the heads of two mules on the track, and he judged the car was about 150 feet from the crossing; heard the whistle blow when the emergency brakes were applied and also before.
V. J. Vanous, the conductor in charge that night, said the regular crossing signal was blown just before they reached Shipley about 150 yards from the crossing, and the danger signal following from five to ten seconds later as well as he could judge.
Wm. T. Scible, the motorman on the car testified that he stopped at Linthicum, the station just north of Shipley, and after leaving Linthicum blew for Shipley, and at a reasonable distance blew for that crossing; that as he eased up on the car and swung round the curve he saw the tail end of the wagon on the track about 100 feet away; that he grabbed the brake with one hand and the whistle cord with the other and shut his eyes to keep out the flying glass, and when he stopped, the wagon was smashed into pieces.
The blueprint already referred to was then put in...
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