Sessions v. Southern Pac. Co.

• Decision Date: 27 December 1904
• Citation: 134 F. 313
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of California
• Parties: SESSIONS et al. v. SOUTHERN PAC. CO. et al.

134 F. 313

SESSIONS et al. v. SOUTHERN PAC. CO. et al.

United States Circuit Court, N.D. California.

December 27, 1904

W. B Rinehart and Welles Whitmore, for plaintiffs.

P. F Dunne, for defendants.

HUNT District Judge (orally).

Plaintiff alleges that she is the widow of Charles A. Sessions deceased, and that Nathan P. Sessions, also a plaintiff, is the son and only child of said Charles A. Sessions, deceased. Plaintiff alleges: That she was entirely dependent upon her husband for maintenance and support. That she and her son and the defendants McGuire and Cole are residents of the state of California. That the defendant Southern Pacific Company is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the state of Kentucky, doing business in the state of California and that on December 20, 1902, the defendant company was engaged in operating trains upon its railway lines between the city of Oakland, Cal., and the city of Fresno, in the same state. That on said December 20, 1902, at the time of the occurrences set out, and at the time of the death of said Charles A. Sessions, the defendants McGuire, Dolan, and Cole were employed by, and were employes and servants of, the defendant corporation, the defendant McGuire being a locomotive engineer, engaged in managing and running the defendant known as the 'Stockton Flyer,' and the defendants Dolan and Cole acting in the respective capacities of conductor and brakeman upon a certain train operated by the defendant corporation and known as the 'Owl' train, and that the defendant Dolan was at said time in the management and control of the said passenger train known as the 'Owl' train, and the defendant Cole was at the same time acting as passenger brakeman on the said train. That upon December 20, 1902, the said Charles A. Sessions purchased a ticket entitling him to passage over the defendant's line from Oakland to Fresno by way of the town of Byron, and was taken as a regular passenger upon the 'Owl' train, and that the defendant company carried the said Sessions on said day from Oakland to a point on said railway line near the town of Byron, where the said 'Owl' train stopped; and while said car and the said 'Owl' train stopped and were standing on the track of the said railway the said car and the said train were run into from the rear by another train of cars drawn by a locomotive engine, said train being known as the 'Stockton Flyer,' and which said locomotive engine and said train of cars known as the 'Stockton Flyer' were being run at said time by said defendant, its agents, servants, and employes, including said McGuire, over and along said line of railway, at a high rate of speed. That the said 'Owl' train was at said time owned, managed, and controlled by the said defendant Southern Pacific Company, its agents, servants, and employes, one of which was the said Dolan, and one of which was the said Cole. That the said train known as the 'Stockton Flyer' collided with the car of the 'Owl' train, in which the said Charles A. Sessions was riding, and then and there killed him; and that said collision and said wreck and the said death of the said Sessions were caused by, and were the direct result of, the carelessness and gross negligence of the said defendants. Plaintiffs ask damages in the sum of $20,000.

The action was instituted in the superior court of the state of California in and for the county of Alameda, and thereafter the defendant Southern Pacific Company filed its petition for removal, alleging its incorporation under the laws of the state of Kentucky, and that the plaintiffs Ella A. Sessions and N. P. Sessions were and are residents and...