Sikes v. Town of Manchester

• Decision Date: 15 June 1882
• Citation: Sikes v. Town of Manchester, 12 N.W. 755, 59 Iowa 65 (Iowa 1882)
• Parties: SIKES v. TOWN OF MANCHESTER
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

12 N.W. 755

59 Iowa 65

SIKES v. TOWN OF MANCHESTER

Supreme Court of Iowa, Des Moines

June 15, 1882

Appeal from Buchanan Circuit Court.

ACTION to recover for personal injuries sustained by plaintiff from alleged obstructions allowed in a street of the town. After the evidence was all in, the court directed the jury to return a verdict for defendant for the reason that plaintiff failed to present any evidence upon which defendant can be held liable. There was a verdict and judgment entered accordingly for defendant. Plaintiff appeals.

AFFIRMED.

E. M Carr and Bronson & LeRoy, for appellant.

A. L Blair and Calvin Jordan, for appellee.

OPINION

BECK, J.

I.

The following agreed statement of facts was submitted by plaintiff to sustain her claim to recover in this case.

"1st. The town of Manchester, defendant, is an incorporated town, legally organized under the laws of Iowa.

"2d. That on the northeast corner of Main and Tama streets, in said town, is the livery stable of the defendant, Marcus Sheldon, said stable extending north on Tama street from Main a distance of 115 feet, and fronting on Main street east from Tama, 66 feet.

"3d. That Main and Franklin streets are the principal thoroughfares leading to and from said town.

"4th. That Main street is 80 feet in width, and in front of said stable, across its whole front, is a driveway extending into the street a distance of 16 feet, and so constructed on a level with the sidewalk that vehicles can safely be driven from the street into said stable, the driveway acting as a bridge or covering over the gutter.

"5th. That along the north side of Main street, and to the east of said driveway, is a sidewalk extending into the street a distance of 6 feet.

"6th. That said Main street, on both its north and south sides, in front of said barn, was for at least a year next preceding the day plaintiffs received the injuries complained of, used by farmers and others as a place to leave their wagons and sleighs while their teams were feeding in said stable, and such vehicles would occupy from one-third to one-half of the street between the gutters during the greater portion of the day time, different parties so leaving their vehicles on each day.

"7th. That the injuries received by plaintiffs were received on the 1st day of January, 1881, about 4 o'clock in the afternoon of said day.

"8th. That at the time there were two sleds on the south side of said street, opposite the west front door of said stable, both extending lengthwise along Main street, and close to the gutter, and on the north side of said street, and in addition to the sleigh which caused the injury complained of, was a sleigh, the back end of which was about 20 feet east from the east end of the driveway, in front of the stable, the outside of said sleigh being about 15 feet south from the north line of said street.

"9th. That about ten or fifteen minutes before said injuries were received one Wm. Franks, then in the employ of defendant, Marcus Sheldon, backed a sleigh belonging to the said defendant up against the sidewalk on the east side of the driveway in front of said stable, and in the angle between the driveway and sidewalk, the box of said sleigh being nearly north and south, with the tongue turned to the east, lengthwise with the street, and nearly at a right angle with the box, the end of the tongue projecting into the street, about one foot south of the south line of the driveway in front of the stable, or about 17 feet from the north line of said street. That said Franks unhitched the horses from said sleigh, leaving the same in the position above indicated, with the tongue suspended by the middle ring of the neck-yoke, said neck-yoke standing one end on the ground. He then unloaded the sleigh. The sleigh mentioned in this paragraph is an additional sleigh to those described in paragraph 8, and is the sleigh against which the horse ran, causing the injuries to plaintiffs.

"10th. That the plaintiffs were walking toward said stable from the east, on said sidewalk, and when some 25...