Smith v. Winona & St. Peter. R. Co.
| Decision Date | 22 November 1889 |
| Citation | 42 Minn. 87 |
| Parties | HANNAH C. SMITH, Administratrix, <I>vs.</I> WINONA & ST. PETER RAILROAD COMPANY. |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
P. A. Foster and Freeman & Pfau, for appellant.
Wilson & Bowers, for respondent.
This action is prosecuted under the statute to recover for the death of the plaintiff's intestate, caused by the alleged negligence of the defendant. The plaintiff secured a verdict, but the court granted a new trial, assigning as one of the reasons therefor, in effect, that he did not consider that the verdict was justified by the evidence. From that order this appeal was taken. A part of the defendant's line of railroad consists of a short section, extending from the depot in the city of Mankato, north-easterly, less than four miles, to a point on the main line called "Mankato Junction." About one mile out from the Mankato depot, on this short section of road, is a switch, and a spur or side track about 600 feet in length. This side track is in the vicinity of and near a stone quarry, called "Saulpaugh's quarry," as appears both from the pleadings and evidence, and was used principally as a track where cars were left by the defendant to be loaded with stone and brick; and from thence the loaded cars were taken out by the defendant for transit over its road. The stone quarry itself was not in sight from this switch, it being some distance away, beyond or under a hill; but, at the time of the accident, over some two acres of the ground near the side track was scattered a good deal of stone, taken out from the quarries, and deposited there. There were also two piles of stone, which had been taken out of the Saulpaugh quarry, and piled on either side of the side track, nearly as high as a box-car, and extending some 30 or 40 feet along the track, and so near to it that a man on the side of a car passing the stone piles would be brought into contact with them. One Brown was the conductor of the trains that ran back and forth between Mankato and the junction. At one o'clock in the morning of the day of the accident, Brown employed the deceased, Smith, who had resided in Mankato for about a year, to work as a brakeman, in the night service, over this short section of road. The deceased professed to have been previously engaged in like service. Smith was to commence work at six o'clock in the evening of that day. Brown testified that when he employed Smith he warned him of the "bad places in the yard and stone quarries; * * * told him about the elevator, — that it wouldn't clear him on the top of a box-car; and I told him to look out for the chute at the stock-pen, and that there were stone piles in the quarries that wouldn't clear him, at the Saulpaugh and at the Craig quarries." Again, as Brown testified, when Smith came to enter upon his service, at six o'clock that night, he went with him about the yard, (depot grounds,) showing him the dangerous places there, and told him that the stone piles would not clear him, and that he should not go on the side of a car while going past them. Upon this point there was no opposing evidence. We see no reason to suppose that these piles of stone were, or that they were understood to be, merely temporary obstructions. Smith, entering upon his service that evening, went out to the junction with a passenger train, and returned to Mankato. The same crew then went out with a train of freight-cars, beyond the switch track, and, on the way back to Mankato with a train of freight-cars, the train was stopped, before reaching the switch, for the purpose of taking out a car loaded with brick from the side track, and of setting an empty car in on the same track. Brown had directed Smith to go to...
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