Southern Cotton Oil Co. v. Wallace

• Citation: 108 S.E. 624,27 Ga.App. 415
• Decision Date: 06 October 1921
• Docket Number: 12431.
• Parties: SOUTHERN COTTON OIL CO. v. WALLACE.
• Court: United States Court of Appeals (Georgia)

108 S.E. 624

27 Ga.App. 415

SOUTHERN COTTON OIL CO. v. WALLACE.

No. 12431.

Court of Appeals of Georgia, First Division

October 6, 1921

Syllabus by the Court.

The petition in this case set out a cause of action, and the court properly overruled the demurrer thereto.

The evidence authorized the verdict.

Error from City Court of Waynesboro; Wm. H. Davis, Judge.

Action by A. B. Wallace, Jr., against the Southern Cotton Oil Company and another. Judgment for plaintiff, and the named defendant brings error. Affirmed.

H. C Hatcher, of Waynesboro, for plaintiff in error.

E. V Heath, of Waynesboro, for defendant in error.

BLOODWORTH J.

Wallace sued Marchman and the Southern Cotton Oil Company for damage to his automobile, alleging, in part:

That the plant of the Southern Cotton Oil Company, at Waynesboro, was situated some distance from the public highway; that the corporation had "a pipe run from the trampers of its press and extending a distance of some 100 yards to the public road, the outlet for said pipe being in the ditch right on the side of the road"; that while he was driving his automobile along the public road he was forced to stop his car "just before he reached the outlet of said pipe, on account of an outburst of steam from said pipe; that the steam from said pipe formed a dense fog so dense that petitioner could not see ahead of him at all that petitioner, being unable to see, stopped his car completely as an extraordinary precaution; that plaintiff's car was in the middle of the road;" that while petitioner's car "was at a standstill, waiting for the outburst of steam to get out of the way, a two-ton truck owned by H. B. Marchman and driven by his employee, Johnson, who was using the same in the business of said Marchman, came along said road from Waynesboro; that the said Johnson did not stop the truck, but came right on through the fog, although it was impossible for him to see or be seen, and his truck struck the car of petitioner directly in the front; that by said collision all of the front part of petitioner's car was completely ruined;" that "the use of said pipe seriously interfered with travel on said road, endangered the safety of all parties using said road, and amounted to gross negligence on the part of said defendant company in operating its plant;" that "the failure of Johnson, the driver of H. B. Marchman's truck, to stop his said truck when he saw the

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