St. Louis, I. M. & S. Ry. Co. v. Stell
| Decision Date | 21 September 1908 |
| Citation | 112 S.W. 876 |
| Parties | ST. LOUIS, I. M. & S. RY. CO. v. STELL. |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
Appeal from Circuit Court, Chicot County; H. W. Wells, Judge.
Action by McSawyer Stell against the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Company. From a judgment for plaintiff, defendant appeals. Affirmed.
McSawyer Stell brought suit for personal injuries against appellant railroad company. Appellee's statement of how the injury occurred is as follows: He was at Collins, a station on appellant's road, where he had been doing some dental work. He carried his two grips over to the depot, and set them down close to where he thought the train would stop. While waiting for the train to arrive, he stood there talking to some acquaintances. When the train arrived, he waited for the passengers to get off before he started to get on the train. Just as he got on the box, put there for the use of passengers in getting on and off the train, and had put one foot on the first step of the coach, the train started up, and pitched him on the step and wrenched his back. The train did not stop at Collins any more. He went on in the train with his two valises, which were heavy. As soon as he got in the coach, he began to suffer severe pain. When he arrived at Dermott, his home, he went out on the platform and called a negro to carry his grips to his house. He walked to his home, laid down on a couch, and could not speak for five minutes. He had Dr. Barlow telephoned for. He was in bed three days and nights, suffering constant pain. After he got up, he was confined to his house for a week or two. He suffered time and again after he got up, and still suffers, from the effect of the injury. He suffers now at times in the lumbar regions of the back. He was tolerably strong at the time he was hurt, and had never suffered any pain. He has not been strong since he received the injury. Dr. Barlow treated him for three weeks after he was hurt, visiting him at his home three or four times. After that he went to the doctor's office for treatment. The doctor has not yet rendered him a bill for his services, and he does not know how much he will charge him. He expects a bill to be rendered. On cross-examination, he stated that he is not a very good jumper, but had jumped a little bit at Holley the day before the trial; that he does not know how long the train stopped, but that he got on it just as soon as the people got out. Dr. E. E. Barlow testified that he treated appellee for the injury complained of; that he was suffering from severe pain in the lumbar muscles of the back, and was unable to walk, stand, or move himself without increasing pain. Thomas Smith testified that as appellee stepped off the footstool that was on the ground, the train started up, that there were a couple of grips in his hand, and that "the train jerked him right smart." Appellant adduced testimony tending to show that the train remained at the station a sufficient length of time for all passengers to get on and off the train with perfect safety; that after the conductor had given orders for the train to pull out, after announcing "all aboard," appellee, who had two suit cases in his hands, boarded the train just as it was pulling out; that the train stopped at Collins on the day appellee was hurt one minute; that the accident occurred on the 11th day of May, 1907; and that on the 14th day of November, 1907, the appellee was in a jumping match with several persons, and outjumped all of them. There was a jury trial and a verdict for appellee in the sum of $1,000. The case is here on appeal.
T. M. Mehaffy and J. E. Williams, for appellant. R. A. Buckner, for appellee.
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