"The appellee, W. B. Mathis, brought this suit in the district court of Grayson county, Tex., against the appellant to recover damages for personal injuries received by falling in appellant's turntable pit at Sapulpa, Ind. T. It is alleged in substance that appellee's injuries were caused by the negligence of appellant in this: That said turntable pit and the appurtenances and appliances thereto were dangerous, and that at the time plaintiff was injured it was very dark, and about the hour of 11:45 p. m.; that the defendant then and there failed to have and maintain any light or other appliances for the purpose of showing the location of said turntable; that the same was in the yards of the defendant, at the town of Sapulpa, a place very much used by defendant's servants, agents, and employés in making up trains and in moving locomotives and cars from said yards and in going from said roundhouse to its said station in the town of Sapulpa; that plaintiff did not know that said turntable and the vicinity thereof was not lighted up, but that fact was well known to the defendant, or by the use of ordinary care could have been known by it in time to have prevented plaintiff's injuries; that plaintiff supposed that the light was being maintained at said point for the purpose of lighting up the yards and turntable and the vicinity thereof, and yet defendant permitted said place to remain unlighted; that the defendant then and there negligently failed and refused to notify plaintiff of the fact that there was no light to illuminate the turntable and vicinity thereof, although it well knew the same or by the use of ordinary care could have known it, and the same was unknown to plaintiff; that, by reason of all of said acts of negligence, jointly and severally, plaintiff was injured as aforesaid. The defense was a general denial, assumed risk, and contributory negligence on the part of appellee. Appellee's injuries consisted of a broken arm and quite a serious injury to his head, necessitating the removal of a portion of his skull. A trial before a jury resulted in a verdict and judgment in favor of appellee for $11,000, and the case is now before this court on appeal.
"On September 6, 1904, and for some time prior thereto, appellee was in the employment of appellant as a locomotive engineer. At about 11:15 p. m. on the night of said date appellee was called at Sapulpa, his place of residence, to take passage upon a passenger train which was to go East at about 11:45 p. m. for the purpose of taking charge of a freight train which was then tied up at Vinita, a station some 75 or 100 miles east of Sapulpa by reason of the regular engineer on said freight train at Vinita having become sick. Appellee lived about seven blocks from the roundhouse of the appellant at Sapulpa, and he was directed by the caller to report at the office of the roundhouse foreman for the purpose of getting transportation from Sapulpa to Vinita, and receiving directions as to what he was to do. The office of the foreman was in the north part of the roundhouse; the turntable being on the south side of the roundhouse. Appellee reported to said foreman, received his transportation and directions, and hurriedly left for the passenger depot of appellant at Sapulpa, which was some 300 or 400 yards distant. He passed through the roundhouse, coming out through the south side of same, and going between the turntable and what is known as the `store' or `oil' house, said turntable and storehouse being some 15 or 20 feet apart, and fell into an excavation known as the `pit' of the turntable, crushing the front part of his skull, a space of about an inch and a half by two inches, and breaking his arm. This occurred about 12 o'clock at night. Appellant's roundhouse at Sapulpa is of the kind ordinarily used by railways. It had 13 stalls for engines, and from these stalls ran tracks to a turntable. These tracks passed out through openings high enough to permit an engine to go out of it. The depth of the roundhouse from north to south on the east is 80 feet, on the west 92 feet. In the east part of the roundhouse are two doors, in the west part one. Situated in the northern part of the roundhouse is the office of the roundhouse foreman, who, at the time of the accident, was Joe Clough. The inner curvature of the roundhouse was situated toward the turntable pit, and was 54 feet from it. To this turntable pit converged the tracks leading from the roundhouse, so
that engines going into or from the roundhouse might pass in upon it. The turntable pit was 65 feet in diameter, 6 feet 4 inches in depth at the center, 3 feet and 5 inches in depth at the edges. Just within the pit, and close to the circumference, ran a circular steel track upon which moved the wheels attached to the end of the table. The floor of the pit was of concrete. At and on the middle of the table were two upright pieces of timber 4 by 4 inches. On the night in question at the time of the accident the position of the turntable was from the northeast to the southwest. Hanging on the inside of the two pieces of timber above referred to, at about the height of a man's head, were two ordinary railroad lanterns with red globes. A number of witnesses testified that these were burning at the time of the accident. No one denied this, though some of the witnesses stated that they did not remember whether they were burning or not. These lanterns were so placed for the purpose of spotting the center of the table, so as to aid in the balancing of an engine when it went upon it. They were ordinary red lanterns, and did not light up the surrounding premises. East of the turntable, 250 feet, are some coal chutes. Also east and a little north of the turntables, 225 feet distant, was a toolhouse. It was quite usual for people desiring to go from the roundhouse to the depot to walk between the turntable and the store or oil room. The night of the accident was a dark one. The premises were in no way lighted up. About 10 or 12 feet up or one side of the storeroom there was a little shed or projection. It appeared that at one time a headlight had been kept on this shed for lighting up the premises, but that prior to the time of the accident it had been removed.
"Appellee Mathis testified: `I commenced working for the defendant on the 29th day of January, 1902, working for it for a few months as fireman, first out of Springfield, Mo., and I became a locomotive engineer for it in February, 1903. Prior to going to work for defendant, I had worked for the Cotton Belt for two years and seven months as engineer. On the night of September 6, 1904, I received the injuries for which I am suing. At 11:15 that night I was called by Owen Conway, caller, to leave at 11:45 and going to Vinita to take charge of an engine there on which the engineer had become sick. He called me at my residence. I arose from my sleep and dressed, and went to the roundhouse. The call boy waited for me on the porch until I got ready to go, and we went together. He stopped at the toolhouse, which is about the tracks east of the turntable and a little southeast of the roundhouse, and I asked him to put my toolbox on the engine. He stopped there to get it. The point at which Conway stopped was between 25 and 30 yards from the roundhouse. I went on into the roundhouse, entered the door at the east side, and went to the office of the night foreman, Joe Clough. His duties were to mark up engineers for their runs, and see that they were called and responded to the call. When I was called, I was requested by the call boy to report to the night foreman, get my transportation, and the night foreman also had to sign our trip slips before we departed. These slips were for checking us out and checking us in. I went to the roundhouse, asked Mr. Clough if he had my transportation fixed, and he said "Yes," and gave me a coal book—that is, a book showing the number of pounds of coal we use on the engine —and signed my trip slips, and I asked him in what direction the engine that I was to take at Vinita was going. He said: "Never mind that. Hurry up, and get to the depot, and don't miss the train there, as the [freight] train is lying at Vinita until you get there for want of an engineer." That is all the conversation we had. I took my trip slip and pass, left the office and started for the depot. I came out through the roundhouse and down through these stalls, between these two stalls. This depot was southwest, and I started southwest to it. When I left the roundhouse, I angled a little bit from it toward the depot, going in the most practical route. Yes; there was a turntable there, and I ran into something and was thrown into the turntable pit. I just remember running into something and fell into the pit. I then became unconscious. This accident happened on Tuesday night between 11:30 and 11:35, and I didn't regain consciousness until the next Saturday morning at 4:20. When I regained consciousness, I was then at the hospital at Springfield, Mo. * * * Q. What was the condition of the yards there, Mr. Mathis, around the turntable in reference to light? A. There was no lights at all. Q. What did you say was the character...
