St. Louis Southwestern Railway Co. v. Webb
| Decision Date | 15 March 1926 |
| Docket Number | 237 |
| Citation | 282 S.W. 966,170 Ark. 1089 |
| Parties | ST. LOUIS SOUTHWESTERN RAILWAY COMPANY v. WEBB |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
Appeal from Miller Circuit Court; J. H. McCollum, Judge; affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
J. R Turney, T. J. Gaughan, J. T. Sifford, J. E. Gaughan, and E E. Godwin, for appellant.
W. H Arnold Jr. and B. E. Carter, for appellee.
OPINION
Mrs. Cora Webb brought two suits against the St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company to recover damages on account of the suffering and death of her son, Quinn Anderson. The first suit was brought as administratrix of the estate of the said Quinn Anderson, and the second was brought by Mrs. Webb as the next of kin of the deceased. The causes were consolidated and tried together. The deceased was eighteen years old at the time of his death, and lived with his mother, and contributed to her support all his earnings. The young man had been employed by the railway company under a written contract to carry the mail to and from the post-office to the railroad station in Garland City, where his mother lived. For this service he was paid the sum of $ 15 per month, payable on the first and fifteenth of each month. He became ill with an acute attack of appendicitis, and a local physician advised Mrs. Webb that an immediate operation was necessary. Mrs. Webb applied to the station agent of the company at Garland City for a pass for her son to the railway company's hospital at Texarkana. The agent communicated with the company's superintendent at Pine Bluff, and was advised by that official that the young man was not entitled to the service of the hospital. Mrs. Webb then had the local physician telephone to Dr. J. K. Smith at Texarkana, and an arrangement was made whereby Dr. Smith would see that an ambulance met the train and carried the patient to the Michael Meagher Hospital, and Dr. Smith agreed to operate on the patient as soon as he had been received at that hospital. Immediately upon the receipt of the message from the physician at Garland City, Dr. Smith made the necessary arrangements with the Michael Meagher Hospital, at Texarkana, for an ambulance to meet the train.
Mrs. Webb bought tickets for herself and for her son, who was placed in the baggage car, and she went into that car with him. On the way to Texarkana Mrs. Webb had a conversation with the baggage-man in which she raised the question of the right of her son to hospital service, and the baggage-man told her to see the railroad company's agent upon the arrival of the train in Texarkana. The ambulance met the train, which arrived at Texarkana shortly after 2 P. M., and the young man was placed in the ambulance, and Mrs. Webb told the driver to wait until she had first seen the station agent. It is perfectly clear, indeed, it is undisputed, that Mrs. Webb thought her son was entitled to admission to the company's hospital as an employee of the railroad company. She was a working woman, and the expense of an operation in a hospital was one which she was naturally quite anxious to save, especially as she thought her son was entitled to this service without charge because of his employment. Mrs. Webb told her story to a Mr. Harrington, the station agent at Texarkana, and this agent at once called the company's hospital, and the persons in charge were advised that there was a sick person at the depot who needed immediate attention, and about whose right of admission to the hospital there was some question. This agent also got in communication with the superintendent of the company at Pine Bluff, and was advised by that official, as the agent at Garland City had been, that the young man was not entitled to the hospital service as an employee. The agent advised Mrs. Webb of this decision, and she then directed the driver of the ambulance to take them to the Michael Meagher Hospital. Just as the ambulance left the depot it was met by an automobile in which a Dr. Pitts and a Mr. Neislar were driving. Mr. Neislar stopped the ambulance and inquired whether the occupant was the patient whose right to admission to the hospital was in question, and, upon receiving an affirmative reply, he had a conversation with Mrs. Webb. Neislar had not at that time been advised that the young man was not entitled to admission to the company hospital, although Harrington had told Neislar there was a question about it.
It is quite apparent from Mrs. Webb's own version of the conversation which she then had with Neislar that she had not conceded the fact to be that her son was not entitled to the hospital service, but that, on the contrary, she evidently thought her son was being denied a right to which he was entitled. Finally, Neislar asked her, if it should be ascertained that her son was not entitled to this service, whether she would pay for it or not, and she answered that she would pay, and with this understanding the ambulance was directed to drive to the company hospital.
There is much testimony in regard to the control and operation of the company's hospital. The contract between the railroad company and its employees was offered in evidence, and it was shown that the railroad company operated the hospital under an agreement constituting it as a trustee. The employees of the railroad company, by a voluntary payment of a fixed sum each month, which, with their permission, was reserved by the company out of each pay check, were entitled, when ill, to admission into the hospital and treatment without additional charge.
The railroad company administered the money derived from the collection of this fund, and the president of the railroad company had the authority to employ and to discharge the superintendent of the hospital, and the superintendent ran the hospital and employed all the subordinates. The superintendent and all others drawing salaries were paid out of this hospital fund.
The trust agreement under which the railroad company operated the hospital provided that officials of the different labor organizations to which the company employees belonged should have the right to elect an inspector, who should reside in the hospital and be paid out of the hospital fund, and it was the duty of this inspector to see that proper treatment was given the patients, and to make reports of the management to the various labor organizations. The inspector had no other duty or authority in the management of the hospital.
Neislar was the inspector who had been so selected, and it was he who met the ambulance with Dr. Pitts, an assistant surgeon employed at the company hospital, just as the patient was leaving the depot for the Michael Meagher Hospital. Mrs. Webb testified that Dr. Pitts and Neislar got out of the automobile in which they had driven to the depot and came to the ambulance and inquired of Mrs. Webb if the boy in the ambulance was the patient going to the hospital. There is an irreconcilable conflict in the testimony as to the conversation which then occurred. Mrs. Webb testified that she told Dr. Pitts and Neislar that she thought her son was entitled to admission to the company hospital as an employee, but that she was advised he would not be received as such, and that she was on the way with her son to the Michael Meagher Hospital. Dr. Pitts and Neislar testified that they knew nothing about the arrangement for Mrs. Webb to take her son to the Michael Meager Hospital until after the patient was carried to the company hospital, and they supposed Mrs. Webb was on the way with the patient to the company hospital. Neislar admitted asking Mrs. Webb if she would pay for the hospital service if her son was not entitled to admission as an employee, and she answered that she would. Mrs. Webb testified that Dr. Pitts was present during this conversation and could have heard it had he been listening, although he took no part in the conversation.
According to the testimony offered on behalf of the railroad company no one connected with the hospital knew anything about Mrs. Webb's arrangement to take her son to the Michael Meagher Hospital until after he had been carried to the company hospital. Harrington, the station agent at Texarkana, admitted talking to the persons in charge of the company hospital over the 'phone after talking with Mrs. Webb and hearing her contention, and he repeated to the person answering the 'phone from the hospital what Mrs. Webb had said, but there is nothing in his testimony to indicate or to support a finding that he advised the company hospital that Mrs. Webb had arranged to carry her son to another hospital. ...
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