St. Louis Southwestern Ry. Co. of Texas v. Alexander

• Decision Date: 13 January 1915
• Docket Number: (No. 2379.)
• Citation: 172 S.W. 709
• Parties: ST. LOUIS SOUTHWESTERN RY. CO. OF TEXAS v. ALEXANDER.
• Court: Texas Supreme Court

172 S.W. 709

ST. LOUIS SOUTHWESTERN RY. CO. OF TEXAS v. ALEXANDER.

(No. 2379.)

Supreme Court of Texas.

January 13, 1915.

Error to Court of Civil Appeals of Third Supreme Judicial District.

Action by W. J. Alexander against the St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company of Texas. There was a judgment of the Court of Civil Appeals (141 S. W. 135) affirming a judgment for plaintiff and defendant brings error. Affirmed.

E. B. Perkins, of Dallas, Scott & Ross, of Waco, and D. Upthegrove, of Dallas, for plaintiff in error. Morrow & Morrow and Collins & Cummings, all of Hillsboro, for defendant in error.

BROWN, C. J.

The Court of Civil Appeals for the Third District has not made a sufficient statement of the facts of this case, but refers to the opinion of the Court of Civil Appeals of the Fifth District, published in 57 Tex. Civ. App. 407, 122 S. W. 572. It is not in accordance with the practice in this court to entertain a case on such a statement as is made here by reference to another opinion for the facts upon which the decision rests; but, as this case has been pending so long since the application was granted, we will proceed to a disposition of it in the condition we find it, with the statement, however, that this practice will not be indulged hereafter.

From the statement made in the two opinions, we gather the following as the substantial facts developed on the trial: The plaintiff in error had a station at the town of Hillsboro, where it had agents and employés, and seems to have had lumber in connection with its business there; but just what the lumber was for does not appear from the opinion of the court, and, in fact, it is not important in this case that it should. The agent and employés of the railroad company at Hillsboro discovered that some one was carrying away lumber from about the depot and the surroundings of the railroad, and, for some reason, suspicion attached to the defendant in error, W. J. Alexander, who resided in Hillsboro with his wife and one child. The railroad company directed the agent to investigate the matter as to the guilt of Alexander, and sent a detective to Hillsboro to co-operate with the agent and employés there in the investigation of the matter. The detective who was sent for the purpose of investigation visited Alexander's house on one occasion under the pretense of desiring to buy some chickens, and had Alexander's wife to go out into the yard to show him the chickens. It appears that Alexander had lumber stacked in his yard, and the inspection of that lumber was, perhaps, the real purpose of the detective. Alexander was away from home, and his wife and one child, 10 years old, and an old man who slept there, were the only persons in the house, which was known to the detective and to the agent of the railroad company. After Mrs. Alexander had retired and was, perhaps, asleep, as she states, about midnight, the detective, the agent, and another servant of the railroad company entered the yard of Alexander with lanterns, and inspected and examined the lumber in the yard. Mrs. Alexander saw them engaged in so doing, and, being alone, became very much alarmed, as she said that she knew that they were seeking evidence against her husband upon the charge of having stolen the lumber. The result was, stated briefly by the court, that she fell to the floor and lay there for an indefinite time, unconscious. A physician was called and attended her for some time, during which time she was suffering a great deal from nervous trouble, the result of the fright that she...