Tyrrell v. Boston & M. R. R

• Court: New Hampshire Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: PEASLEE, J.
• Citation: Tyrrell v. Boston & M. R. R, 91 A. 179, 77 N.H. 320 (N.H. 1914)
• Decision Date: 02 June 1914
• Parties: TYRRELL v. BOSTON & M. R. R.

91 A. 179

77 N.H. 320

TYRRELL

v. BOSTON & M. R. R.

Supreme Court of New Hampshire. Grafton.

June 2, 1914.

Transferred from Superior Court, Grafton County; Young, Judge.

Action by Charles C. Tyrrell, administrator, against the Boston & Maine Railroad.

Case, for negligently causing the death of Amy A. Tyrrell, the plaintiff's intestate, at a farm crossing. Verdict for the plaintiff. Transferred from the superior court on the defendant's exceptions to the denial of motions for a nonsuit and the direction of a verdict in its favor, and to the admission of evidence that it was Mrs. Tyrrell's habit to listen for trains at the crossing where she was injured.

The plaintiff's evidence tended to prove that Mrs. Tyrrell was driving a quiet horse attached to a long-bodied farm wagon. The horse was walking. When Mrs. Tyrrell reached the gate at the crossing she stopped the horse and waited until a man who was following the wagon opened the gate. She then drove upon the track and was struck by a locomotive running backward. The rear end of the wagon was between the rails. The natural obstructions were such that she could not look up the track in the direction from which the locomotive came until she was within seven or eight feet of the nearest rail. The engineer saw the horse approaching the track when its head was from five to eight feet from the rail, and when the locomotive was 200 feet from the crossing. Although he applied the emergency brakes, he neither sounded the whistle nor rang the bell. The locomotive was running downgrade at a speed of about 25 or 30 miles an hour, and was not working steam. If it had been properly equipped, or if the engineer had sounded the whistle as he approached the crossing, or even when he first saw the horse's head, the accident would not have happened. Exceptions overruled.

Owen & Veazey and Charles B....