Cott v. North Jersey Street Railway Co.

• Decision Date: 20 November 1905
• Citation: Cott v. North Jersey Street Railway Co., 62 A. 407, 72 N.J.L. 229 (N.J. 1905)
• Court: New Jersey Supreme Court
• Parties: SARAH VAN COTT, BY NEXT FRIEND, DEFENDANT IN ERROR, v. NORTH JERSEY STREET RAILWAY COMPANY, PLAINTIFF IN ERROR

62 A. 407

72 N.J.L. 229

VAN COTT

v. NORTH JERSEY ST. RT. CO.

Court of Errors and Appeals of New Jersey.

Nov. 20, 1905.

(Syllabus by the Court.)

Error to Circuit Court, Essex County.

Action by Sarah Van Cott against the North Jersey Street Railway Company. Judgment for plaintiff. Defendant brings error. Affirmed.

Hobart Tuttle, for plaintiff in error. Samuel Kalish, for defendant in error.

GARRISON, J. The plaintiff, while crossing a public street in the city of Newark, was struck by a trolley car of the defendant, receiving injuries for which she recovered damages in the circuit court. Upon this writ of error brought to reverse the judgment of the circuit court, the assignment chiefly argued was the alleged error of the trial court in denying a motion to nonsuit, which was asked for at the close of the plaintiff's case, upon the ground that the negligence of the defendant's motorman was not legitimately inferable from the testimony. As the testimony stood at that time it is very questionable whether a case of negligence had been made out by the plaintiff. The matter, however, will not be pursued, for the reason that if there was such a failure in the plaintiff's proofs at the time the nonsuit was denied, such proof was afterwards supplied by the defendant

Harry A. Vaughan, a witness called on behalf of the defendant, testified that "the child stood for a moment on the curb, and then made a couple of steps to walk in a diagonal direction across the street, and looked and saw the car, and then made a few steps, running style; the motorman rang the bell at that time, which attracted the child's attention, and she stood—the child stood—at the time when the bell rang."

"Ques. How far away from the first rail? Ans. Well, I think it was about the first rail that she stopped. The car slackened speed at that time when the bell was ringing, the child stopped, and as the car slackened speed she...