Walsh v. Hayes
| Decision Date | 29 November 1899 |
| Citation | 44 A. 725,72 Conn. 397 |
| Court | Connecticut Supreme Court |
| Parties | WALSH et al. v. HAYES. |
Appeal from superior court, New Haven county; Alberto T. Roraback, Judge.
Actions by Thomas Walsh and Coleman T. Walsh, respectively, against Thomas H. Hayes, for personal injuries. Prom a judgment for nominal damages in each case, plaintiffs appeal. No error.
The finding stated the following facts: On July 11, 1898, Coleman T. Walsh was a strong and healthy child, nearly five years old. Thomas Walsh is his father. The defendant had been an ice dealer in Waterbury for two years. On said day a delivery wagon of the defendant, drawn by two steady truck horses, 12 years old or more, that he had used in the business for years, was being driven by one of his servants southward along River street, in Waterbury, towards Washington street. A helper was also on board of it. River street rose by a grade of 5 per cent. as it ran south to meet Washington street, and Washington street rose by a grade of 10 per cent. from the River street crossing towards the east. There was a rough and uneven crossing, constructed of stone blocks, over which the wagon had to pass as it entered Washington street, and a similar one as it passed eastward along that street from the River street crossing. The wagon contained six cakes of ice, each weighing from 150 to 200 pounds, which had just been carefully arranged upon the bottom of the wagon so as to prevent them from falling out. It had a tailboard a foot high, drawn very near the ends of the sides of the wagon, in a position almost vertical, and securely chained in place. It was the habit of small children to hang on to the hind end of this and other ice wagons. This was known to the defendant and to said servants; also, to said Coleman's father and mother. On said day. at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, Coleman, together with two other little boys, ran up behind the wagon of the defendant to take hold of the tailboard, when it was 25 or 30 feet north of Washington street, on River street, and hung onto the end of said wagon while it was in motion. The other children were on either end of the tailboard, and Cole man was in the middle, between them. The wagon turned into Washington street to go up that street towards the east, and just then the driver saw the three children hanging on to the tailboard. He shouted to them to get off the wagon and keep away from there, or they would be hurt; waving his hand to them at the same time. The three children thereupon dropped off from the end of the wagon to the street. Immediately thereafter, and just as the wagon was being turned up Washington street, the three children, in the same relative positions as before, ran back again, and again caught onto the tailboard. About this time the helper happened to look back, and saw them again on the tailboard, and immediately shouted to them to get off. Immediately thereafter the off hind wheel of the wagon went into a depression in the street, thereby producing a sudden jolt, which so shook the wagon that one of the blocks of ice bounded into the air, slipped over the tailboard, knocked the child Coleman T. Walsh onto the street, and fell upon his right leg, producing the injuries set forth in the complaints. At the time that the defendant's horses turned the corner of River street and began to ascend Washington street, they quickened their pace from a slow walk into a fast walk or a slow trot, as they felt the weight of the wagon upon the ascent of the hill. The floor of the ice wagon was what is called a "two-decker." The floor in the forward end of the wagon is about 12 inches higher than the floor at the tail end of the wagon. The wagon was 4 feet wide. The upper deck was 3 feet 4 inches long, and the lower deck 5 feet 8 inches long from the tailboard to the upper deck. No witness saw the cake of ice falling until it struck the boy. The wagon and all appliances thereof were in sound and good condition. The servants of the defendant upon said wagon were sober and competent men, and exercised due care in the control and management of said team, wagon, and the contents of the latter. On these facts the plaintiffs claimed that (a) the defendant was liable; and (b) was negligent; (f) that they did not show that he was not liable; and (i) that the mere fact that a cake of ice weighing between 150 and 200 pounds fell out of the rear end of the defendant's wagon passing along the public highway, driven by the defendant's servants on the defendant's business, where the persons driving knew that children were in the habit of hanging onto the tail ends of ice wagons, and that Coleman Walsh was at the time of his injury hanging onto the tail end of the defendant's ice wagon, was of itself sufficient to authorize a judgment for substantial damages against the defendant in favor of the boy,...
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Starkel v. Edward Balf Co.
...Other proposed paragraphs consist of immaterial or evidential matters. Meech v. Malcolm, 88 Conn. 720, 725, 92 A. 657; Walsh v. Hayes, 72 Conn. 397, 403, 44 A. 725. The remaining paragraphs of the requested additions incorporate, in somewhat different language, facts already covered in the ......
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Hartford-Connecticut Trust Co. v. Cambell
... ... exceptions, with the evidence thereunder, to the finding or ... to refusal of the court to correct. Walsh v. Hayes, ... 72 Conn. 403, 44 A. 725; Wales et al. v. Graves, 72 ... Conn. 360, 44 A. 480; Twining v. Goodwin, 83 Conn ... 501, 77 A. 953, ... ...
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City of Bridgeport v. Bridgeport Hydraulic Co.
...were filed. The statute requires the filing of such exceptions to support an appeal to this court for such a correction. Walsh v. Hayes, 72 Conn. 397, 403, 44 Atl. 725. But such exceptions, if made, would have been of no avail in support of the plaintiff's appeal in this case, for the reaso......
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Seltzer v. W. H. Davenport Firearms Co.
...the defendant was only required to prove that the injury complained of was not caused by his negligence, as alleged. Walsh v. Hayes, 72 Conn. 397-401, 44 Atl. 725; Ebert v. Hartley, 72 Conn. 453-56. 44 Atl. 723. The trial court, therefore, erred in rendering a judgment for substantial damag......