Wise v. Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, 5127.
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (8th Circuit) |
| Citation | 252 F. 961 |
| Docket Number | 5127. |
| Parties | WISE v. BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE FIREMEN AND ENGINEMEN. |
| Decision Date | 26 August 1918 |
252 F. 961
WISE
v.
BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE FIREMEN AND ENGINEMEN.
No. 5127.
United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.
August 26, 1918
[252 F. 962]
Humphrey Barton, of St. Paul, Minn. (John H. Kay, of Chicago, Ill., and E. L. Carroll, of Creston, Iowa, on the brief), for plaintiff in error.
D. W. Higbee, of Creston, Iowa, for defendant in error.
Before HOOK and STONE, Circuit Judges, and MUNGER, District Judge.
MUNGER, District Judge.
In an action for libel a verdict was directed for defendant at the close of the evidence and plaintiff brings error. The parties will be designated as plaintiff and defendant, as they appeared in the district court. The plaintiff was a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, belonging to a local lodge in Iowa, and was the holder of a certificate issued by the society promising to pay him $3,000 if he lost, by accident, a hand at or above the wrist. The plaintiff was a fireman on a railway engine, and lost his hand because it was run over by the wheel of the engine tender. He applied to the society for the payment of the $3,000. The officer of the society who held the position of secretary and treasurer (hereafter called secretary) was charged with the duty of examining and passing upon the proofs of loss in such cases, and the president of the society had the decision of appeals made to him by subordinate lodges or members. The secretary, after receiving proofs of loss from the plaintiff, made some investigations as to the cause of the injury, including a visit to the scene of the injury, in company with the plaintiff, and heard the plaintiff's narrative of the manner in which the injury was inflicted. The plaintiff told him that he was standing on the step on the left side of the tender, when a sudden movement of the engine forward threw him from the step, and his trousers leg was caught by some protruding part of the step and he was dragged on his back in this manner, as the engine went forward 2 1/2 car lengths, and then his trouser leg let loose and the tender ran over his hand, so that amputation was necessary. The plaintiff told him he received no injuries other than to his hand. After these investigations the secretary wrote plaintiff a letter, declining to pay him for the loss of his hand, and added:
'My reason for declining to make payment of the amount of certificate is that I am fully satisfied that the loss of your hand was not an accident, but was a self-inflicted injury for the purpose of trying to collect the amount of the beneficiary certificate held by you in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen.'
The secretary at the same time sent a copy of this letter to the secretary of the local lodge to which plaintiff belonged, with a note that the letter was self-explanatory, and the letters were read before the members at a meeting of the lodge. Many of the local lodge [252 F. 963] members united in a petition of protest and appeal to the president, and the secretary then stated to the president the facts as he understood them, and the president wrote the secretary of the local lodge a letter which contained the following statement:
'Your letter of July 29th, with the 'petition' or 'protest' signed by a considerable number of members of Lodge 640 in the Wise case, has been received and an investigation conducted by the general secretary and treasurer, accompanied by the general medical examiner leads to the belief that Brother Wise has deliberately attempted to defraud this Brotherhood. The facts appear to be that before he lost his hand he had but recently increased his insurance to $3,000, he had insurance in the Fidelity & Casualty Company, he had insurance in the 'Relief Department' of the C., B. & Q.R.R., he has entered suit against the C., B. & Q.R.R. Co. and has now employed an attorney to enter suit against this Brotherhood. These circumstances, taken collectively, lead us to believe that there was a deliberate purpose on the part of Brother Wise to defraud this Brotherhood. * * * They probably cannot conceive how a man would deliberately sacrifice a hand for $6,000, or $8,000. You would be surprised how many members do sacrifice hands and feet for less money than this, in several of which...
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...Rev. 1079. See, also, Irving v. Joint District Council, 180 F. 896, 898 (C. C. N. Y.); Wise v. Brother of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, 252 F. 961, 965 (C. C. A. 8); 34 Yale L. J. 564; 38 Harv. L. Rev. 510; 5 Col. L. Rev. 246; 19 Ill. L. Rev. 596. We are not disposed to reverse our ruli......
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...286; Ventress v. Smith, 10 Pet. 161, 170, 171, 9 L. Ed. 382; Hanson v. Cole, 266 F. 67, 68 (C. C. A. 8); Wise v. Brotherhood of L. F. & E., 252 F. 961, 964 (C. C. A. 8); United States v. Francis, 64 F.(2d) 865, 867 (C. C. A. 9); Eteenpain Co-op. Soc. v. Lillback, 18 F.(2d) 912, 915 (C. C. A......
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Levering & Garrigues Co. v. Morrin, 50.
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Lowry v. INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD, ETC., 16935.
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Nolan v. United States, 9972.
...286; Ventress v. Smith, 10 Pet. 161, 170, 171, 9 L. Ed. 382; Hanson v. Cole, 266 F. 67, 68 (C. C. A. 8); Wise v. Brotherhood of L. F. & E., 252 F. 961, 964 (C. C. A. 8); United States v. Francis, 64 F.(2d) 865, 867 (C. C. A. 9); Eteenpain Co-op. Soc. v. Lillback, 18 F.(2d) 912, 915 (C. C. A......
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