Horace Gray

“ Whether a witness is shown to be qualified to testify to any matter of opinion is always a preliminary question for the judge presiding at the trial, and his decision thereon is conclusive, unless clearly erroneous as matter of law. ”

“ He was asked 'if, in his judgment, a position within two or three feet from the fender piles of a wharf constructed like the Shamrock pier was a reasonably safe place for a wharfinger to stand when a boat was approaching in order to take off freight or to make a landing?' Objection was taken to this question by the plaintiff's counsel, and sustained by the court, because the witness had not shown himself to be a wharfinger; and the defendant excepted. ”

“ Although the rule is that, even if the defendant be shown to have been guilty of negligence, the plaintiff cannot recover if he himself be shown to have been guilty of contributory negligence which may have had something to do in causing the accident ”

“ It, however, still leaves with you the question, if you should find he did place his foot in such position, whether or not his act in doing that was such negligence as would disentitle him from recovering will bear in mind in regard to that. It is thes: That a person in the position of the plaintiff is to keep his wits about him, to be on the alert so as not to be injured, and to exercise such vigilance or care as is proportionate to the hazard of the duty in which he is engaged. ”

“ Upon the comparative weight to be given to the statements made by the plaintiff shortly after the injury, and to his testimony at the trial, the judge instructed the jury as follows: 'It may at first seem surprising that a man who himself wears the shoe should not be able to tell where it pinches ”