R. Vashon Rogers

“ Slowly and more slowly did the laboring engine, laden with its long line of cars, make its way against the obstructing showers of feathery ice-morsels, and fears arose in the hearts of the passengers that our progress would soon be entirely stopped and we would be left to spend the long cold night imbedded in the rapidly rising banks of snow. ”

“ When on the point of crossing a track about the time a train is due one should not bundle up his head, so as to impair the sense of hearing, and then go straight ahead without looking out for the cars. If a man does so and is made mince-meat of, he has only himself to blame, even though neither bell nor whistle sounded. ”

“ It may seem hard to a man who has lost his ticket, or perhaps had it stolen from him, that he should have to pay his fare a second time; but it is better and more reasonable that a passenger should now and then have to suffer the consequences of his own want of care, than that a system (the system of issuing tickets as now in vogue) should be rendered impracticable, which seems necessary to the transaction of this important [Pg 118] branch of business. It is not for the sole advantage, or the pleasure and caprice of the railway company that these things are done in such a hurry. ”

“ Yes, as Best, C. J., once said, a coachman must have competent skill and must use that skill with discretion; he must be well acquainted with the road he undertakes to drive; he must be provided with steady horses, a coach and harness of sufficient strength and properly made, and also with lights by night. If there be the least failure in any one of these things, the duty of the proprietor is not fulfilled, and he is answerable for any injury or damage that happens. [157] He also is so unless the driver exercised a sound discretion at the time of the accident. ”

“ If people avail themselves of the benefits of railway travellers, they should make some allowances. Ah! look at our fair friend!”
She was at the far end of the platform, and an engine attached to a freight train seemed to be rushing straight at her; she turned and fled, with a scream, to avoid the charge of the iron horse, and in her hurry tripped over a barrow and fell prostrate. The career of the locomotive was stopped. It appeared that its antics had been caused by the negligent displacement of a switch. ”

“ In Maine, however, the judges seem inclined to take a different view and absolve the town from liability where the accident would not have happened but for something going wrong with the horse or carriage; they say that if they are satisfied that an accident happened from a defect in the road and a defect in the harness making it unsafe,—although the driver knew not of it and thought all was right,—the injured one cannot sustain an action against the town. ”

“ As men of all sorts and conditions are so constantly travelling on trains, it is not only a reasonable regulation, but almost a humane duty, to have on every train a ladies’ car for women and men accompanying them, from which creatures wearing exposed bifurcated garments, unblessed by the companionship of the fair sex, and women of offensive habits and character may be excluded, so that all the good ladies may be together as they will be in heaven. ”

“ If one is unlawfully on the track, or contributes to the injury by his own carelessness or negligence, yet if the injury could have been avoided by the company’s servants using ordinary care, the railway is liable for damages. [276] An engine driver, however, is not bound to slacken speed when he sees before him, on the track, one whom he may reasonably suppose can take care of himself, until he sees that otherwise the man, woman, or child will be run over; but it is his duty to check the train so soon as he spies a very young child, or apparently helpless person in the way ”

“ In England, a railway company that receives goods or luggage, and books it for a certain place beyond the terminus of its road (unless it specially stipulates to be exempt for whatever happens on other lines) , is responsible for any evil that befalls it before its arrival at its journey’s end, even though it happens while the goods are passing over the rails of another company; [664] in fact one has no remedy except against the company with whom the contract is made. ”

“ Of course it must be admitted that, taken as a whole, the dangers incident to railway travelling are materially greater in America than in any country of Europe. Still the destruction of life and limb is nothing frightful,—the wonder rather is that so few are hurt. Perhaps you will not believe it, yet the truth of the fact remains, that in the year 1874, throughout the whole of Massachusetts, but one passenger was killed on the cars through an accident to which his own carelessness did not contribute ”

“ It is your duty, and a duty dictated by common sense and prudence, on approaching a crossing, to do so carefully and cautiously, both for the sake of your own passengers and those travelling by rail.” [180]
“Yes,” chimed in my friend, “Chief Baron Pollock says, that a railway track per se is a warning of danger to those about to go upon it, and cautions them to see whether a train is coming.” [181]
“One must judge and act reasonably in crossing a track,” I continued. “One must not blindly and willfully drive upon it whether there is danger to be apprehended from his doing so or not. ”

“ Even if luggage is never given to a railroad servant but kept by the passenger in his own possession, still in the eye of the law it is considered to be in the custody of the company, so as to render them responsible for the loss. ”

“ C. J. Coleridge once remarked in the hearing of a friend of mine, that there may be no negligence in the company’s servants allowing too many persons to get into a carriage, as it would be difficult at all times to prevent it, and perhaps there would be no help for it until the arrival at the next station. But permitting an extra number to remain in the car and to continue to impose undue restraint and discomfort upon the other passengers is evidence of negligence; and companies should have a sufficient number of attendants at each station to see that their cars are not overcrowded. ”

“ In England all the servants of the same person, or company, engaged in carrying forward the common enterprise—although in different departments, widely separated or strictly subordinated to others—are fellow servants and are bound to run the hazard of any negligence or wrong doing which may be committed by any of their number, [629] and it makes no difference that the negligence is imputed to a servant of superior authority, whose directions the other was bound to obey. ”

“ I queried.
“Yes,” replied my friend, who was suffering from an acute attack of cacoethes loquendi, “and if in assuming to carry out what he is legally empowered to do, he forcibly removes from the cars (without any excuse) a passenger who has paid his fare, he will be liable for the assault; but if while being removed the man should slip, fall, and be injured, the company will not be responsible for his scratches and bruises, or his sprains and strains, such things being the remote, and not the proximate consequences of the ejectment.” ”

“ As to carriers of goods or baggage taking pay and giving checks or tickets through, the first company is ordinarily liable for the entire route; [640] and in England it has been decided [641] that where a railway company contracts to carry a passenger from one terminus to another, and on the journey the train has to pass over the line of another railway company, the company issuing the ticket incurs the same responsibility as that other company, over whose line the train runs and by whose default the accident happens, would incur if the contract to carry had been entered into by them. ”

“ But where a man rode free of charge on an engine, after the engineer had told him that it was against the rules for him to do so, it was held that he was a wrong-doer, and could not recover for injuries sustained while he bestrode the iron horse, as the consent of the engineer conferred no legal right. [513] If, however, passengers are carried, and charged fare, in the caboose car (whatever that may be) of freight trains, they have the same right to be conveyed safely as if luxuriating in a gorgeous Pullman palace car, [514] and so where one rides on a gravel train. ”

“ I responded, “all jurists are agreed that railway companies are only liable for negligence, either proximate or remote, and not for injuries happening to passengers from unforeseen accident or misfortune, where there has been no negligence or default on the part of the carrier; [476] still it is the bounden duty of a company to use due and proper care and skill in conveying travellers; and this duty laid upon them does not arise from any contract made between the company and the persons conveyed by them, but is one which the law imposes. ”

“ Where persons are in the habit of crossing a line at a particular place, though there is no right of way there, still the responsibility of taking reasonable precautions in their use of such place is thrown upon the company. [262]
The omission to give the signals required by statute, such as, ringing the bell or sounding the whistle, constitutes a primâ facie case of negligence; still, to make the company liable for damages, the injury must be the result of the want of the signal, and the onus of showing this will not be upon the company, but upon the plaintiff. ”

“ In Vermont and Maine, as well as in Massachusetts, it has been held that if one is driving or travelling on Sunday, without excuse, he cannot maintain an action against the municipality for any damage he may suffer through defects in the highway, on the ground that the town is not legally liable to furnish a man with a safe highway at a time when he is by law forbidden to travel on it. ”

“ The public has a right to presume that if the proper warnings are not given at a crossing, that the speed of the train will be reduced; if not, to [Pg 90] prevent an injured one getting damage it must be proved that he was rash. The company will be liable if he kept a proper lookout, though he was incautious in going on the track. [264]
Every one attempting to cross a railroad should do it with his eyes open. He should listen for the signals, notice all the signs that may be put up as warnings, and look up and down the road. ”

“ Angell tells us that if, a man, not on his own side, suddenly meets another and an injury results, he who is voluntarily in the wrong must answer for all damages, unless the other individual could have avoided the accident. ”

“ If passengers excluded, by regulations, from the ladies’ car cannot find seats in the regular coaches and there is room in the privileged place, they must not be kept standing; but it is the officers of the train who must determine who shall, or who shall not, be allowed to enter the presence of the ladies; one has no right to enter or attempt an entrance by force. If one being unable to find a seat elsewhere go peaceably into the ladies’ car without being forbidden, he cannot then be removed by violence, unless a seat in another carriage is offered to him and he refuses to move. ”

“ A road which passes over a bank or bridge, or along a precipice, should always be properly guarded. [95] It seems that in the States of Vermont and Massachusetts corporations will be held liable for injuries (caused by defective ways) which are primarily imputable to pure accident (that is to an unexpected occurrence or event for which no one is responsible) , if the accident happened without the fault of the injured one, and is such that common prudence could not have foreseen or guarded against, and if without the defect it would not have occurred. ”

“ I knew that few men were bold enough to fight a great railway company on any question, and especially one involving a small amount, and that as a result of this railways have been virtually exempt from the penalties attaching to many breaches of duty and of contract which they are daily committing ”

“ The reason of the law is, that when a servant engages to serve a master he undertakes to run all the ordinary risks of the service, which includes, of course, the negligence of fellow servants acting in the discharge of their duty towards their common master. [627] If the rule was otherwise it might become very hard on the master; as Lord Abinger suggests, the footman who sits behind the carriage would have an action against his master if he came to grief through the negligence of the coach-maker or harness maker, or through the drunkenness, neglect, or want of skill of the coachee ”

“ Ryan, C. J., thought such a contention was much like saying that if one hired a dog to guard sheep against wolves, and the dog slept while a wolf made away with a sheep, the owner of the dog would be liable; but if the dog played wolf, and devoured the sheep himself, the owner would not be liable. Every woman has a right to assume that when she travels in a car she will meet nothing, see nothing, hear nothing, to wound her delicacy, or insult her womanhood. ”

“ Any one permitted to ride in a train as a passenger is entitled to demand and expect the same immunity from peril whether he pay for his seat or no; the confidence induced is a sufficient legal consideration to create a duty in the performance of the service undertaken; [543] so, if one is injured by the culpable negligence or want of skill of the company’s servants he is entitled to recover although he is a dead-head. [544] Thus, a newspaper reporter travelling on a free ticket—even if granted to another brother of the press ”