Rufus Wheeler Peckham

“ The car might jump the track. A hundred different things might happen which would lead to a delay, and hence to the probability of an accident. It was not necessary that the driver should foresee the very thing itself which did cause the delay. ”

“ We have carefully examined the various points raised by the learned counsel for the steam-railroad company, and are of opinion that they show the existence of no material errors in the conduct of the trial which could or in any way did prejudice the company. There was proper and sufficient evidence submitted to the jury on the question of the employment of the gateman by the steam-railroad company. ”

“ If a new force or power has intervened of itself sufficient to stand as the cause of the misfortune, the other must be considered as too remote.' In one sense there was in that case a new cause existing, in the fact that the explosion caused a fire in another building first, and that the fire was carried by the wind from that building to the building in question, and not from the building in which the explosion occurred, and so it was claimed that the fire in the building covered by the policy was not directly caused by the explosion ”

“ The court charged the jury that if they should find from the evidence that the female plaintiff either jumped off the car in a reasonable effort to avoid injury from collision, or was pushed or thrown from the car by some other passenger or passengers endeavoring in a reasonable manner to avoid injury from such collision, and was thereby injured, then the plaintiffs were entitled to recover. ”

“ It is not so much the manner of leaving the car as it was the exciting cause that operated upon her, either directly, and caused her to jump to save herself, or upon others, whose actions were justifiably incited by the impending danger, and, by natural, impulsive movement, forced her from the car. ”

“ In the other case the druggist sold an article harmless in itself, mistaking it for another article, also harmless in itself; but another person afterwards intermixed the article sold with another article, making thereby a dangerous explosive, from which injury was suffered. It was held that there could be no recovery against the druggist because the sale was not the proximate cause of the accident. ”

“ In either case her fall to the ground and injury were the direct consequences of the apparent and impending danger produced by the negligent conduct of the defendants' servants and employees. There is therefore no such variance as should defeat the plaintiffs' right to recover, if the facts were found to exist, as we must assume they were, according to the hypothesis of the instruction given by the court. ”