120 Ga. 1050 | Ga. | 1904
The plaintiff in error, J. C. Box, brought suit against the Atlantic and Birmingham Railroad Company, to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have been sustained under the following circumstances: The plaintiff, who had taken passage on defendant’s train at Waycross, made ready to alight when the train arrived at Upchurch, his destination, but by “ reason of defendant’s negligence said train was, by the agent of said defendant, caused to start forward before petitioner had time to alight from said train, and which he was attempting to do when he had reached the steps and was holding by his hands to the railing; he discovered the speed of the train was increasing and he determined not to get off, and just at this time some one behind him broke his hold of the railing, and, having no other support as he stood on the steps of the train, and by reason of the speed of the train and the motion and jerking thereof, petitioner was thrown from said train to the ground.” The railroad company demurred both generally and specially to the plaintiff’s petition. With a view to meeting the special grounds of demurrer, he offered an amendment which embraced the following allegations: “ Said defendant’s train was not stopped a reasonable length of time for plaintiff to alight and safely leave said train; . . at the time his hold on the railing was broken loose,.the platform of the train, or the steps on which he was standing, was crowded with people; . . he does not know who was employed or who was a passenger, or their names, his back being towards them in his effort to alight from the train in the limited time. The train was stopped, and in the hurry and confusion of the passengers to get off, some one behind him, either a passenger or some one employed, the name or names of which he
As has heretofore been several times ruled by this court, a motion for a nonsuit does not present the question whether or not a cause of action is alleged in the plaintiff’s pleadings, but only the question whether or not he has proved his case as laid. See Kelly v. Strouse, 116 Ga. 882, and cit. So the real point we are called on to determine in this case is whether the trial judge correctly held, as recited in the second ground of his order of nonsuit, that the facts prove'd by the plaintiff were insufficient to establish his alleged right to recover. After a careful review of the evidence relied on by him, we have reached the conclusion that he failed to prove his case as laid. The following is a summary of the evidence introduced, bearing upon the- liability of the company: The plaintiff hims.elf swore: When the train reached Upchurch, he arose from his seat in the rear car and started towards the rear platform, with the intention of getting off. When he got to the steps the train was running, and when he reached the bottom step a “fellow” whom he did not know said to him : “ I will help you get off.” This unknown person then took hold of plaintiff’s hand and (as the latter expressed it) “threw [him] off while the train was running.” The train was then running pretty fast. “ There was motion of the train, pretty
The plaintiff also introduced as a witness Walker, who testified : “ When the train rolled up to Upchurch, . . it came to a standstill, but it did not remain there; it just stopped and started. About the time the train stopped, I got up to get off the train, and Box was coming on behind me, and he turned .to the opposite side on which I was getting off. The train was.then moving some little bit, and he did not get off right at once, but
It may be conceded that the foregoing evidence, which was all the plaintiff offered, established his contention that the defendant company was guilty of negligence in not stopping at the station a reasonable time in order to allow him and other passengers an opportunity to alight with safety. But it is to be noted that the theory upon which the plaintiff framed the amendment to his petition was that the company’s negligence in this regard was the proximate cause of the injury, for the reason that it caused hurry and confusion amongst the passengers who wished to get off, and that some unknown person, in his anxiety to alight while there was yet time, pressed on behind plaintiff, breaking his hold on the railing and causing him to be thrown off by the motion of the train. In other words, the plaintiff’s contention, as set forth in his pleadings, was, that the starting of the train after these passengers had reached the platform, but before they had an oppor
Judgment affirmed.