18 Pa. Super. 346 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1901
Opinion by
The defendant, while coasting upon a bobsled on one of the streets of the city of Pittsburg with some other young men, struck and killed Frederick Weigel, whose wife recovered a judgment for damages for his death. A ca. sa. was issued. The court below on petition ordered the defendant’s discharge. The proviso of the Act of June 16, 1836, P. L. 729, is, “that if the petitioner shall be in custody or imprisonment at the time of such order by virtue of process issued upon any judgment obtained against him in an action founded upon actual force, .... where the damages found by the jury shall exceed one hundred dollars, or if such petitioner shall be afterwards arrested by virtue of process issued upon any such judgment obtained against him previously to such order, he shall not be entitled to be discharged from such imprisonment or arrest until he shall have been in actual confinement during a term of at least sixty days.”
This case does not involve a critical analysis of the meaning of the words “ actual force.” Conceding that actual force was the cause of Weigel’s death, is that force the foundation of the widow’s action for damages ? We answer the question with a negative. At common law the wife had no right of action for injury sustained by her by reason of the death of her husband. Her right of action is founded upon the provisions of the act of
We affirm the order of the court below.