71 Wis. 472 | Wis. | 1888
The facts of this case are substantially and briefly as follows: The plaintiff was the wife, and brings this suit as administratrix, of Edward 0. Quackenbush, deceased. The deceased was the conductor on a train of flat cars engaged in ballasting the .railroad of the defendant between the stations of Thorp and Oadott, east of Chippewa Falls, about the 8th day of July, 1881. That part of the road had been open for general business since November, 1880. The flat cars had been loaded with surfacing material at a pit lying westerly of Oadott, and was pulled by the engine to a point between the stations of Thorp and Stanley, and there unloaded, and was then being pushed by the engine back towards Stanley station. When about three miles west of said station, the train collided with a heifer upon the track, and was derailed, and the lifeless remains of the deceased were found among the wreck. At the moment of the collision the deceased was on the westerly portion of the train. It was claimed by the appellant that so pushing the train on that part of the track was a violation of the rules of the company, to the knowledge of the deceased.
At about 600 feet easterly from the place of the accident one MacDonough had established a place for the- delivery of piles cut from adjoining land on the defendant’s right of
The vital and important questions in the case are — First. Whether the statute makes the defendant absolutely liable for the damages caused by the failure to so fence its road; and, second, if the statute does make the company so absolutely liable, whether it is constitutional. It is true the
We find no error in the record.
By the Court.— The judgment of the circuit court is affirmed.