91 So. 732 | La. | 1922
The tracks of the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific Railway Company, running east and west, are intersected at right angles by the tracks of the Louisiana & Northwest Railroad, running north and south, at Gibbsland, in the parish of Bienville. Situated in the southwestern angle formed by the two tracks is the station of the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific Railway jointly used by both railroad systems for the accommodation of passengers.
On the night of February 17, 1920, A. Chester Taylor, son of plaintiffs, was at this station in the waiting room for white passengers, in order to take passage for. Shreveport on train No. 11 of the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific Railway. That train was late, and only reached the station about 1:30 a. m. February 18th, when Taylor was killed in the following manner. On the track of the Louisiana & Northwest Railroad was a gondola car directly across the track of the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific Railway, and the latter road’s train No. 11, coming from an easterly direction at considerable speed, ran into the gondola car, causing a derailment of the engine, which was precipitated against the wall of the waiting room, situated only a few feet from the intersection of the two tracks. Taylor, who was in the waiting room or coming out of same, was struck by some of the flying timbers of the demolished station and instantly killed.
These facts' are undisputed, and the negligence of the engineer in control of the engine of the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific train No. 11 is not denied.
Plaintiffs brought this suit grounded upon these facts against the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific Railroad Company and the Director General of Railroads for various items of damages aggregating $50,000.
The district court rendered judgment in favor of plaintiffs and against both defendants in the' sum of $7,500, and from that judgment both the plaintiffs and the defendants have appealed.
There are two questions presented for decision on these appeals:
(1) Whether the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific Railroad Company should be dismissed from the suit; and
(2) Whether the quantum of damages should be changed by being increased or decreased.
It seems clear to us from the language of this order that the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific Railroad Company should be dismissed from the suit. Peacock v. Detroit Grand Haven & Milwaukee R. R. Co., 208 Mich 403, 175 N. W. 580, 8 A. L. R. 964, and the authorities therein cited. Missouri Pacific R. R. Co. and Walker D. Hines, Dir. Gl. v. H. A. Ault, 256 U. S. 554, 41 Sup. Ct. 593, 65 L. Ed. 1087.
We understand that plaintiffs’ objection to the dismissal of the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific Railroad Company from the suit rests on the ground that the demand of the company to be dismissed comes too late, and that it is estopped for having stated in its
For these reasons the judgment appealed from is hereby avoided and set aside, and it is now ordered adjudged and decreed that plaintiffs, Henry C. Taylor and his wife, Georgia Taylor, have judgment against and recover of James O. Davis, ■ United States Director General of Railroads and Agent, the sum of $5,000, with legal interest from judicial demand, and all costs of court.
It is further ordered that plaintiffs’ demand as against the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific Railway Company be dismissed, costs .of appeal to be paid by plaintiffs.