65 Ga. 631 | Ga. | 1880
This suit was brought against the Western & Atlantic Railroad Company, to recover damages for a horse killed by one of its trains, and for which the jury found a verdict in favor of the plaintiff for the sum of ninety dollars.
A motion was made for a new trial—because the evidence did not support the verdict, and because the court erred in the instructions given to the jury.
The killing was not denied, and the questions of value and diligence were the controlling matters in issue. The testimony was with the plaintiff on the value—-and under the decision of this court in the 61 Ga., 11, it was also with him in the matter of diligence.
Unless, therefore, the court erred in its charge, and refusal to charge, the judgment must be affirmed. The defendant requested the following charge'—'“That all the regulations prescribed in section 708 of the Code, as to blow-posts, and blowing and checking the trains, are intended solely as a means of insuring safety to persons or things on the crossings, or in the act of crossing, and do not apply to stock which is not on the crossing, or being driven across the same,” In lieu of the above request the court charged—“That the law requires railroad companies to establish blow-posts, and to blow the whistle four hundred yards before reaching a public crossing, and to continue to blow, to check the speed of the train, and continue to check so that they may stop if any person or thing should be crossing the track, and is intended to apply directly to the protection of such crossing.
“But if you believe this company failed to comply with this law, and that such failure contributed to the killing of the plaintiff’s horse, you may consider this in connection with all the other facts and circumstances of the case in determining whether or not the killing was caused by the negligence of the agents of the company.”
Judgment affirmed.