Wilmington daily gazette., 1874-05-21
New Castle County Court
THE CASE OF LYMAN VS. THE P, W.
& B. R. R. co.

MON SUIT.
(Reported for the Ddiiy Gazette)
NEW CASTLE DEL, May 20, 1874.
Court opened this metnng at l0lI o'clock
Sudges Gilpin, Wooteu and Houston On the
bench.
In the case OF Del, Fire Ins Co. vs. Gottleb
Rehfuss the jury returned 4 verdict of so p
damages for plaintiff.
Mr.. Bird proceeded with the railroad case, oler-
ing in evidence MIR. Lyuams deeds Tor the land |
now occupied by him and called Mr.. John X. |
Lyman, who swore substantially ns follows Il
live the lne oi the l.. w. " II. II. IT,, 200
or 800 yards below Newport, and between that
place and Stanton, and have lived there since
1854. The lane crossing the Railroad near my
house leads 10 the Newport pike aud ia 100 or
more yards lopg. My house Is about thirty -sev-
ell steps from the bed oil the Railroad track.
There plinks ut the crossing, over which
the Railroad company exercises supervision
There is no other way Of egtess or ingress eN
cept this lane any where near my house. L
bought this land from the executors ot 1hos
Latmer and from MIR. kennedy and wife. Cross
| exainincd.-Ihis lane is mine in lee SIMPLE and
| own all the land on side ul 1t. / sold
three acres to the liairoad company and received
| 500 % for them. 1 made objection 10 the
| building OF the road. There was An argument
between the company and iue OF which have no
copy No deeds passed as could not agree
upon terms land out this lane aud the company
graded 1t.
Adde 5. Lyman testified in substance as fol
l0ws:-l have lived with John Il. Lyman my
| father all my lie. l remember the night ot the
| accident. That day 1 was III Wilmington at
| school aud was coming home 18th my sister-u-
law (the PLAINTIFF and Gilbert l.. Lyman, my
nephew; left the city at about SIX O'Clock. The
night was dark. Mrs. Lyman was driving at "A
slow trot The ground being slippery, and the
horse smooth shod, and the road soncw hat hilly,
we did not reach the head OF our lano until
about =. III. The lane Is at night angles with
the road Our horse Is perfectly used TO cars
land have been near cars with him. Mrs. Ly-
nam ls used TO driving; | knew the usual time
| within ten minutes when the trains were due
at our crossing. 1 knew this tralu which struck
| as was due At b 20 or 30 p. III. A. We ap
preached the Railroad We looked to see II there
were amy trains coming. | sure We looked
, as l made the remark II can u light IN
cousin Dil's house" l saw no locomotive light;
Dals house is towards Stanton; have seen
lights there similar to this one before.
know what headlight ls and | have
often seen them from our house, beyond
lStanton bridge two miles OH. After II
emerges from the bridge you do DOT lose
sight OF 1t, and as it approaches 1t liumi
: mates every thing around The reelection is
Thrown lar enough To give ample time Il
cross tho Railroad at the lane; did not stol
= our horse 10 listen, but looked and saw M
: head light and heard no noise. The horse
D was iu motion when the carriage wa,
struck. ! know Eothing about what hap
pened after.
Cross examlned-We we're in two seate,
IGermantown wagon with curtains rolet
;. up; we we're On the front seat. the liant
: las In good condition. Dom recolloct any
! | remark made by me about the trains pass
ing or wondering had they passed. Thei
- we arrives, at The Railroad, We kept OF
| passing al the same pace. From the moutl
OF the lane TO the first track thoro Is ampl
room TO stop, aud there is also IA short dis
tRnce between the two tracks. our gait
"opens on the inside and was OF en- tina
h night Think train could he heard
good ways On the road On clear night
Don't know whether this was heavy tan
- or not. Can hear heavy trains sometime
lin my room. We constantly soc train
M pass our house. Have seen them backing
20 put very rarely. Naver SAW IL lantern o.
the rear car Then. From fathers lane {
'k Mrs. Lyuam's house Is about n mile an
she lives near Stanton, back apiece iron
the railroad. Cousin Dal's house is iarthe
n off, near tho lsalroad anu about OnG-ha
ey | mile from stanton bridge. The lights use
- in these houses are coal oil lamps OF the or
4 dinary kink. On clear night. when
? train ls coming, you can SEQ notbiug but tn
u headlight. Sometimes sparks ly from til
n. stack, The Company run more froign
= trains at night than by day. The roll {
r our carriage could have desdeued the SCUM
o, of an approaching tram. In stopping be
nj tw cen the mouth OF the lane and the hr:
AL track we would have had hardly room
stand. We relied on the headlight Il
Iwarning. Mrs. Lyman had on wate
Iproot hood and hat; had on hat and GI
bert had on hat only. ! don't think
mad on comforter. We heard and sa
Iuothiny until struck. | have u suit pend
Ing.
Gilbert l.. Lyman testified substantial
as the proceeding witness, aud denied pos
lively that he had told JONES Harris
VIM. ii. Baldwin or Geo. =. Lindall or an
body else, that he saw the train before the
/ IN a erOsSipp lint fhDnVht thAk ms
I. time enough to get out OF the way. NothiI
. else was elected.
nj Henry Whitley sworn Il live at North Ia.
IND. | was at the depot that night and saw Tia
MI train. The locomotive had no headlight Ii "
" dark then | took that tram to WHINING ton.
fThe rate OF speed after leaving Newark was Id
ter than ordinary The first notice l got
anything wrong was the stoppage of the ira
between Newport and Wilmington. The ira
backed part OF the distance and 1 walked the IL
to the place of accident asked n man ia the III
-, form OF the railroad what was the matter, and
~ answered "nothiug." thea walked back Il
nes was heavy train.
Edward K. Wilson sworn - live near No
= port on Christmas Eve, 1872, got On the ira
lat Newark, bound north. The train was due
I5:l3, Z. M, and did not arrive until G.3j 81
,sh the locomotive at the station waiting for anoh
train TO pass there was no headlight but n sm
hand lantern tied under the reflector; 1t "
!! such a lantern conductors use, made of Gle
= white glass. l asked n mau in railroad unifrC
When went TO get on why the headlight W
not lit, and he said he did not know. but thong
the oil was frozen l told hlm thought 1t W
dangerous to run that way. lie replied that II
would mind my own business they would atte
Ito theirs. 1 think this man was a brakesma
,ds hs had badge with letters, could not see VIII
on his hat, and WAS attending 10 tho brakes.
am In the habit OF riding ON this road, and In
ant done SO at least once week tor the past twer
ing vaars The rate of speed was about as fast as
VIZ usual on that night. | remember when the ac