Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1882-04-28

neglect.
grown woman in Pennsylvania S,l,
tanned a singular injury in ali.rhiinr
The train was stationary The wolnar
WAS assisted by her husband On step
ping downward from the loves, step o
the car she advanced her let foot fore
most To the ground, keeping her RICH
foot on the step. While she held tha
position, and without any apparen
cause, her right ki.cc-rap snapped ant
was fractured. There was no slipping
or stumbling. no blow or force OF IN,
kind. She brought suit. ascribinr tn,
casualty to strain attributable To tn,
step being eXtravagantly high from III,
ground. The company denied that the
step was unusually high, and said tia;
the injury could only be attributed tC
some constitutional weakncS, of th,
ladys knee; and they brought Il witnes,
or two to show that the left knec-cal
had previously been broken almost a,
unaccountably. The Court said the jur,
must decide as well as theycould whcth
Or the injury was attributable 10 any
negligence on tie part of the company
If it was fortuitous ii it could not
have been anticipated and provided
against was no liability. But i'll
a case like this negligence must be af-
firmatively proved. There was IL,
ground for prcsumin2 it. The ears
were at standstill; there was 10 lar oi
breaking of machinery; the lady was
alighting without any interference from
the company; and. if the step appeared
too high. she might haycdemandcd bet
ter facilities,
A car on the Northern Pacific Road
left the track. and, rs it WAS bouncing
along. one of the passengers enieavore1
to save himself by rushing to the plat
form and jumping off He was badly
hurt, but, as the result proved, he
would probably have been safe if he had
remained in the ear. The company
urged that the injury was clearly his
own fault. But the Court said that the
wisdom of jumping in such Il case is no:
to be determined by the result The
passenger must Judge of the compare
tempting 10 get of by the circumstances
as they appear 10 him. lie has to act
upon the probabilities III ihe time. The
jury must Judge the ease in the same
way. If the leap was an act which a
person of ordinary prudence might do
under the circumstances. ii does not
prevent the passenger from recovering
damages.
Two regent eases have occurred Of in
IN Il IL. l..
ing knocked from the top of Il car by :,
bridge over the road. Both have been
decided, in accordance with previous
decisions, that company is not bound
toward employees To place ia bridges
high enough to admit OF a man standing
erect on car underneath. Injury from
low bridge is one of the risks of 4 brake
mans employment.
An Illinois decision discusses the ef-
feet of conductors urging person to
dangerous act. A long freight train
ran into the city of Knoxville and was
left standing on the track in such posi-
ton that the middle part of the train
stood opposite street, and thus the ears
obstructed any one in crossing. This
street was the natural passage forpcr,ons
coming to take passenger trains. The
trainmen ought to have divided the
freight train; but they had not done so.
Mr.. Sykes. approaching with intention
of boarding an expected irain, found
himself hindcred by the freight ears. and
stopped on the sidewalk. hc>iiating how
TO cross. The conductor called TO him.
"Come Gil under: you will have plenty
of time" Thus encouraged. Mr.. sykes
tried to creep under the freight cars, bit
ut that moment the engineer started
them, and Atr. Sykes Wa fatally injured.
The Court said that !; rnn'iuctor has not
unlimited authority Ia invite persons Ia
take risks. and a trav.': ." passenger is
not justified in doinc i. nat is evidently
f0Olhardy because conductor tells him
to. But, under circu' anccs like these,
the jury might well ccl>ider the compa-
ny as doubly liable: l, for fault in not
dividing the train; :. for the conductor S
invitation. The negligence, if any. at
tributable to Sykes. was too slight TO de-
feat an action for dam1gcs.
The question has Often been discussed
what agents haze authority 20 bind the
company by calling a physician or sur
seon to treat 4 person suddenly injured
BY railroad accident A laborcr on the
Atchison & Nebraska Railroad had his
foot nearly cut of by some accident
with the machinery in use, and the
"boss" Of the gang in which he was
working telegraphed to the General
Superintendent to know If ho might
"get doctor for him" The Superin-
tendent telegraphed in answer: Yes
do all you can to save the foot and make
him comfortable" The Court held that
by this telegram from the General SUI
perintendent the boss" was authorized
to employ physician or surgeon, and
also to engage reasonable board while
the foot was being treated. Board and
care while one is suffering from wound
are within the direction to make him
comfortable" And it was not necessary
to wait for formal letter signed by the
Superintendent il telegram was suili-
cient When IN employc goes TO = tel.
egraph Office and sends dispatch To
his superior, and in short timo receives
from the same operator what purports
to be an answer from his superior to his
dispatch, he is warranted in presuming
that the dispatch received is genuine,
and in acting according TO it.-Rait-
road Ga.c1c.
Charlotte l;rontc thought it was
wrong for her sisters to make their he
roines, as i matter of course, beautiful.
They differed with her. and said it was
impossible to make them interesting il
plain. Her opinion not coinciding with
theirs, she offered to prove that she was
right-that she could make Il heroine, as
small and plain as herself. Us interesting
as any Of their own, and thus began the
novel of Jane Eyre"
"A wholesale grocery firm AT Erie
Pa. has steadily missed bank bills from
its cash drawer a few days ago work
men discovered Il large mouse-nest
made entirely of paper money, immedi.
ately back of the cash receptacle. Many
Of the notes were uniDjured