Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-12-14

five cases out of a hundred We settle with
out recourse to the courts, and in the
naming Eve. three Of them Will never go to
trial.
Form Of Agreement.
"Quite an interesting paper to those who
have not seen 1t Is the printed form we
make claimants sign after paying them
compromise damages. Its makeup may in
terest your readers. 1t reads as follows:
Whereas. on the 14th day OF April, A.
d. 1887, i. George Henry Brown. a pas
senger on the killmequick Railroad Com
pany and as such passenger was travelling
on the aiicurve division, in the Haytown
district OF said railroad; and
Whereas, 1. George Henry Brown, re-
ceived certain injuries. to wit: A broken
arm. and
Whereas, /, the said George Henry
Brown. believe that my said injuries are the
direct result of the negligence CT said r.,ii-
road company, its officers, agents anu en-
ployes; and
Whereas, the said railroad company
denies any and all negligence on the part of
itself, Its officers, agents and employees, and
denies any and all liability for dam ages for
the injuries so as aforesaid by me sustained:
but, by reason of an oLer OF compromise
made by me. the said George Henry Brown.
for the purpose of avoiding litigation, to
receive and accept the sum of s1Gi. in full
accord and satisfaction Tor IL Claims for
damages which | may or might have either
at common law or d. virtue OF aGy ieSis-
lative enactment of the state of Michigan,
for the injuries aforesaid has paid 20 me
the said sum OF $780,
Now, therefore, in consideration of the
premises. and of the payment TO inc of the
aforesaid sum of Sloo. the receipt whereof |
do hereby acknowledge, I hereby remiss
release
the said The Kiiimequick Railroad Com
pany, its leased and operated lines OF and
from all actions. suits, claiols, reckonings
and demands for, on account CT, or arising
from the injuries so, as aforesaid, receiv ci
and any. every and all results hereafter
flowing therefrom.
WITNESS my hand and SEAL this 1ith
day of April, A. d. 1897
GEORGE HENRY BROWN.
"(Seal)
"'Slgned. sealed and delivered in the pres
ence Of Brussel Skage, George Ghoul.'
Minor Claims.
LAS to minor claims such as killing cattle
or locomotive setting fire to hay r1chs,
they are also very interesting and frequent
ly humorous. but they Go not involve quite
SO much money. Consequently a minor
grade OF ambitious adjusterj handle them.
and their WORK therein Is taken as a critic
rion for future promotion.
III one or our engines runs over cow,
one of our claim agents goes at once to the
owner and ascert- ms that we are 10 blame
Our fences are down. Our man c-fcrs tbs
farmer the price of the COW AM a little
more In an action at law ne is entitled 10
twice the value SHOULD il detc.Op, now
ever, that the COW in this case is pioneer
Of the royal blood. and a queen in her own
right. who has been living incoSnito in
America, and whose death alone has forced
confidential friends reveal
that she has a pedigree larger than the new
tariff bill, and that instead of being the
humble muley COW she was supposed by
the neighborS to be and worth about S0o,
she Is really worth 81. 600 or 5000, only
then We go to court. AS matter Of fact,
We no longer run over as much 'oiooded
stock as formerly. Time was when the
most valuable boars in the world were al
lowed to forage in the swamps of lower
.dichigan, but / think that our road killed
all the 81 500 hogs, and they are now rails
ing the plain razor-back, rarely worth more
than $40 each.
There is a better feeling between the
farmer and the railroad nowadays. One of
the attorneys of the Wabash road told me
only the other day that in three years they
had been called upon to defend but three
livestock cases. In one of these. for the
death of an $500 horse, the railroad left the
amount of damages to neishbor OF the
Plaintiff, and he declared for Sf2o.
The railroad passenger business Of the
country Is growing rapidly and, you
know, this year will stand for a long time
as a record breaker. Last year there were
$50, 95S,211 passengers transported, and OF
these one in each 1.49l $40 was killed and
one in each 1883 was injured. This is
comparatively small number and re-
joiced at the end of the year when we
counted up our record. Then We started
out very well on 1888. We knew the fair
traffic would be something tremendous, but
the first few months threw us somewhat off
our guard, the travel was very light.
several of our seasoned employees were laid
of Immediately. drifted east and went to
work with other roads. Then came the
great rush; not gradual but in a weeks
time 1t developed to almost its fullest limit
Our old hands could not be found and I'M
seasoned men were employed. This was
one great mistake of the year upon the part
Of the western railroad managers. 1 am
talking away from home now and can af-
ford to be frank. There are thousands of
competent, hard-working men employed
upon our western roads who are conscien-
tiously trying to do their duty, but the
green hands handicap them tremendously
Ii Is pity that the efforts these good men
are making to elevate their calling and win
the confidence of the public should be de-
feated by the parsimony of some of the
companies and by the lack of system with
which many of the western roads are run.
But then why should / kick? 1 get NV nice
salary every month and a claim adiuster's
Good day." -