Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1893-01-06
Bismarck, January 3, 1893.
Supreme Court Decisions.

supreme VOuCC OeClslOHs.
Five decisions were Thursday handed
down by the supeme court, being a por-
ton of the cases argued at the recent
Grand Forks term. III the case of A. H.
Parker VS.. First National bank of Lisbon,
which was an action brought OH the law of
1889. providing that persons threshing
grain should have a lien on the same until
their services were paid, the Judgment of
the district court of Ransom county was
reversed, the court holding "in order to
preserve a lien for threshing grain under
chapter IS, laws of Dakota Territory TOR
1889, the statement which that statute
directs shall be filed, must contain a de-
%scription of the land whereon the grain
upon which the lien is claimed, was grown.
| No party is entitled to a lien under The
provisions of that chapter unless he owns
and operates the machine with which the
threshing was done. An action for the
conversion Of personal property nno be
maintained unless plaint.f II was in possess
sion or held a legal right to Immediate
possession of the property converted at
the time of the conversion" Opinion by
Bartholomew, j.
O. Nj. English VS.. j. ID. Goodman came
up from Stutsman county and was brought
to recover for work and labor performed
under a special contract. At the trial in
the district court the jury returned a
| sealed verdict as follows: I'VE, the jury,
find for the plaintiff and against the defend
ant" Upon this verdict the court ordered
judgment fer the plaintiff for his amount
sued fOr-$5O. Affirmed, the supreme
court holding that lin a case where the
sole issue is plaintiffs right to recover any
thing OF defendant. and where the amount
due, if anything, is admitted by the plead
ings and where the jury returns Il general
verdict in favor OF plaintiff and agains: de-
PENDANT without fixing the amount OF the
recovery, it is not error prejudic'al to the
defendant for the court to order judgment
for plaintiff for the amount admitted by
the pleadings." Opinion per curiam.
George A. Bennett VS.. Northern Pacific
Railroad company was also a Stutsman
county case, and was appealed by Bennett
from all order of Judge Rose directing the
jury to find for the defendant. Reversed
and a new trial ordered. the following
syllabus being filed: "Plaintitf, IL switch
man in the employ of defendant, was di-
rected by the foreman of the switching
crew to assist him in coupling an engine
to a flat car. According 10 som of the
evidence the drawhead of the car sunk
flush with the end of the car when the
engine struck the car, and plaintiff was
caught between the car and engine and
injured. The evidence showed that the
play of the drawbar was from one to four
inches, and that this drawbar was ten or
twelve inches long. Held. sufficient evil
dence of defendants negligence to require
the submission of that question to the
Jury. The track ON which the coupling
was made was a curved one and plaintiff
was standing on the footboard of the en-
CINE ON the inside Of the curve at the time
he was injured. There was no evidence
as to the degree of the curve. Held, that
he was not negligent as Il matter of law in
remaining there to help in making the
coupling. Nor was he guilty OF contrib