The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1894-05-25
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THE RELIEF DEPARTMENT IN COURT.
The decision Just handed down by the
supreme court of Nebraska in the case
of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
railroad company against Wymore will
open the eyes of the railroad officials to
the fact that their cleverly constructed
relief department is not III infallible
device to stave off suits for damages suf-
sered from injuries incurred by men in
the employ of the company. This suit
involves a ruling upon the validity of
the pretended contract of release which
every railroad employee is compelled to
enter if he wants to ecure the benefits
of the insurance and sick funds of the
relief department, but it goes only half
way to the core Of the matter. 1t de-
prives the railroad of a part of the al
legged immunity from liability for injuries
to employees and leaves the remainder of
the question to be decided when it shall
come up.
In this case it appears that the widow
of an employee who was killed in the
service of the railroad company was
suing for damages in her own behalf and
in the behalf of her children, although
the deceased had, as a member of the
relief department, signed a contract of
release and she herself had accepted the
insurance benefit due her and had re-
ceipted for it Sin full satisfaction and
discharge of all claims or demands on
account of or arising from the death of
said deceased which / now have or shall
hereafter have" The company, of
course, set this up as a bar to recovery,
but the court holds that, by accepting
such payment, the aggrieved patty does
necessarily waive her right of action;
further that neither the contract of the
deceased as a member of the relief depart
ment nor the acceptance OF the money
or release of liability on the part of the
widow operated to bar an action either
for her own benefit or the benefit of her
children. In other words, the railroad
company cannot force its employees t 0
contract away the rights of their wives
and children, nor will the acceptance of
an insurance benefit, to which the ben
efciary is entitled, serve to release the
railroad from all further liability.
So far as this decision goes, we'll and
good. 1t protects the widows and the
orphans from the rapacity of the rail-
road and the weakness of the railroad
employe. Let the court go a step further
and throw its shield about the railroad
employe himself. Let it say that an
injured employee still has a remedy at
law for damages against the company,
in spite of the i%niquitous pretended con-
tract which the relief department forces
upon him. Let the court do this and
the relief department will be relegated
to its proper place as a mutual benefit
and insurance association, instead of as
a cunning device to deprive sick and
crippled employees of their rights and to
keep the widows and orphans from re-
covering the indemnity which the law
allows them.-Omaha Bee.
SEVENTY MILES AN HOUR.
The special train bearing the Wander
bilt inspection party on the Lake Shore
recently made some fast time between
Cleveland and Buffalo. The run from
to Erie, a distance of e5H
miles, was made in IS minutes, including
a four minute stop at Ashtabula for water,
making the total running time for o5
miles 81 minutes. From Collinwood
yards an SO mile run was made in So
minutes, including another four minute
stop. From Co1linwood to Saybrook, a
distance of AZ miles, was made in 36
minutes, or at a rate of 70 miles an hour.
The u from Kingsville to Dock juno
ton, 80 miles, was made in 2S minutes,