The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-06-20

| peri RtlSn|lOn throughout lne
Countrywide Evidence ImpartiaIly
and Carefully Reviewed-Points in
Which the Judge Charged the Jury
and Points Which He Reserved.
After claiming the attention of the
court for eleven days the case of DR..
d. b. Hand against the Central Penn
sylvania Telephone and Supply COM
pany was given to the jury at 11.45
yesterday morning At 2 o'clock last
evening the jury agreed and sealed its
verdict.
1t is one of the most interesting aud
hardest fought court cases ever tried in
this county, The plaintiff was repre-
sented by Attorneys S. b. Price, G. r.
Pitcher and j. Elliot Ross, and the de-
fendant company by Major Everett
Warren and Attorney Candor, Of Will
Transport. The greater part Of the
work Of examining witnesses was
performed by MIR. Price and Mr.. War
rem. IL was superb legal battle
throughout. in which the resources of
the attorneys were ut times severely
tested. As an Object lesson Of the man
ner in which case should be tried it
was most interesting. and was watched
with close attention by lawyers, more
especially by the younger members Of
the bar.
DR.. Hand sued to recover damages
for injuries alleged to have beeu sus-
tained on Sept. 6, 1889, at West Lacka-
wanna avenue AMI Ninth street in this
city. The doctor was driving up Lacka.
wanna avenue and at Ninth street his
horse stepped on wire lying on the
ground. The animal received an cleo.
trio shock, was killed and fell to the
ground,
DOCTOR RECEIVED A SHOCK.
DR.. Hand left his buggy and attempt.
ed to raise the horse by taking hold of
the bride. lie claims that he received
y shock of electricity that made shim
very sick at the time and caused him to
vomit. That was not all. From the
effects of the shock he declares that be
wGs permanently injured, one Of his
arms being partially paralyzed, and
il has since wasted away noticeably.
For these injuries he asked damages
from the telephone company, whose
wire he contends did all the mischief
by falling aud coming in contact with q
guy wire holding trolley wire of
the traction company in place.
From the guy wire the end OF the
telephone wire fell to the ground, and
when the horse stepped on it be ro-
ceived a shock direct from the trolley
wire. The case, Of course, hinges on
the question OF negligence on the part
Of the company. 1t is maintained that
the defendant was negligent.
Firat-Because its telephone wires should
have been guarded to avoid poss.bl con-
tact with trolley wire or any part Of the
system connected Herewith.
Second-Because the wire which fell was
eaten through by rust.
Third-Because the company had notice
that the wire was down and had sufficient
time before the accident occurred in which
TO have repaired it.
FIRST OF THE KIND.
The case practically opens up new
field of jurisprudence. 1t is the first
case tried in this county growing out
of damage caused by electricity di.
rectly and is pioneer in that class of
litigation. The silent force is now
being employed 30 extensively that tho
future will probably develop many
somewhat similar cases, AT the pres
ent, however, there is little legislation
bearing directly On such cases, and
there were few legal landmarks to
guide the trial of the cause
Judge Archibald, before whom the
case was tried, decided that for the
purposes of the case. by analogy
it might be made to conform to the
conditions that must be observed
for the safety Of public by other COM
panies that perform public functions.
He likened it to steam road company
that uses locomotives. Such com.
panies, for the protection of the prop.
erty in the territory through which
their engines pass, are compel led to
adopt the latest and best known spark
arresters. IL they take such precau.
tions they cannot be held liable for
damages. In like manner he held that
telephone company should adopt the
best known means of protecting its
wires against the introduction Of any
foreign current.
1t was held by the defense that the
wire that killed DR.. Hands horse was
not owned by them but was the prop
erty of the Postal Telegraph company
that there was no duty it owed to the
public in the construction and mainte'
nance of its wires that it had not per.
formed; that DR.. Hand could not have
received o shock personally, the evi-
dence being that the horse fell on the
wire which would completely ground
it and pass the current into the earth.
DENIED THAT HE WAS INJURED,
II was further held that even il DR..
Hand could have sustained shock the
effects were only temporary and insig-
nifcant, The evidence Of the medical
experts for the defense sustained this
position by stating that DR.. Hand is not
now suffering from any serious physi'
cal trouble Whatever difficulty there
is with his arms or other parts OF his
body they said were attributable to the
numerous accidents DR.. Hand had sus.
taiued from time to time. and for
which he secured indemnity from acci.
dent insurance companies.
There were large number OF med
ical and electrical experts called upon
to testify by the plaintiff and defend
ant, among them being Professor
Thomas d. Lockwood, of Boston, recog-
nized as one Of the greatest electrical
experts in the country. He is the en-
Rineer Of the American Bell Telephone
company, and is the author Of several
works on electricity. which have been
translated into foreign languages. One
Of his books has just been translated
into Japanese. He left this city last
Saturday and went direct to Boston to
testify in the case Of the United States
against the Bell Telephone company to
rescnd certain patents held by the Bell
company. The abundance OF expert
testimony made the case one of
uncommon interest to the medical and
electrical people, many Of whom were
DrpaaDt durinrr tho yvhoIo trial