Omaha daily bee., 1899-11-22
BABY GIRL GOES TO COURT
T ve.Year.0ld Bessie Boasa Sues III,
Burlington Route
sH: WANTS A LARGE SUM FOR DAMAGES
Petitioner Alleges Personal Injury by
Contact with Burlington Freight
Cars-Cnsc on Trial BE-
fore Judge keysor.

a little girl with a manned right hand,
and whose limited comprehension has never
lifted her beyond her A, b, C's, was carried
into Judge Keysor's court room yesterday,
where she is plaintiff in litigation in
volving 100000 The little one played about
her mothers knee, unconscious OF the promi-
nent part she has in the case, while the
lawyers engaged in spirited argument At
the mention OF her name she looked UP in
frightened way, probably wondering what
the men with the loud voices were talk
ing about.
Bessie Bonsa Is the name of the child.
She is years old She is suing, through
her father, Frank Bonsa, the Burlington
railroad company for damages on account
OF alleged personal injuries. Little Bessie
is probably the youngest party to any law
suit that has been before the Omaha courts
in many years.
The Bonsas, who are said to be very poor,
live at Sixth and Pacific streets. railroad
sidotrack runs in front OF their squalid
home. fence separates the narrow front
yard from the tracks, but children OF the
tenants in that neighborhood find 1t easy to
get through the gates. and then they are
upon the tracks.
The petitioner alleges that on June 20,
1897, when she was years old she was
playing along the sidetrack, in company
with a sister eight years her senior
string Of freight cars came rumbling along
the track, 1t is alleged. The elder sister,
standing few feet away. saw the peril Of
the baby girl and rushed to the rescue. AS
the story goes, the 3-year- was dragged
from the track just as the wheels were
bearing down upon her, and that in this
hair breadth escape she suffered the loss Of
one finger on the right hand and severe
bruises about the body, particularly the
limbs.
The petition sets forth that by reason Of
the casualty the nervous system of the child
has been wrecked, and that in addition to
losing the finger Que of her lower limbs is
cruehed so that it is practically useless The
usual allegation of mental anguish doctor
bills, future blight, and so on, occupies a
prominent place in the petition, and, Of
course negligence is charged.
The Defense in answering, denies that the
injury is so serious as alleged, and emphat-
ically denies that negligence contributed to
the accident.
At the close of the evidence for the plain
tiff the defense filed a motion to take the
CAGE from the jury on the ground that the
plaintiff failed to prove negligence on the
part of the railroad crew in charge of the
cars that manned the childs hand. Judge
Keysor listened to argument of the attorneys
on this motion.
After hearing the argument Judge Keysor
| overruled the motion and the testimony for
the defense proceeded. The defense pro-
posed that the jury be taken to the scene Of
the accident in order to settle disputed
evidence as to the topography of that Sec
tion Of the city, the sharpness of the curves
in the railroad track, and other questions
that enter into the trial. The defense argued
against this proposition, but the court held
that it would be proper for the jury to see
the location, and this morning, under the
guidance OF bailiff, the twelve good men
and true" will take jaunt down to Sixth
and Pacific streets.