The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-02-20
GAS COMPANY LOSES
Lehman and Wright Cases
Affirmed by Appellate Court
DECISIONS HANDED DOWN
important One Pertaining TO
Limited Railroad Tickets.

The appellate court IN its session al
Garden City last week handed down q
number of decisions, chief Among those
of interest being in the cases OF G. H
Lehman against the Wichita Gas com
pany and a. B Wright against the gas
company. both being affirmed. These
cases grew out of damage accruing to the
residence properties of the plaintiffs by
the escaping gas from the defendant COM
pany's defective mains on Lawrence ave
nue.. The escaping Of gas permeated the
soil and killed the grass of the lawns.
rose bushes. flowers, vines and shade
trees. In the appeal of the case the gas
company objected TO a great deaf of tes-
timony submitted in the trial in the dis
trict court and allowed by the court TO
stand. Judge Schoonover holds that there
was sufficient evidence upon which to
base the testimony objected to, and that
the proper measure of damages was the
fair market value of the property imme-
diately before and after the injury COM
planned Of The same evidence was used
in each Of the cases.
Another important ruling Is that sup
porting the claim of Miss Lena Price
ct al. against the Santa Fe Railway
company. She was sueing to recover
damages in the sum of $1,000 for being put
off the train at Derby in 1894, while she
and her mother were on their way from
Wichita to Woodward, o. T. They were
riding on unlimited tickets, or tickets
which they had bought at Woodward as
unlimited tickets, but which tickets had
been purchased as limited tikkets. The
provisions on the back of the tickets had
not been signed and neither had their
attention been called to the printed pro-
Visions
Judge Milton held that railroad ticket
containing provisions respecting time
limitations, Notwithstanding, etc, and
an unsigned space for signature of the
purchaser is prima facie unlimited, not
wthstanding the presence of punch
marks in the margin Indicating a time
limitation; and such punch marks should
be disregarded by the conductor of a
train operated by the selling company
where such ticket is presented, after the
time limit indicated has expired. by a
passenger who claims. in apparent good
faith to have purchased it as an unliinit-
ed ticket
Miss Price was in Wichita taking treat
ment and she and her mother had no
means of foretelling how long they
would be here, so they asked for an I'M
limited ticket. The agent, however,
punched limit date, and when they at
tempted to return to Woodward the con-
ductor refused to accept the ticket and
put Mrs. Price and her daughter of the
train at Derby The worry and exposure
is said to have injured the lady's health.
Her attorney is Joe Houston.
Other decisions were handed down as
follows:
Alfred r. Ware VS.. Pleasant Grove
township. Greenwood county; peremptory
writ of mandamus allowed.
William L. Brown VS.. L. Y. Casey, error
from Reno county: affirmed.
H. T. Trice VS.. S. II. Myton and VIM.
Davy. error from Cowley county; re-
versed
The Missouri Pacific Railway company
VS.. Johnston-Larimer Dry Goods Co, err
ror from Sedgwick county; dismissed for
want of jurisdiction.
The Wichita Gas. Electric Light and
Power company vs. A. 3. Wright, error
from sedgwick county; affirmed
r. S. Thompson VS.. J. F. Greer. error
from Butler county; ordered transferred
to supreme court.
George George ct al VS.. James Austin.
a judgment creditor for the Cottonwood