The Savannah morning news., 1901-04-23
NEGLIGENCE CHARGED
vsr THE PLANT SYSTEMS SUR
GEoNs AT wAYCRoss.
MAN MANNED FOR LIFE
.r,,c RELIEF AND HOSPITAL
j. DEPARTMENT FOR $4,000.

.,.orsou Claims He Was sent
uosDitaI at WaycrOss, suf-
" with Fractured Thigh
and "A DisI0cated Knee-The
treated the DisIocatiOn,
p.,d No Attention TO the Frac-
As a Result His Leg Has Been
opentIy shortened and stiff
-od-His Petition Ayers That
.,t.cnce Was Wanton.
T,Sot is probably the first suit Of the
o,er instituted against the Plant
Relief and Hospital Department
a,o5 Yesterday in the City Court, by
','-.rs Twiggs & Oliver, on behalf of 5.
1-'@- 7,,1orson a former employe of the
n,.n+ system and member of the de-
partment' n,.,
In his petition to the court Dickerson
.sorges that he has been seriously and
.,arentlv manned and disfigured,
',,a,noh the gross careksssness and negli-
80. 80 and lack of reasonable medical
srr m the part of the physicians and
',.u.ons in charge of the departments
bosnital at Waycross.
In his petition TO the court the charac-
Ger If the Relief and Hospital Department
l. described. it being voluntary associa-
49,, If the various railway corporations
.oronrsing the Plant System, for the pur-
rosa Of affording medical and surgical at
+sntion TO its members and ensuring the
,,,r,ent to them of sick benefits and of
,,eatb benefits to their families or estates.
nioksrson entered the employ of the
savannah. Florida and Western Railway
E1ost wear and on Nov. had become fore
man of a construction gang on the line
~ the cOmpanys road. In an accident
'tbat he alleges was produced by the out
{of-repair condition of the lever car on
which ne was riding at the time, Dicker-
SON was thrown out in front Of the car
and sustained serious injuries. His knee
Iiont was disocated and his left femur,
'or thigh-bone, was badly featured.
4 He was removed to the department hos
Initial at Waycross, where he assumed, as
'be had right to assume, he would re-
ceive medical and surgical attention of
a reasonable degree of skill and efficien-
Icy. On the contrary, so he charges, the
Epbvsicians paid no attention whatever to
The fracture of the femur and treated only
the disocated knee. He was discharged
'from the hospital as cured.
4 Some time afterwards he found himself
Suffering such poignant pain he was COM
Speed to resign his position on the road.
IAN examination by physicians disclosed
j ne fact that the fractured femur, be-
1ause it had never been set and treated,
r had overlapped upon itself. The result.
Be- the petition AYERS. is the constant pres
hence Of very great pain, a permanent
Shortening of an inch and a half in the
Ifnan's leg and such stiffness that he is
5ebe to use it only awkwardly and with
&dificulty.
Not only Dickerson charges, has the
#accident and it's results, debarred him
from engaging in the active manual labor
TO which he had been accustomed and
permanently untitled him for the dis.
y barge of the duties he had been dis
Hcharging, but it has produced a deformity
(Which makes of him an object of public
fderision.
/. AT the time of the accident he was a
young man, in perfectly sound bodily
health, active and Industrious and atten-
f" ~ NNNJs AAC Wdb CdAtllIlS a IGSPCSto-
Mble livelihood, and he had every reason
n 20 expect and did expect that his earn
hs capacity would. in the course of
#even's, be considerably increased.
Tor all Of these reasons, not only for
me damage he has suffered actually, but
because he claims the gross negligence
n with which he was treated entities him
Nc recover punitive damages, DickeFson.
8sets the amount of his claim at $4,000
ne AYERS that membership in the Re-
llef and Hospital Department was made
conoition precedent to his employment
ny the Plant System and that a regu-
Iar monthly sum was subtracted from his
wee as an assessment, for the support
4 nau maintenance of the department. 1t
wa, was the duty of the department to give
.iin IN his illness reasonably skilled at
81 s,r,S ana the failure to treat the frac-
,, o,Sl lemur he declares to have been
nesIlSence not only gross, but absolutely
'NeAcusable and wanton.