Omaha daily bee., 1902-05-11
FIXES ICHTSOF PASSENGERS
Iuprsme Court Hands Down Important
Opinion in a Damage Case.
HOT FIGHT ON SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT
state Engineer Dobson Goes 20 west
srn Part of the state to In
v~estiEate the Complaints
of IrriRatora.
From a Stan Correspondents

From a STAFF Correspondent
LINCOLN, May 10.-(Special) lin the
damage case Of the estate Of Charles Sat
tier against the Rock Island Railroad Com
amy, in which the district court Of Cass
county gave { judgment in favor Of the
estate, the supreme court has defined the
legal status Of a passenger under various
conditions. 1t is held that a passenger on
. railroad train does not lose his charac-
ter as such by leaving his car at a regu-
lar station. from motives either Of bust
ness or curiosity, although he has not yet
arrived at the terminus OF his journey.
Where. however. the train In which the
passenger is being transported is run upon
q switch to allow the passage OF another
train, or is stopped at a place other than
that used by the carrier for receiving and
discharging passengers, and the stoppage
n not for the purpose of allowing passen-
gers to board the train or allght there
from, one who leaves the train must
usually assume all the ordinary risks in
cident to his action.
A train running between Denver and
Chicago WAS pulled onto a sidetrack at an
intermediate station in Cass county. to al
low the passage Of another train. Mr.. Sat-
tier, who was a through passenger, left the
car in which he had been riding, crossed
the main track of the road and went to a
pump for a drink OF water. He filled his
cup from the pump. but before drinking
heard the whistle OF the incoming train
and started on a rapid run to re-enter the
car. When the passenger reached the
track the approaching train was about fifty
feet distant from him and running at a
high rate Of speed. The passenger at
tempted to pass in front of the train, but
was struck by the engine and killed. The
court holds that under these circumstances
he was not "a passenger being transported
over the road and that the railroad COM
pany is not liable for damages on account
OF his death, because Of his own negligence.
The court declares that where a passen-
ger leaves his car Of his own %volition for
some purpose OF his own not incident to
the journey he Is pursuing and at a place
not designed for the discharge of passen-
gers, he cannot claim the protection OF the
law, although the carrier may. under some
exceptional circumstances. still owe him
the duty imposed on 1t by the common law.
Open Fight on Gordon.
The question OF whether or not Superin-
tendent Charles H. Gordon Of the Lincoln
public schools is to be reelected is Just
now agitating the minds Of school directors
and patrons. Mr.. Gordon has finished his
third term and on next Monday evening
the Board Of Education will decide whether
or not he Is to be retained for another year.
Soon after Mr.. Gordon assumed control
Of the city schools strong opposition to
his administration developed and this feel
ing has grown steadily until now he is
the target Of an open. organized IRE. The
charges against him are numerous. He is
alleged to have shown favoritism to GER
tain taaahara IN hava rQm0vad OtherH
without cause or justification and filled
their places with teachers employed
through a favored Chicago agency. 1t Is
asserted further that he has shown par
tiaiity to one publishing house In the pur-
chase Of books and that he has, while neg
'leoting his duties as superintendent, de-
voted much Of his time to conducting a
class in pedagogy at the university.
Several members Of the Board Of Educa-
tion openly avow that they will vote against
him for reelection. Among them are Rev.
L. p. Ludden and H. M. Bushnell. Two or
three members are known to be in his favor
and the others are non-committal, so there
is no way Of determining which side has
a majority. There are nine members Of
the board and Mr.. Gordon. to be reelected,
must muster the votes OF i've of them.
Mr.. Gordon's friends assert that the
charges made against the superintendent
are unreasonable and without good founda-
tlon. They say in the matter Of hiring and
relieving teachers he has been actuated
only by the teachers qualifications and
that he has never shown Partially in favor
of any member of the teaching force.
IrriEatOrs Are Complaining.
State Engineer Dobson left tonight to In
vestigate some complaints recently made
by irrigators along streams In western Ne
braska. He says the supply of water Is
somewhat below normal, but he does not
anticipate any immediate trouble.
THE complaints come from prior appro-
priators. who say that persons above
stream are taking moro than their share
Of the water" said Mr.. Dobson. "For in
stance, here is one case In Custer county,
where a prior appropriation happens to be
located far down on the stream. Above
him are appropriations having subsequent
claims. These men are taking out water
for irrigation and naturally the supply is
greatly diminished at the point Of the prior
appropriation. who really is entitled to the
FIRST right to the water. The trouble IL
not serious, however, and probably can he
Strengthened out without much dif1culty."
us the supply in the Platte up to normal
for this season."
1T is a little below the supply for this
!time last year. but there isn't enough dlt-
ference to warrant Its consideration. What