The Saint Paul globe., 1902-02-01
SUPREME COURT LAW
MRS. HERBERTs $1,000 VERDICT T
AGAINST STREET CAR COM
PANY STANDS
CLAIM OF SUICIDE NOT PROVEN
delinquent Ramsey County Tax
Sale Is Set Aside Because of
Defective Publication of
Notice of Sale.


decisions yesterday. A decision of JUS
| tice Lovely upholds the $1,000 verdict Sc
cured by Eva Herbert against the st.
Paul City Railway company. Mrs. Her
bert was injured by falling from the
slippery steps of a street car on Feb.
19, 1901, at Rice and Rondo.
Under decision by Justice Lewis, the
Royal Neighbors of America, an insur
ance society auxiliary to the Modern
Woodmen, will have to pay Mrs. Eliza
beth Sartell $4,000, the amount of a policy
carried by her late husband in the or
der. The order of the Stearns county
court is affirmed. Sartell was found dead
in his warehouse. with two bullet holes in
his head and revolver by his side. The
order refused to pay the insurance on
the ground that ne had committed sui
eide, which invalidates the policy con-
tract. The jury found for the widow,
and the supreme court holds that the YER
diet was supported by the evidence.
Justice Brown filed a decision holding
that the section of the Laws of 1894 re-
quiring notice Of tax sale to be given
I by the county auditor, as therein direct
ed, is mandatory, and must be strictly
complied with. A proper posting and
publication of such notice is an indfs-
pensable prerequisite to the authority of
the auditor to make the sale, without
which he has no justification to proceed.
The ruling is made in the case of
Charles McCord, executor of the estate
of W. ]. McCord, against Thomas c.
Sullivan, and the decision Of the lower
court of Ramsey county is reversed. The
McCord estate is saved thereby cOnsid
cradle property, which Sullivan, as sue
cessor of the National Investment com
pany, secured under tax sales.
The Ramsey county district court is
sustained by Justice Lovely in refusing
~ IL 1D,NI@a ar.1y frN1-
personal injuries sustained while employ
ed in the tin shop of Horne & Danz. The
employees had been in the habit of throw
ing pieces of waste tin about the shop.
The company had made a rule prohib
itng the practice, and providing fines
for violation. Reberk charged that the
rule had not been enforced. He was
struck by a piece of flying tin, and,
through his father, brought an action
for dana ges. The court holds that when
young Reberk remained in the service
of the company with full knowledge
that the rule was violated, he assumed
the risk of his occupation and forfeited
his right to recover.
Syllabi of decisions:
Liability of Street Car Company.
Eva Herbert, respondent VS.. ST. Paul
City Railway Company appellant.
l. street car company is required to
keep its platforms and steps in safe con-
dition for use in the season whei: operat-
ed so far as it practically do so, in
consideration of the climate, temperature.
condition of the air with res Dtcl to
snow moisture and frost.
2. Evidence considered and hel1 70 sIif-
| ficiently support a verdict for plaintiff
| upon the claim that she was a passenger
on a. street car and when alightilg there
| from slipped and fell from the same by
reason of ice and snow negligently rer-
| mitted by the carrier to be and remain
! upon it's steps and plato ms.
3. Held, that under the evidence il
| this case the verdict of the jury cannot
be held to De excessive. Order affirmed.
Lovely, j.
Burden of Proof.
| Elizabeth H Sartel. respondent, KS.
Royal Neighbors of America, appel
/. Where the defense to an action on
| a life insurance policy is that the insured
committed suicide, the burden is upon de-
| fendant to maintain that issue.
2. The court directed plaintiffs S counsel
| to make the closing argument upon the
reasoning that the burden of proving
death by suicide had shifted, and that it
| was incumbent upon plaintiff to prove the
contrary. Held, that the order of aTgu-
nent was correct although a wrong Tea-
| son was given.
! whether the insured came to his death
| by intentional elf-destruction, or from
| some other cause, was a question for the
| jury, and their verdict is supported by
| the evidence. Lewis, j.
| Notice of Tax Sale.
| Charles McCord, as executor of the ,ast
will and testament of w. j. McCord,
deceased, VS.. Thomas c. Sullivan, re-
Spondent
/. General Statutes of 1894. section 1891,
| requiring notice of the sale to be given
| by the county auditor, as therein directed,
| is mandatory and must be strictly com
| piled with. A proper posting and pub
| lication of such notice is an indispensable
prerequisite to the authority of the au-
! ditor to make the sale without which he
| has no jurisdiction to proceed.
2. The legislature may cure irregulari=
| ties in tax proceedings which do not go
| to the jurisdiction of the officers con-
! Quoting the proceedings, or affect the
| substantial rights of the taxpayer. Ir-
| regularities and defects of this latter
| character are beyond the aid of curative
| legislation.
ing to validate tax sales made prior TO
| its passage where there was failure to
give the notice of sale, as required by
jurisdictonal and a condition precedent
to the authority to make the sale, is an
constitutional and void. Judgment re-
versed. Brown, j.
Obligation of Employer.
Adam Reberk. by Charles Rebeck his
guardian ad Item, appellant, vs.. Horne
& "Danz Company, corporation, 1e-
spondent
l. The obligation of an employer in a