Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-05-11
0N[ XORDOV[MOOK[D
Slight Carelessness of a Lawyer
May Cost One Man the
Sum of $4,000
WANT A LAW SUIT REoPENED
This is Asked of the Supreme Court of
Iowa in the Case of John c. Defriez
VS.. illinois Central Railroad Company
For the Correction of an Error in the
Record. ,
pecial to Times Republican.

| Special to Times Republican.
| Des Moines, May 1.-THE supreme
court has been asked to do the unusual
by reopening lawsuit for correction
of an error in the record after the case
has passed thru all stages and has been
decided by the court upon the erron-
eous record. Unless the court does this
| it will have made a record which
means that the overlooking of one
word of four letters by lawyer, or Il
number of lawyers, has cost one man
| $4,000. The case was that of John C.
| Defriez VS.. Illinois Central Railroad
Company, from Hardin county, per-
sonal injury suit in which the plaintiff
| got judgment for $4,000. The case
was appealed to the supreme court and
reversed on the ground that one certain
INSTRUCTION was erroneous in stating
the duty of the plaintiff in taking pre-
caution against accidents Regarding
this one instruction, on which alone the
reversal was based. the supreme court
in its opinion filed last month said:
I'VE surmse that this instruction is
not properly quoted, but appellee has
made no attempt to correct it and our
snrmises should not be allowed to pre-
vail over the record. Had the word
'precaution' been qualified by the COM
prehensive adjective such doubtless
this would not have been an error"
| AS a matter of fact the instruction
as given the jury did contain the word
such" and the lawyers who gave the
case to the supreme court overlooked
1t. The surn1ise of the supreme court
was the first intimation the lawyers
had that such blunder had been made
| in quoting the instruction. 1t is all the
| stronger as a surmise from the fact
| that Judge Weaver. before whom the
! case was tried, is now or the supreme
Ibench. Now Judge Birdsall, member
Of congress to succeed Speaker Hender-
son, has asked the supreme court to
reopen and reconsider the case, AMI
makes a showing that the surmise of
| the supreme court was well founded
| in fact. He distinctly repudiates any
| thought that the record was purposely
!misquoted, since the abstract was pre-.
pared by the late John F. Duncombe.
one of the most conscientious lawyers
| of the state. 1t is remarkable that
such vital error, one sufficient to
cause the reversal of the whole case.
| should have escaped the attention of
such eminent lawyers and half dozen
others associated with them. The court
will undoubtedly grant the motion for
lrehearing and correction of the record.
No precedents are cited for any such
action as nothing of the sort ever hap
pened before in Iowa courts.
Construction work on a number OF
railroad extensions are we'll under
way in the state of Iowa, but there is
little probability of the 1000 miles pro-
jected and reported in the railway jour-
nails being constructed this year. The
work which was cut short last winter
on the Milwaukee cutoff, from Daven-
port to near Ottumwa, is now being
pushed and that line will be ready for
operation by July /. The work on the
| Tracey -Oskaloosa cut-off of the Burl-
lington will soon be completed. Work
! is now in progress on the Newton and
| Northwestern extending from Gowre
I ItOChNell SltS, civ fAphi $1,000 "
| Boone, but no work has yet been done
between Boone and Newton. 1t is an
Inounced that work will be commenced
grading on the Des Moines Southern
| in about two weeks. The company
Will construct and own the road. Pres
! ident Stickney of the Great Western,
went over the route with MIR. Cherry.
| the promoter, to give his advice, put
| it is not the mention that the Great
Western shall buy the road outright.
1t must be finished in part by Novem-
Der 80 There is some work being done
on the Iowa & St. Louis near Center
vile. The Great Western and Illinois
| Central are doing much work straight
ening out and rebuilding and the Great
| Western extension to Omaha VIII be
| completed. The proposed lines from
pes Moines to Muscatine and from Des
| Moines north to Minneapolis and from
| Dubuque southwest, are still very much
on paper, with no prospect OF develop
ment There Is talk OF an extension OF
| the Iowa Falls line northward but this
lis indefinite. There is plan being
made for extensive Rock Island lm-
provements, including the Strengthening
out of the track in the western part of
| the state and construction OF some ne"
mileage in the direction OF st. LOUIS
to care for the exposition business. me
Wabash has practically rebuilt its en-
tire line into Iowa, and Will be pre-
pared for big southern business neXt
year. The Milwaukee, Burlington ana
Rock Island will also be prepared to
handle exposition business IN good
shape.
| The power of the insurance combine
| in Iowa which is operating under
violation of the state laws or IN total
| disregard of the laws, has been SHOWN
here in Des Moines once more. a lew
! DAYS ago some of the agents began cut
ting rates on fire insurance. ana the
| fact became known to others IN lhe
same line of business. A merry war
was threatened for a few days Ihere
was On ironclad agreement to abide by
| a schedule of rates that haa peen pre-
| pared under the direction OF the COM
bine. but the rates were so out OF pro-
| portion to the benefits derived. that
some members of the combine aDSolute-