Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1908-10-22
DUCAN DAMAGE
SUIT ON TRIAL

The damage suit Of Myrtle Duean.
Guild, ant Howard Duean. parent.
against the pennsslvania railroad com
pany, which began ia the Montour
county court yesterday, will no doubt
prove an interesting and hard fought
contest. occupying several daNs The
trial was 90 have begun Yesterday
morning. bot owing 20 delay iu the
ari val ~ witnesses proceedings we're
postponed until the afternoon session
Cont convened At one O'Clock and 4
few minutes later 4. S. Gearhart open.
cd the case. lie occupied about bali
an hour outlining n.his cbarsctcristic
forceful and emphatic manner the
plaintiff case
Briefly stated the facts alleged by
the plaintil are as follows on Octo
her @s, 1904, Myrtle Dugan sustained
injuries while crossing the tracks Of
the Pennsylvania railroad at point
known as Thomas crossing IN tie
township u Clinton int the county Of
f Lycoming. At this crossing the track
Of the Pennsylvania Railroad company
aud those Of the Z. 4 II. Railway
company run parallel and were orig
inally about27 feet.apart. The wagon
road leading from .Munoy. to Mont
gomery crosses the railroad diagonal
Iva condition which naturally. makes
the eastern approach to the Pennsyl-
vania railroad tracks slanting and dan
gerous
At comparatively recent date the
Pennsylvania railroad company icon
structed third track or siding be
tween the two railroads, which reduc-
ed the distance between the two tracks
from % to llis feet. The =. & r.
Railway lay 2ia feet lower than the
Pennsylvania tracks and the construc-
tion OF the third track had the effect
of making the road more dangerous, as
the siding was raised'some three feet.
Thus the slant which formerly extend
ed over % feet was reduced to ll1a
feet and made all the sleeper.
To make the crossing still more
dangerous it is alleged that on the
evening of October 2S, 1904, employees
of the Pennsylvania Railroad company
dumped car load OF cinder upon the
crossing and neglected1 to level it
down also that they neglected to
hang out red light or establish any
warning whatsoever.
On October 2S, 19o4,s party of which
Myrtle Dugan was one. drove from
Munoy to Montgomery. At about S:15
O'Clock p. Nj. the party reached Thorn
as crossing and seeing no. red light
and not suspecting any danger at
tempted to drive upon the railroad.
They crossed the Reading track IN
safety but when they reached the
Pennsylvania tracks the horse struck
the bank of cinder, which was about
feet high. Tie animal at once began
to plunge and stepped down, lock
/ ing the left front wheel under the
| carriage, while the right front wheel
was up on top Of the bank of cinder.
The horse was unable 20 move, while
the carriage was Id in an extremely
perilous position, leaning over to one
side with the rear wheels on the P. &
/ r. tracks
While they were in this position
they heard the whistle of an approach
ing train. Jacob Artley, who was
driving, leaped out and took the horse
by the head. Terrified Miss Dugan
followed suit, jumping to.the ground.
All was darkness and she dosen't know
where she landed Carried onward
by the momentum she fell and stun.
bled forward, striking several OBJ
stacles, fracturing threesribss-..a and sus-
tanning internal injuries, that, it is
alleged, have made her an invalid for
life. The direct injuries were follow
ed with an attack OF double pneu-
monia and long siege of typhoid few
er, the first being superinduced by the
internal injuries and the second grow
ing out Of the girls debilitated con-
dition.
The action is brought under the Act
of 1897 to recover damages both for
Miss Dugsn and her father.
\ number OF people, residents Of
Muncy, Montgomery and Clinton
township, Lyooming county, are in
Danville as witnesses.
Among those who testified for the
plaintiff yesterday afternoon were J.
W. Rentz, of Montgomery jeremiah
Fogleman Of Washington township :
W. II. Fritz of Muncy J. @. Fowler.
cashier of the First National Bank of
Montgomery; Jacob Artley of Munoy,
who drove the carriage on the night
of the accident, and.Miss Edith God
drum, who accompanied the party.
Each of the above testified in accord :
ance with the facts as stated above.
Three doctors are on hand to testify
for the plaintiff DR.. Gordner, and DR..
Hull of Montgomery, and DR.. Rankin
OF Muney. DR.. Mutt, specialist of
Williamsport. will arrive today to
testify in the case.