The Cairo bulletin., 1910-04-07
Is A HUSBAND
WIFE 'sPR6P[RTY2
QUESTION PRESENTED YEsTER.
DAY TO SUPREME COURT
or UNITED STATES.
SOUTHERN RAIL NAY co.
Defendant In Case Taken up IN
Georsia--DecIsion Will Set
Precedent In Damage
Suits.

/ VA
Washington, April g. Whether Al
husband may be considered the "per-
sonal property" OF lis wife, anf
and whether the "Hlow-Post law OF
Georgia is constitutional are two OF
the questions at stake In the unique
suib Of Miss Josephine King uf GcOr-
gia, against the Southern Railway
Company, argued today uefore the
lsupreme court Of the United States.
1T comes up at time when the only
| bachelor justice Of the court, Justice
Moody, Is too i'll to consider the case.
The suit is for damages arising out
sof railroad accident. In the aut-
| Iumn Of 1908 Mrs King. her husband,
A. q, King, and her daughter, Miss
lnez King, wer riding along country
road in Georgia behind a mule A
high bank obscured the view of the
| tracks of the Southern Railway Com.
| pany Just ahead Of them. All the
mule got squarely upon the track, a
through passenger train from Wash
ington to Atlanta struck 1t and ths.
buggy, killing King, and injuring the
wife and daughter.
| Mrs. King got damages In the state
courts for injuries to her person She
also sued on the death OF her hus-
band. 1t is this suit which was ar.
| gued here today before the supreme
court.
In the lower court, the railroad
company contended that the recovery
| in the state court for injuries to her
person estopped Mrs. King from
maintaining an action for the death
of her husband. The circuit court of
appeals for the Fifth circuit In pass
ling on the Judgment Of Mrs. King for
S. $50 for the death OF her husband
considered the argument BY the rail.
road
The contention | smade that the
Injuries to the person the wife and
the loss occasioned by the death Of
her husband, said the court, consti-
tute single cause for action and that
separate actions will not lie. This
contention appears to be seriously
made, but In the practice and proce.
dure Of the several states It wouli
appear to be legal novelty without
law or precedent. II it be conceded
that the deceased husband was the
personal property OF the plaintiff
herein, then the contention would he
supported by the decision of every
state court but one.
Where injuries to the person ami
physical property Of the injured
party occur out Of the single tort.
then and in that event, the tort to
the person and the property constl.
tutes single cause Of action and as
previously suggested the Same would
be presented in single suit This is
the English view and the holding is
the same In all American courts
with the one exception The declara-
/ tion that the husband is the personal
property" of the wife has not yet re..
ceived the sanction of the court or
text writer's. The rule as to a single
cause of action has no application
where the Injury is suffered In a diff
ferent capacity or by different por-
sons.
The personal property" question
was not dealt with by the counsel
| for the railroad in brief in the case
submitted to the supreme court be-
fore the argument today. The rail
lroads fight before the supreme cou-'.
His on the constitutionaity Of tho
BLOW Post law At the time Of the
accident, the trial court held the rail
road negligent because II was violat.
ing the law So II became material
for the railroad TO show that the Law
was not valid.
The law was passed in 1852 II
have found nothing like IL anywhere
else" said John J. Strickland, counsel
for the railroad 'ip his brief II re-
qulres a railroad engineer 10 biow
his whistle from a blow post 400
yards from every highway crossing
until ne arrives at the road, and to
simultaneously check and keep check.
ing the speed Of his train SO as 10
stop in time should any person or
thing be crossing the track on tho
highway.
The railroad contends that the sta
tute imposes an unreasonable burden
on Interstate commerce, II IL said,
for instance, that II would require
twelve hours for train to run from
Atlanta to Macon, Ga. a distance OF
about 100 miles, II the statute were
rbnval ufrseflw NABA&