El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-04-19

basis But it is the abuse and misuse
Of those laws, the heavy verdicts that
are so often given in trumped up cases,
or in cases of slight injuries that are
made to appear almost or complete
cases Of permanent disability that work
the biggest hardship on the railroads,
and also on the public, who finally pays
the freight
Another class Of damages that our
roads are often forced to pay for, IS
to trespassers who have no business
and no right to be at the place where
they are injured, and where, If il was
anything or anybody but a railroad
company that was being held up, no
lawyer and no jury, on Gods green
earth, would consider their claim for
one moment. The law has told them
that they must not be there, the rail-
road has forbidden them to be there,
and through its employees has used
from being there. yet in spite of all,
they do get there, and when they do
get hurt, the first move is to sue the
railroad. If it was farmer they had
the same claim against they could not
get a lawyer to take the case in a
hundred years.
As an example, a tramp hides in a
farmers wagon. leaving San Antonio
some dark night. The farmer leaves
town and a few miles out. a wheel
comes off his heavily loaded wagon.
boxes. the boxes shift, and the tramp
IS badly injured, or perhaps killed,
would any jury of farmers or others
give that tramp or his people a verdict
that would partly bankrupt that farm
er. or. in fact, would any lawyer in the
world consider taking that tramp.
feeding. clothing and housing him till
such time as the courts of our land
should give him thousands of dollars
for being in that wagon? Not in a
thousand years
Yet that tramp can hide in a box car
among a hundred other cars in the
I'd fHr nd Ur-k a
train leaves the yard, and after going
a few miles out, n wheel on that car
breaks the tramp is hurt or killed, he
or his people as the case may be. can
get plenty of lawyers to take care OF
him for years. II he lives, and that
lawyer viii nine times out of ten. get
a jury of these same farmers TO give
that tramp or his people a heavy YER
dict in damages, when, as a matter OF
fact, that tramp was violating the laws
when he got on the car in the first
place, and the farmer jury cannot fail
to know il. because II II did not Know
it before the case came to trial, the
attorneys for the company would not
fail TO tell them Of It.
but One Of Dozens of Ways.
This is only one Of the dozens OF
industry is geinE worked in the state
every day. Another is the way the peo-
pie viii in simple carelessness. expose
themselves and their lives and limbs
in spite of all that can be told or
preached to them. I ran a switching
engine in this city for six years. and
I have seen hundreds of cases that I
could not make YOU or any one else be-
lieve possible, OF people needl essly risk
ing their lives for no reason on earth
and incidentally taking the chance Of
another damage suit against the rail-
road company. I viii only cite one. and
that one only because many who were
witnesses Of it will probably recall the
case. Tt put some of the gray hairs in
M r-Tr IL
charge from the service for running a
set of six driving wheels by sliding
them far enough to put flat spots six
inches long on the tires. II happened
on the Mesa avenue crossing OF the
G. TT. tracks a number of years ago.
just after the company had placed the