The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-05-10

| to the pool to wade and swim and that
as it was unfenced and unguarded, the
city, under the attractive nuisance
doctrine, was responsible for the
drowning of the boys and liable for
the loss sustained by appellees. The
land where the pool was formed was
the property of a private owner and
over it the city had no control, said
the court in its decision, and held that
the case does not come within the at
city is not liable for the loss. The
verdict of the jury in the Wyandotte
county court awarded damages to APP
pellees in the sum OF $1,000.
Jurors Competent to Judge.
Kansas jurors are to be considered as
fairly competent to judge the facts Of
any lawsuit tried in any Kansas court.
So said the Kansas supreme court to-
day in the suit of Sarah Barker against
the Missouri Pacific Railway company,
appealed from the first division of the
Wyandotte county district court. The
suit involved the damages to some
property caused by a fire started by
a spark from an engine. The attorneys
for the railroad company appealed to
the supreme court because of a great
amount of alleged incompetent evil
dence submitted to the jury. The court
said: Jurors are no sensitive plants
from which every slight breeze or
breath of incompetent evidence must be
excluded in order to maintain their
qualifications to decide a case, and
when the issues have been fully pre-
scented it is not the policy of the law
to send the case back for another trial
unless there is material prejudice"
The case was reversed because the
lower court denied the company the
right to have certain questions submit
ted to the jury.
Mrs. Hanna Gets Actual Damages.
Exemplary damages against a rail-
way company for failure to deliver a
telegram cannot be allowed, according
to the opinion today of the supreme
court in the case of Mabel Hanna
against the Rock Island railway COM
pany, appealed from the Shawnee
county district court.
Mrs. Hanna and her two babies were
coming to Topeka from Illinois. At
st. Joseph, Mo-, they expected tickets
from Hanna but they waited two days
before they came. The wife and mother
was without funds and herself and
children were compelled to sleep in the
ST Joseph depot. Hanna had wired
tickets, but the telegram was not de-
livered, although Mrs. Hanna asked re-
peatedly for message. The woman
sued for damages. A jury allowed her
$25 for inconvenience, 500 for mental
pain and suffering and 1925 as ex-
emplary damages. The supreme court
modified the decision today by allow
ing only the 1925, striking out judgment
for 1925 for exemplary damages and
holding that the telegraph system of
the railway was operated primarily |
for the convenience of patrons, al
though it was bound to the fulfill !
ment of a contract to deliver a mes |
sage.
Mrs. Melvin Don't Have to Pay.
Julia A. Melvin of Topeka will not
be compelled to pay the premium on
$4,000 insurance policy which she
held for one year. Suit was brought
of the premium. but the woman plead |
ed that she had been deceived and
defrauded in the transaction, although
the records showed she had signed
receipt for the policy and had accept
ed it as delivered. A jury found for
the woman and a new trial was grant
ed. At a second trial, Mrs. Davis also
won and the supreme court today af-
frmed that decision
Shawnee Autoists Must Pay.
Lester and Theodore Davis must pay
damages to NJ. ]. Hurwitz for a collision
with his bicycle when they rounded a
corner at Tenth and Harrison streets.
Hurwitz was riding south on Harrison
street about 10 o'clock at night. He car
ried no light. Near Tenth avenue he saw
the Davis automobile approach, but said
it was running so fast he expected that
1T would continue west on the avenue.
Suddenly the car turned north on Harri-
son and struck Hurwitz, throwing MIN
to the pavement and causing painful in
juries. A jury awarded him Judgment,
holding in response to special questions
that his failure to carry a light on his
bicycle did not constitute contributory
negligence. The supreme court said that
the jury which heard the evidence was
best able to judge and affirmed the YER
dict of the lower court.
Mutual Wills Are Legal.
Mutual wills are legal and in harmony
with good public policy according to the
opinion of the supreme court in the case
of Bertha Miles earle against Edwin T.
Miles from Usage county. The plaintiff
and a brother both prepared wills, pro-
viding that in event of the death of
either, their property should go to the
living relative. The will of the brother
was contested, but held good by the
Usage county district court. Judgment of
the district court was affirmed.