Dacey v. New York, New Haven, & Hartford Railroad
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Two ACTIONS of tort, under St. 1887, e. 270, § 1, as amended by St. 1893, c. 359, and under § 2, brought by the administrator of John Dacey to recover for the conscious suffering of his intestate, and by the next of kin of the intestate to recover for his death without conscious suffering, in consequence of an accident which occurred near a switch in the defendant’s freight yard at Attleborough on the night of March 30,1894, while the deceased was engaged in the performance…
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Two ACTIONS of tort, under St. 1887, e. 270, § 1, as amended by St. 1893, c. 359, and under § 2, brought by the administrator of John Dacey to recover for the conscious suffering of his intestate, and by the next of kin of the intestate to recover for his death without conscious suffering, in consequence of an accident which occurred near a switch in the defendant’s freight yard at Attleborough on the night of March 30,1894, while the deceased was engaged in the performance of his duties as a switchman on a freight train of the defendant. Trial in the Superior Court, before Lilley, J., who…
1Opinion of the CourtBarker, J.
The verdicts were rightly ordered, because the evidence would not support a finding that when the deceased was injured he was in the exercise of due care. Such a finding would be only a conjecture. No one saw him at the time of the accident. If we assume that he was hurt by coming in contact with the switch, the evidence does not disclose how or why he struck it, or what he was doing at the time. When last seen before the accident he was walking upon the ground sixty feet or more from the switch, with a lantern in his hand going away from the switch and towards the rear-car of four box…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Menard v. Boston & Maine RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1890
- Shinners v. Proprietors of Locks & Canals on Merrimack RiverMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1891
- Downey v. SawyerMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1892
3Cited by9 opinions
- Duggan v. Bay State Street Railway Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1918
- Stevens v. Boston Elevated Railway Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1904
- Georgia Southern & Florida Railway Co. v. CartledgeSupreme Court of Georgia · 1902
- Donaldson v. New York, New Haven, & Hartford RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1905
- Lizotte v. New York Central & Hudson River RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1907
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