Mead v. Burlington & Lamoille Railroad
Supreme Court of Vermont
Case for the killing of four cows by a train on the defendant’s railroad on the night of August 6, 1877. Plea, general issue, and trial by jury, April Term, 1879, Pierpoint, C. J., presiding.
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Case for the killing of four cows by a train on the defendant’s railroad on the night of August 6, 1877. Plea, general issue, and trial by jury, April Term, 1879, Pierpoint, C. J., presiding. It appeared that the defendant’s railroad, which was constructed in 1876 and 1877, and put in partial operation about a month before the infliction of the injury complained of, ran through the plaintiff’s meadow, a distance of about one hundred and twenty-five rods ; that there was no fence between the railroad and the meadow, nor anything to prevent cattle from straying from the meadow onto the track ;…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Ross, J.
The principal question raised by the requests of the defendant is, whether the plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence in regard to the destruction of his cows by the defendant’s engine. Whether this principle has any application to the facts of the case, as it was before the County Court, and whether that *282court erred in refusing the defendant’s requests, must be determined by the relative rights and duties of the parties towards each other, and the subject-matter in controversy as determined and fixed by the statute. Section 47, c. 28,…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Thorpe v. Rutland & Burlington RailroadSupreme Court of Vermont · 1854
- Jackson v. Rutland & Burlington RailroadSupreme Court of Vermont · 1853
- James Morse & Bro. v. Rutland & Burlington RailroadSupreme Court of Vermont · 1854
3Cited by5 opinions
- Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fé Railroad v. RiggsSupreme Court of Kansas · 1884
- Congdon v. Cen. Vt. R. R.Supreme Court of Vermont · 1883
- Burnham v. Rutland RailroadSupreme Court of Vermont · 1914
- Laird v. RailroadSupreme Court of New Hampshire · 1882
- Brown v. Central Vermont Railway, Inc.Supreme Court of Vermont · 1960