Walker v. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Co.

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Johnston, C. J.:

C. C. Walker brought an action against the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Company, alleging that sparks were thrown from a locomotive of a passing freight-train, starting a fire on his farm which ran through his young orchard, destroying some of the trees and damaging others.

By the testimony it appears that the railroad of the defendant passes diagonally through plaintiff’s farm. On one side of the track plaintiff had planted several hundred young apple trees, in the spring of 1903, and in that year had raised a crop of corn in…