Chicago & Alton Railroad v. Shannon

This was an action on -the case brought under the statute by Samuel P. Shannon, as administrator of Joseph W. Shannon, deceased, for the benefit of the next of kin, against the railway company, for wrongfully causing the death of the said Joseph, who was a brakeman upon said road. The plaintiff below recovered judgment for $2,000 and the defendant appealed. The death was caused by the explosion of the boiler of the locomotive while the train to which the deceased belonged was in motion, on the 18th of May, 1865. The suit is brought upon the ground, that the boiler was unsafe and was known to…