Western & Atlantic Railroad v. Gentle

Where a failure of a coupler to couple is due to a defective coupler, this constitutes a violation of the statute. The law seems settled by the decisions of the courts that the failure of couplers to couple, when conditions such as speed at which the train is moving, etc., are such under which couplers which are in good condition, and not defective, should function properly and cause the cars to couple, authorizes an inference *298that one of the couplers is defective as a coupler, and that the safety-appliance statute is violated. Auchenbach v. Philadelphia &c. Ry. Co., 8 Fed. (2d) 350;…