Chicago & Alton Railroad v. Quaintance
Illinois Supreme Court
Appeal from the Circuit Court of Menard county; the Hon. Charles Turner, Judge, presiding. This was an action on the case, brought by Quaintance against the railroad company, to recover damages for the burning of his house, the fire alleged to have been communicated from an engine of defendant, on its road between the cities of Bloomington and Jacksonville. A trial by jury resulted in a verdict for the plaintiff, upon which the court rendered judgment. The defendant appeals.
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Appeal from the Circuit Court of Menard county; the Hon. Charles Turner, Judge, presiding. This was an action on the case, brought by Quaintance against the railroad company, to recover damages for the burning of his house, the fire alleged to have been communicated from an engine of defendant, on its road between the cities of Bloomington and Jacksonville. A trial by jury resulted in a verdict for the plaintiff, upon which the court rendered judgment. The defendant appeals. Upon the trial, the defendant offered to prove by John A. Jackman, the master mechanic of the company, in charge of its…
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Scott
The sovereignty of the State, by the act of granting charters, has invested railway companies with the right to use locomotive engines as a propelling power in the exercise of the franchises conferred, upon the implied understanding, only, that the law will compel such corporations to use every possible precaution, by the use of all the best and most approved mechanical inventions for that purpose, to prevent injuries by fire and other causes, to the property of the citizens on the lines of their respective roads. Illinois Central Railroad Co. v. Mills, 42 Ill. 408; Illinois Central Railroad…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Illinois Central Railroad v. MillsIllinois Supreme Court · 1866
- Ohio & Mississippi Railroad v. ShanefeltIllinois Supreme Court · 1868
3Cited by26 opinions
- Chicago & Alton Railroad v. PennellIllinois Supreme Court · 1880
- Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad v. GoyetteIllinois Supreme Court · 1890
- Toledo, Wabash & Western Railway Co. v. LarmonIllinois Supreme Court · 1873
- American Strawboard Co. v. Chicago & Alton RailroadIllinois Supreme Court · 1898
- Talmadge v. Central of Georgia Railway Co.Supreme Court of Georgia · 1906
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