Lackawanna & Bloomsburg Railroad v. Doak
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Error to the Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne county. This was an action on the case, commenced November 28th 1863, by John Doak and wife, Joseph Fry and wife, William Hides, Rosanna Hicks, Elizabeth Seybert, Frances Seybert, M. Seybert, Sarah K. Seybert, Lydia A. Seybert and J. B. Seybert, against The Lackawanna and Bloomsburg Railroad Co., for burning a building of the plaintiffs.
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Error to the Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne county. This was an action on the case, commenced November 28th 1863, by John Doak and wife, Joseph Fry and wife, William Hides, Rosanna Hicks, Elizabeth Seybert, Frances Seybert, M. Seybert, Sarah K. Seybert, Lydia A. Seybert and J. B. Seybert, against The Lackawanna and Bloomsburg Railroad Co., for burning a building of the plaintiffs. The building was near the railroad.- As a train of empty coal-cars was passing, the building was discovered to be on fire. The train was drawn by a coal-burning engine, on which there was no spark catcher. The day…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered, October 18th 1866, by
Read, J.
The only error assigned is that the court erred in not holding as matter of law, that there was no negligence on the part of defendants and that there could be no recovery by the plaintiffs, or, in other words, that the court should have instructed the jury to find for the defendants. Such an instruction would have taken away all the facts from the jury, and have made the court decide both the law and the facts.
Railroad companies are authorized by law to use locomotives propelled by steam generated by burning wood, coal…
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