Hart v. Chicago & Northwestern Railway Co.

Sparks from defendant’s engine started a fire which burnt over a quarter-section of land owned by plaintiff in Holt county, and she brought this suit to recover resulting damages in the sum of $2,000 to her land, grass and a ten-acre grove of trees. The answer was in effect a general denial. In open court defendant admitted responsibility for the fire. The amount of damages was the only issue tried, and the jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff for $350. From a judgment in her favor for that sum defendant appeals.

The trial court instructed the jury to the effect that the measure of…