Pennsylvania Railroad v. Kerr
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
May 20th and 21st 1870. Before Thompson, C. J., Read, Agnew and Sharswood, JJ. Williams, J., absent. Error to the Court of Common Pleas of Huntingdon county: No. 25, to May Term 1870. This was an action on the case brought'iJune 12th 1868 by William Kerr against the Pennsylvania Railroad Company.
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May 20th and 21st 1870. Before Thompson, C. J., Read, Agnew and Sharswood, JJ. Williams, J., absent. Error to the Court of Common Pleas of Huntingdon county: No. 25, to May Term 1870. This was an action on the case brought'iJune 12th 1868 by William Kerr against the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. The action was to recover for the loss of the plaintiff’s furniture in a hotel near the Pennsylvania Eailroad, which was destroyed by fire from negligence, as he alleged, of the defendants’ servants in running their locomotive. The fire was first communicated to a warehouse and from that to the…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered,
by Thompson, C. J.
It has always been a matter of difficulty to determine judicially, the precise point at which pecuniary accountability for the consequences of wrongful or injurious acts, is to cease. No rule has been sufficiently defined and general as to control in all cases. Yet there is a principle applicable to most cases of injury which amounts to a limitation. It is embodied in the common law maxim, causa próxima non remota spectatur— the immediate and' not the remote cause is to be considered. Pars, on Cont., Vol. III., p. 198, illustrates the…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Ryan v. . New York Central RailroadNew York Court of Appeals · 1866
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- S. S. Pass Ry. Co. v. TrichSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1887
- Haverly v. State Line R.Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1890
- Annapolis & Elkridge Railroad v. GanttCourt of Appeals of Maryland · 1873
- Clemens v. Hannibal & St. Joseph R. R.Supreme Court of Missouri · 1873
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