City of Altamont v. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad

The city council of the city of Altamont, in Effingham county, on June 9, 1930, passed an ordinance requiring railroad companies to maintain flagmen at street intersections . and imposing a penalty for non-compliance. Prior to the passage of the ordinance, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, in obedience to an order of the Illinois Commerce Commission, had installed flash-lights at such crossings or intersections and refused to station flagmen at them. An action against the railroad company to recover the penalty prescribed by the ordinance was brought before a justice of the peace and…