Smith v. Postal Telegraph Cable Co.
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tort, for personal injuries. The declaration alleged that the defendant was a corporation operating a telegraph system; that on or about October 1, 1896, the defendant was locating telegraph poles on Western Avenue, in Lynn, “ within ten feet of the building occupied by the plaintiff for a dwelling-house, and for said purpose was engaged in blasting a ledge at said place, and that reasonable care in said work required that the ledge so being blasted should be covered and…
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Tort, for personal injuries. The declaration alleged that the defendant was a corporation operating a telegraph system; that on or about October 1, 1896, the defendant was locating telegraph poles on Western Avenue, in Lynn, “ within ten feet of the building occupied by the plaintiff for a dwelling-house, and for said purpose was engaged in blasting a ledge at said place, and that reasonable care in said work required that the ledge so being blasted should be covered and protected, and that the plaintiff should be warned that it was the purpose of the defendant to explode said ledge, but that…
1Opinion of the CourtHolmes, C. J.
The point decided in Spade v. Lynn & Boston Railroad, 168 Mass. 285, and White v. Sander, 168 Mass. 296, is not put as a logical deduction from the general principles of *578liability in tort, but as a limitation of those principles upon purely practical grounds. See further Spade v. Lynn & Boston Railroad, 172 Mass. 488, and Silsbee v. Webber, 171 Mass. 378, 380, 381. If the rule is to be adhered to that there can be no recovery for sickness due to the purely internal operation of fright caused by a negligent act, it cannot be avoided by calling the negligence gross and alleging that the…
2Cases cited4 opinions
- Spade v. Lynn & Boston RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1897
- Spade v. Lynn & Boston RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1899
- Silsbee v. WebberMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1898
- White v. SanderMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1897
3Cited by25 opinions
- Massaletti v. FitzroyMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1917
- Dziokonski v. BabineauMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1978
- George v. Jordan Marsh CompanyMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1971
- Orlo v. Connecticut Co.Supreme Court of Connecticut · 1941
- Comstock v. WilsonNew York Court of Appeals · 1931
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