Ristau v. E. Frank Coe Co.
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
Appeal by the plaintiif, Edward Ristau, from a judgment of the Supreme Court in favor of the defendant, entered in the office of the clerk of the county of Kings on the 30th day of March, 1904, upon the dismissal of the complaint by direction of the court after a trial at the Kings County Trial Term. The action was by servant against master for damages for negligence.
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Appeal by the plaintiif, Edward Ristau, from a judgment of the Supreme Court in favor of the defendant, entered in the office of the clerk of the county of Kings on the 30th day of March, 1904, upon the dismissal of the complaint by direction of the court after a trial at the Kings County Trial Term. The action was by servant against master for damages for negligence. The plaintiif was engaged in pushing by hand loaded trucks or cars along a track or tram on a trestle about .18 feet high. The product of the defendant’s factory was thus taken from .the factory to a storage place. The trestle…
1Opinion of the Court
Gaynor, J.:
The plaintiff proved the collapse of the trestle and rested, relying on the maxim the thing speaks for itself. ISTo particular defect to cause the collapse of the trestle was apparent, and the plaintiff did not try to prove any. There was nothing but the bare fact that the trestle collapsed while in the ordinary use for which it ,, was constructed, and that it had been built only three years. The nonsuit was error. The maxim applied to the case. The learned counsel for respondent argues, following the broad language of some opinions, that the maxim, is made applicable in a given…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Stewart v. . FergusonNew York Court of Appeals · 1900
- Lentino v. Port Henry Iron Ore Co.Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York · 1902
- Fallon v. MertzAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York · 1906
3Cited by4 opinions
- Timerson v. StateNew York Court of Claims · 1932
- Brady v. City of New YorkAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York · 1912
- Coutts v. ChristopherAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York · 1931
- De Pasquale v. StateNew York Court of Claims · 1928