Reeves v. Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Error to the Common Pleas of Susquehanna county. This was an action on the case, by Elisha Reeves against The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company, for killing and injuring the plaintiff’s.cattle, whilst lawfully crossing the defendants’ railroad. The terminus of the defendants’ railroad is at Great Bend, about two miles south of which it is crossed, at grade, by the Newburgh turnpike.
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Error to the Common Pleas of Susquehanna county. This was an action on the case, by Elisha Reeves against The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company, for killing and injuring the plaintiff’s.cattle, whilst lawfully crossing the defendants’ railroad. The terminus of the defendants’ railroad is at Great Bend, about two miles south of which it is crossed, at grade, by the Newburgh turnpike. Near this crossing there is a deep cut, and the railroad approaches it on a curve, so that it cannot be seen until almost at the intersection. For half a mile before coming to the cut, the railroad…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Woodward, J.
— The errors assigned are not founded upon answers to specific instructions prayed for, but upon dismembered sentences of the charge. It is impossible to conceive of a more unsatisfactory mode of reviewing a legal opinion. It is neither analysis nor criticism, but rude surgery — mere amputation. No written document, not even that of inspired pens, can bear such mutilation. What the court became responsible for, no particular instructions being asked, was the general effect of their charge on the minds of the jury, and this is to be judged…
2Cited by18 opinions
- Sikorski v. Philadelphia & Reading Railway Co.Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1918
- Mastel v. WalkerSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1914
- Lewis v. WoodSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1915
- Furst-Edwards v. St. Louis S. W. Ry. Co.Court of Appeals of Texas · 1912
- Person & Riegel Co. v. LippsSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1907
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