Atlantic Coast Line Railroad v. Peeples

Citations

• 56 Fla. 145

Syllabus

<p>1. Section 2871, of the General Statutes of 1906, provides that the fences and stock guards required by the statute shall be maintained by the companies, person or persons owning or operating railroads, and kept in good repair, so that they shall at all times be suitable and sufficient to prevent the intrusion of any cattle, horses, hogs or other domestic live stock upon the tracks of such railroad. And section 2869 provides that a railroad company shall provide^ proper stock guards and crossings; and when these provisions are not complied with and cattle intrude upon a railroad track because of such omission, the railroad company is liable to the owner for their value.</p> <p>2. Where a road bridge, over a railroad track has been burnt and the railroad company has made another crossing over its •track, but has not provided any approach to the crossing the road overseer whose cattle have been killed near the crossing on the track by the engines and cars of the railroad is not shown to be guilty of contributory negligence because he cut the wires of the railroad fence in order that the public might have an approach to the crossing when it is shown that the fence was out of repair in several places near the scene of the killing of the cattle, and it is not shown that they went on the track where the wire was cut by the overseer.</p> <p>3. Where it is not clear that a question was -calculated to elicit •mere conclusions of a witness, and the testimony in response was proper and not objected to in any way, no reversible error is shown in permitting the question to be asked.</p> <p>4. Where.a question was propounded to the defendant’s witness, tending to elicit his opinion of the value of cattle killed by a railroad company, which question was not permitted on-objection of the plaintiff, but it appears from the evidence that the defendant did afterwards obtain from the witness a substantial answer to the question, no reversible error is shown.</p> <p>g. Charges given