Chicago & Northwestern Railway Co. v. Barrie

Citations

• 55 Ill. 226

Syllabus

<p>1. Negligence—in railroads—keeping fences in repair. While railroad companies will be held to a high degree of diligence in keeping their fences in good repair, they are not bound to do impossible things, nor are they required to keep a constant patrol, night and day. If, where a railroad is enclosed by a sufficient fence, a breach occurs therein by reason of the unlawful act of a stranger, and through such breach stock get upon the track and are injured, in the absence of negligence on their part, the company will not be liable, unless the accident happened after the lapse of a sufficient time for the company, in the exercise of reasonable diligence, to have discovered and repaired the breach before the injury occurred.</p> <p>2. Where stock get upon a railroad track without the fault of the company, the law requires evidence beyond the mere proof that they were injured by the engine and carriages of the company on the road, to establish a liability for such injury; there must, in such case, be proof of negligence on the part of the agents and servants of the company in charge of the train at the time the injury occurred.</p> <p>3. In an action against a railroad company to recover the value of cattle alleged to have been killed on defendants’ road by their locomotive and train, it appeared the cattle could have been seen on the track by the engineer, if he had been on the lookout, for a distance of more than half a mile; there was nothing to obstruct his view, and yet, with the stock standing on the track in full view, the engineer made no effort to avoid the danger, and never slackened the speed of the train, but rushed on at a rapid rate, without any signal to give the alarm: Held, it was gross negligence on the part of the engineer not to stop the train in time to avoid the danger, for which the company should be held responsible, even though the cattle were upon the track without the fault of the company.</p>