Fireman's Fund Insurance v. Oregon Railroad & Navigation Co.

Citations

• 58 Wash. 332
• 108 P. 770
• 1910 Wash. LEXIS 938

Syllabus

<p>Actions—Splitting Cause op Action—Waiver of Objection— Settlement. Where a fire insurance company, having paid a loss and taken an assignment of insured’s cause of action, brought action for the amount of the policy against the party whose negligence caused the fire, the defendant cannot, after admitting that it had settled with the insured for his loss in excess of the policy, object that there is a splitting of the causes of action and that plaintiff owned only part thereof; since the defect was one of parties plaintiff, which could have been cured by amendment, and the settlement had the same effect, leaving but one cause of action owned entirely by the plaintiff.</p> <p>Railroads—Negligence—Fires—Evidence—Sufficiency. Whether a fire was negligently set by a railroad company is for the jury, where there was testimony that it was customary to clean ashes and cinders from locomotives on its main line and leave the same on the ties a few feet from a depot platform, that the cross ties had been- frequently set afire, that the wind was blowing towards thé platform, and the fire was first discovered on the platform a few feet from the ties; and it is immaterial that defendant’s witnesses testified that no engines were cleaned there that day or night and that engines were not cleaned at that station; the credibility of the witnesses being for the jury.</p>