Newton v. New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad

Citations

• 106 A.D. 415
• 94 N.Y.S. 825
• 1905 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2602

Syllabus

<p>Negligence—what evidence does not establish that physical injury ivas done to the plaintiff— statement of a physician that the plaintiff’s condition could have been produced by a nervous shock—no recovery is proper where a mental or nervous shock only is proved.</p> <p>In an action brought to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by the plaintiff it appeared that a train operated by the defendant railroad company collided with a train of another railroad company, upon which latter train the plaintiff was a passenger; that at the time of the collision the plaintiff was' sitting in the smoking car playing cards with three companions upon a board which the plaintiff held in his lap. The plaintiff testified as follows: “ It was quite a heavy crash, a very heavy crash. It just threw me over in the seat. I did not think much of it at the time. The board was in our laps and it did not upset or anything in that way, but just a heavy crash and threw me forward. When the crash came it was unexpected, and I did not think much about it at the time, just as it was made at the time. * * * I felt no pain or anything that day. I did nothing that day at all. I was kind of nervous and stayed around the office for awhile and then went out and went home. As to in what respect I was nervous, I cannot give it any other way than to say I felt shaky. I began to feel shaky that day right after I got to the dffice, and my comrades, in the office advised me to go home. I was glad to get home. When I got there I felt nervous and shaky. * * * I kept getting worse and worse. I had to get help to get home in the evening. I mean by that that my wife and a friend of mine used to come down and meet me to bring me home. My physical condition was different from what it was before the accident because I could not catch my breath, and they had to help me up the hill. There was quite a hill that I had to walk up every night to my home. Before the accident I could walk with any man in the tow