Sorrell v. Titusville Electric Traction Co.

Citations

• 23 Pa. Super. 425
• 1903 Pa. Super. LEXIS 90

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Street railway — Live electric wire.</p> <p>In an action against a street railway company to recover the value of a team of horses killed by a live electric wire, it appeared that prior to the accident an oil derrick standing on private property a short distance from defendant’s track was blown down, and tore from the pole the trolley wires, and also telephone wires which were strung on the poles. All the wires were uninsulated. A high current was passing through the line at the time, and the telephone wires which were small, and not easily to be seen in the roadway became charged from contact with the trolley wire. A car arrived after the accident, and the conductor and motorman turned the car and went back to the power house, about two miles distant, without leaving any word or warning at the scene of the accident. At the power house they reported the fall of the derrick and the situation of affairs to those in charge of the power plant, but these persons did not turn off the power for almost an hour afterward. In the meantime plaintiff’s team, driven by his son, approached the scene of the accident, and the horses came in contact with the telephone wires. Held, that the case was for the jury and that a verdict and judgment for plaintiff should be sustained.</p>