Toledo, Wabash & Western Railway Co. v. Maxfield

Citations

• 72 Ill. 95

Syllabus

<p>1. Venue—motion for change must he made at earliest opportunity. A. ./notion for a change of venue must be made at the earliest opportunity, and if a party fails to do so, his right will be barred.</p> <p>2. Practice—special verdict discretionary. Under the Practice Act of 1872, it is discretionary with the court whether it will direct the jury to find a special verdict, and no error can be assigned on the refusal of the court to give such an instruction.</p> <p>3. ¡Negligence—party building a reasonably safe distance from railroad track not guilty. Whilst a party who erects his buildings on or near a railroad track is presumed to know the dangers incident to the use of ■ steam as a motive power, and assumes some of the hazards to which his property is exposed, yet, where a party erects his building at a reasonably safe distance from the railroad track, he can not be held guilty of negligence because his building is so situated as to be liable to be set on fire by another subsequently erected in a dangerous proximity to the' track.</p>