Union Pacific Railway Co. v. Harris

Citations

• 158 U.S. 326
• 15 S. Ct. 843
• 39 L. Ed. 1003
• 1895 U.S. LEXIS 2258

Syllabus

<p>Writs of error to Circuit Courts of -Appeals in actions for damages .for negligence of railroad coporations are allowed when the corporations are chartered under the laws of the United States.</p> <p>In an action against a railway company to recover for injuries caused by a collision with a car loaded with coal for a coal company which had escaped from the side track and fun upon the main track,,it is held, in view of the evidence, to be no error to charge that the railway company is bound to keep its track clear from obstructions, and to see that the cars which it uses on side tracks are secured in place, so that they will not come upon the track-to overthrow any train that may come along.</p> <p>When in such an action the defendant sets up a written release of all claims for damages signed by plaintiff, and the plaintiff, not denying its execution, sets up that it was ,signed by him in ignorance of its contents,, at a time when he was under great suffering from his injuries, and in a state approaching to unconsciousness, caused by hls\\,injuries and by the use of morphine, the question is one for the jury, uhder proper instructions from the court; |nd in this case the instructions were proper.</p>