RAILWAY ACCIDENTS.

11026. Injuries to Passengers.—Railway companies are responsible for the safety of passengers precisely in the same degree as other carriers of passengers are, and in no greater degree (10696); but,

11027. Detailed Risks.-The great preponderance in numbers of railway passengers, and the peculiarities of railway travelling, render some special mention of the detailed risks to which they are sometimes exposed.

11028. Vehicles.-Railway companies, like other carriers of passengers (10698), are bound to provide vehicles and the means of propelling them, both of such a character as to guard against accident, so far as human foresight is concerned; and

11029. Roadways.-Railway companies, unlike other carriers of passengers, are responsible for defects in their roadways, stations, and premises, and everything appertaining thereto.

11030. Original Defects.—If an accident occurs from any original defect in the construction of vehicles, locomotives, or road, the company is generally liable.

BROKEN DOWN BRIDGES.

11031. Eminent Engineers.-On several occasions when railway bridges have broken down, the company implicated has pleaded that, as they employed an eminent engineer to design the bridge, they were exonerated from any possible charge of neglect; but,

11032. Reputation no Plea.—The plea that a defect arose under the sanction or superintendence of an eminent engineer is no defence whatever; for,

11033. Separate Evidence.-In all cases it must be proved, in order to exonerate a railway company for an accident arising from defective construction, that the best material and the best known mode of construction was adopted, independently of the opinions or experiments of individual engineers, however eminent.

SERVANTS.

11034. Railway companies are especially under a deep obligation to use every effort to secure skilful and trustworthy servants; for,

11035. Acts or Omissions.-As a general rule, if a railway accident arises from any act or omission of a servant of the company, the com pany is responsible (10698); though,

11036. Insanity and Felony,- If it can be proved that a railway

accident arose from the wilful, insane, or felonious act of a servant, the company will be exonerated; and

11037. Prosecution of Servants.—Servants of railway companies are rendered liable, under various statutes, to prosecution for accidents which may arise from their carelessness or neglect.

NEGLIGENCE OF PASSENGERS.

11038. Carelessness or Wilfulness.-A railway company cannot be held liable for injury to, or the death of, a passenger arising out of the carelessness or wilfulness of the passenger; and

11039. Difficult Decisions.-There are many contingencies which render it extremely difficult to decide whether a given accident to a passenger can be ascribed to his negligence or to that of the company; and

CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE.

11040. Though a company may have been negligent to a certain degree, still, if the passenger be also negligent so as to have contributed to an accident, the company will be partially or entirely exonerated.

11041. Crossing the Line.-An old lady having procured tickets for herself and grandson, proceeded to cross the line, and both were knocked down and severely injured by a train. The company were in some degree to blame for permitting them to cross, but as she had been careless, it was presumed that she had no case for an action. However, an action was taken into court on behalf of the unfortunate grandson, and it was decided that he was so identified with his grandmother in the contributory negligence as to have no case either.

11042. Alighting Improperly.—A train ran past a station where it was appointed to stop, and before there was time to back it to the platform, a female passenger jumped out and sprained her knee. The company were held to be exonerated.

11043. Slippery Staircase.-A passenger slipped down a staircase at a railway station. It was proved that the brass upon the steps (originally roughed to prevent slipping) was worn so smooth as to have caused the accident, but (most unaccountably) the company were held to be exonerated.

11044. Fall over a Weighing Machine.—One of a crowd of persons on a railway platform, in consequence of the crowd, did not see that a weighing machine was in its usual place, and consequently fell over it. It was decided that he was solely responsible; but,

11045. Fall over a Hamper.-A passenger fell over a hamper which

was placed at night where passengers had a right to go, but where insufficient light had been provided, and the company were held to be responsible for negligence.

11046. Injuries with Carriage Doors.-A passenger, getting into a carriage, put his hand within the hinge of the open door, and the guard of the train shut the door before he had time to remove his hand, and so caused considerable injury. As a general rule, such a careless passenger must go without recompense; but, as it was dark at the time and there was not a convenient handle to assist passengers in entering, the company were held responsible.

FATAL ACCIDENTS.

11047. Heirs and Executors.—Under a special statute, the heir or executor of a passenger killed in consequence of the default of a railway company, is entitled to sue the company on behalf of the survivors of the deceased; and

11048. Arbitrations.-Arbitration to assess the amount of damages through personal injury or death of a railway passenger, may be procured on a joint application to the Board of Trade, by the claimant or claimants and the company.

11049. Pecuniary Consequences.—As a general rule, claims for personal injuries must be based, not upon the injuries, but upon the pecuniary consequences thereof to the sufferer and those depending upon him; and

11050. Death.-A railway company is never liable in damages for the mere death of a passenger, unless his survivors can prove a pecuniary loss, or worldly disadvantage; hence,

11051. Rank and Wealth.-The amount of damages which a railway company may be called upon to pay for injury or death of a passenger, depends upon the rank and wealth of the sufferer, and also upon the number and helplessness of his widow and children.

RAILWAY INSURANCE.

11052. Mitigation of Damages.-There was formerly a tendency, when a person injured or killed had been insured against accidents, to mitigate the damages against the railway company in proportion to the amount assured; but,

11053. No Mitigation.—It is now expressly enacted that no amount assured by the payment of a premium for that purpose, shall be taken as a mitigation of damages against a railway company.

DEODANDS.

11054. Forfeiture to the Crown.-In ancient times, when a vehicle or other moving object caused the death of a human being, it was subject to be forfeited as a “deodand” to the crown, by a verdict of a coroner's jury.

11055. Pecuniary Penalty.-In later years it was customary for verdicts to award to the crown a pecuniary penalty as a deodand in lieu of forfeiture; and

11056. Nominal Deodands.—In the earlier days of railways it was usual, in cases of fatal accidents, to award a nominal deodand (generally a shilling) by way of asserting the right and keeping the custom alive; consequently,

11057. Forfeiture of Rolling Stock.-So long as the right was recognized, it was in the power of a coroner's jury to declare the forfeiture of an entire engine, tender, and train, by way of deodand; therefore, 11058. Abolition.-The railway interests combined in 1846 and procured the passing of an Act under which they are exempt from deodands.

SECURITY OF LUGGAGE.

11059. Entire Responsibility.—As in cases of other carriers of passengers (10700), railway companies are entirely responsible for the safe conveyance and careful delivery of luggage; and

11060. Noticed Elsewhere.-The law relating to passengers' luggage is fully gone into under the head of “Carriers” (10700), with one exception; namely,

LEFT LUGGAGE.

11061. Cloak Rooms.-The practice of railway companies, now almost universal, in providing places for passengers' luggage to be temporarily deposited for safety, called cloak rooms, raises some points of law relating to such practice which require special notice.

11062. Reasonable Conditions.-The luggage deposited is subject to any reasonable conditions which may be printed upon the ticket given to the passenger; for instance,

11063. Limitation of Value.-It has been decided that a condition that the company will not be liable for any package deposited in the cloak room exceeding £10 in value, will exonerate the company for any amount above that value, should the package be lost or stolen ; but,

11064. Void Conditions.-Any condition purporting to free the company from any responsibility whatever is void and of no effect.

11065. Scrupulous Care.-Whether there is any condition made or not, the company is in all cases bound to take scrupulous care of the property thus left; and

11066. Unaccountable Loss.-If property is lost, culpable negligence will be presumed, unless the loss of it can be reasonably accounted for; and

11067. Compensation.—Evidence of culpable negligence will commit the company to compensate the depositor if the property is lost; but, 11068. Clever Theft.—If the property is stolen by an exceedingly clever thief, in defiance of reasonable precautions, it is doubtful whether the depositor can recover; and

11069. Violence.-If the property is stolen or obtained wrongfully by violence, which the servants of the company are really unable to resist, the company is not responsible; again,

11070. Fire.-If the property is destroyed by fire or other unavoidable accident or catastrophe, the depositor must go without compen sation.

RESTORATION.

11071. Promptitude.-It is the duty of the company to restore the property with reasonable promptitude on application and production of the ticket; and for that purpose,

11072. Attendance.- It is the duty of the company to provide continuous attendance at all reasonable times, so to avoid serious delay or inconvenience; but,

11073. Extraordinary Exertion.-There is no obligation to use extraordinary exertion to effect the restoration of property; so that,

11074. Loss of Train.—If a passenger applies for the restoration of left luggage, close upon the time of a train, and the depositor, in consequence of a crowd of applicants or other cause, fails to get his luggage instantly, and so misses the train, the company are not responsible unless wanton neglect can be proved.

FINAL EXONERATION.

11075. Original Ticket.—The production of the original ticket for left luggage will usually clear the company producing it; for, 11076. Different Holders.-There is no obligation to insist upon the me person applying for the luggage who left it; but,

11077. Mistakes.-If the property is given up by mistake upon production of another ticket; or,

8. Forgeries.-If a forged ticket is used and the property is thus wrongfully obtained, the company will be responsible.