Harrington

This case was tried in the federal court for the district of Montana. It is a suit by a passenger against the Milwaukee railroad to recover damages for personal injuries sustained in the state of Washington. Judgment going against the carrier, the latter appeals on the claim that the showing of negligence was insufficient to warrant a recovery, and that there was error in the giving of certain instructions.

Appellee was of the age of 75 years at the time of the occurrence. Accompanied by her daughter she boarded appellant’s streamlined train “Hiawatha” at Seattle, hound for Butte. She had sleeping accommodations in a Touralux car. Her injury was suffered at Renton, a half hour out of Seattle, when she fell in consequence of a jerk of the train as it started after a scheduled stop. The aisles of the Touralux cars on this train are carpeted, but the floor between the seats in the sections is of a hard surface composition. The floor in the space assigned to appellee Was described by the latter and by her daughter as “slippery”. Appellee, who was alone at the moment, had risen from her seat to hang up her hat when the accident occurred. The following quotations from the record fairly…