Lynch v. Pacific Electric Railway Co.

The plaintiff, as administratrix of the estate of her deceased husband, William Edward Lynch, prosecutes this action against the defendant to recover damages on account of the death of her husband, which she alleged was caused by negligence of the defendant employer of said Lynch. The charge is that on the twenty-ninth day of April, 1913, “while the defendant was attempting to' draw a gravel train of cars over its tracks on a steep upgrade,. near Redondo Beach, California, the defendant negligently failed to furnish sufficient electricity, the motive power thereof, to pull said train, ... so that while the said William Edward Lynch was in the act of passing between two cars of said train, the front part of said train slipped back against him and caught him between said two cars, crushing him so that he immediately died therefrom.” The complaint also alleged negligent failure of the motorman to put on brakes as a proximate cause of the accident. After the evidence had been received as offered by the respective parties, the court, on motion of the1 defendant, instructed the jury to find for the defendant. This the jury did, and- judgment was rendered accordingly. From that judgment…