Schramm

This is an action brought by the widow and children of John Schramm, deceased, to recover damages for his death, which is alleged to have occurred on the railroad track of defendant, and to have been caused by the negligence of defendant and its employees. The jury returned a verdict for defendant, and the court below granted a new trial. From the order granting plaintiffs’ motion for.a new trial, defendant appeals.

Orders of trial courts granting new trials are not often disturbed, and yet when it appears that such an order was granted through misapprehension of the law, it should be reversed as readily as an order refusing a new trial. But in the case at bar it is impossible to know the reasons upon which the order was based. The grounds of the motion were numerous, including alleged errors in ruling upon the admissibility of evidence and upon instructions to the jury, insufficiency of the evidence to justify the verdict, and that it is against law, and misconduct and irregularity in the proceedings of the court and jury. The order of the court merely grants the motion in general terms. If it could be said that the motion rested entirely on supposed errors in giving or refusing…