Noyes

This is an action by the appellant, as administrator, against the respondent for damages for injuries resulting in the death of Manuel F. De Mattos. The evidence on the part of the plaintiff being in, the defendant moved for a nonsuit, which was granted. The only question on this appeal is as to the correctness of this ruling. The facts disclosed by the pleadings and evidence are substantially as follows: The defendant owned and operated a railroad. At a point on its road, between Port Costa, and what was known as the “Nevada Docks,” there was a double line of tracks. The road at this point ran along the straits of Carquinez, and the width of the roadway was about twenty-four feet; on one side of the two tracks, and about four feet from the end of the ties, was a steep bluff rising from the roadbed, and on the other side the ends of the ties projected to the water’s edge. There was a space of eight feet between the rails of the two tracks in the center. One Edgar De Pue had been for more than two years engaged by the defendant as a contractor to load and unload its cars at the Nevada docks. In doing this work he kept in his employ a large number of men, many of whom resided at…