California v. United States

This is a civil suit based upon the provisions of 45 USC §§ 1-16 (45 USCA §§ 1-16), commonly known as the Safety Appliance Acts. The case arose out of the operation of the State Belt Railroad, hereinafter referred to as the Belt Railroad, owned and operated by the state of California.

The cause was heard in the court below under a waiver of jury and on a stipulation of facts.

The Belt Railroad is about five miles in length. It receives from and delivers to common carriers engaged in interstate com-, merce railroad cars in interchange at San Francisco, switches cars to and from the, wharves and industries there, and engages in the duties usually performed by terminal railroads. '

On February 20, 1932, the Belt Railroad! hauled over its line Western Pacific box car No. 16113. During the movement, the coupling and uncoupling apparatus on the! “A” end of the car was out of repair and inoperative, as alleged in the appellee’s complaint, thus necessitating that, in the lan-’ guage of the statute, men go between the ends of the cars in order to uncouple them.

The appellee contends that from the agreed statement of facts “there is no question but that the Safety Appliance Acts were…