Hoffman

(after stating the facts as above). [1] 1. It is contended by the defendant that as between the obstruction to the passage of the automobile caused by the guy wire, and the obstruction caused by the railroad crossing, the evidence is not sufficient to show that the guy wire was the cause of the accident, invoking the rule that where one of two or more things may have caused the accident, for one of which the defendant is responsible, and for the other he is not, it is not for the jury to guess or speculate between these causes, and find that the negligence of the defendant' was the real cause of the accident, where there was no satisfactory foundation in the testimony for that conclusion. Patton v. Texas & P. Ry. Co., 179 U. S. 658, 663 , 21 Sup. Ct. 275, 45 L. Ed. 361 . The rule is not applicable in this case. There is no question but the car came into collision with the guy wire, and we think there is in-the testimony a sufficient foundation for the conclusion that the guy wire, if not the sole cause, was either a concurrent or a successive cause of the accident.

[2] But in appealing to this rule, the defendant seeks to eliminate the guy wire altogether as an independent…