Baker v. Maryland Coal Co.

Fowler, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. This is an action to recover damages for injuries alleged by the plaintiff to have been sustained by him by reason of the wrongful and negligent act of the defendant. The defence is contributory negligence. The controlling question is whether the Court below was right in instructing the jury: first, that there was no evidence in the case of negligence on the part of the defendant; and, second, that the alleged injury was the direct result of négligence on the part of the plaintiff himself, and that therefore their verdict must be for the defendant.

The principles of law applicable to cases like this have been frequently and so fully settled in this State by the decisions of this Court, that they require no farther discussion at this time. The only difficulty is to ascertain and fix ²⁷ definitely the significance and effect of the admitted facts in each particular case. As has been said (Maugan’s case, 61 Md. 60 ), “Accidents occur and injuries are inflicted under an almost infinite variety of circumstances, and it is quite impossible for the Court to fix the standard of duty and conduct by a general and inflexible rule applicable to all cases, so that a departure from it can be pronounced negligence in law.” In the same case it is also said that the evidence of contributory negligence must be very clear to justify a Court in taking the case from the jury : “ It must present some prominent and decisive act in regard to the effect and character of which no room is left for ordinary minds to differ.” And in the case of Cook v. Street Railway Company, 80 Md. 558 , there is a clear exposition of the rule, which will be found, we think, particularly applicable to the case before us. In the case just cited the present Chief Justice McSherry, delivering the opinion of the Court, said, “Where the nature and attributes of the act relied on to show negligence contributing to the injury can only be correctly determined by considering all the attending circumstances of the transaction, it falls within the province of the jury to pass upon and characterize it, and it is not for the Court to determine its quality as matter of law.” Having thus briefly alluded to the general principles, we will ascertain what is the act of the plaintiff relied on by the defendant to show contributory negligence.

To do this will require a brief recital of the evidence. The defendant company is the owner of a coal mine in Allegany County which is operated by means of a tram-road running through a tunnel which is constructed in the mine. Just before the happening of the accident by which the plaintiff was injured a change was made in the mode of moving the cars over this tramway. For a long time the cars were drawn by horses, but now and at the time of the injury complained of the motive power was derived from a stationary steam engine placed outside the mine, to which ²⁸ was attached a wire rope, which in turn was attached to the cars.

In order to use the new motive power with advantage it was found necessary to straighten the tramway, and the result was that in many places the cars were brought so near to the sides or ribs of the tunnel that there was not room enough for a man to stand safely in the remaining space, while the cars were moving. It appears that the change from horse to steam power was made in a very few days, between the seventh and twelfth of December, and that shipments of coal by means of the new system were begun on the thirteenth of December, and before the tunnel through which the cars were drawn had been made sufficiently wide at all places so that a man could safely work the brakes attached to the cars, and operate the signal wire communicating with the engine at the mouth of the mine. It also appears from the testimony of the