xt73bk16mf8w_140 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt73bk16mf8w/data/mets.xml https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt73bk16mf8w/data/51w14.dao.xml unknown 35 Cubic Feet 77 boxes archival material 51w14 English University of Kentucky Copyright has not been assigned to the University of Kentucky.  Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company and Lexington and Eastern Railway Company records Railroads -- Appalachian Region -- History. Railroads -- Kentucky -- History. [110] S.L. Stidham v. L&N, Breathitt Circuit Court text [110] S.L. Stidham v. L&N, Breathitt Circuit Court 2016 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt73bk16mf8w/data/51w14/Box_16/Folder_2/68312.pdf section false xt73bk16mf8w_140 xt73bk16mf8w ‘ ‘ >. , -, _ ,1 K . H V
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T '_' - SAMUEL L. STIDHAM PLnInTIFF
"':':1—5 I. 2 VS. TRANSCRIPT OF EVIDENCE.

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12.}; Robinson 1—6 6—11 11 11—12
A.B. Davis 12—16 16-22 22-23 25
L.A. Parks 24-27 28—30 30 51 51 31-52 32
55—54
W. Gillespie 34-57 37—41 41-42 42—43 45—44 44-45
I Plaintiff's Testimony
Samuel L. . -
Stidham 46 46—49 49—50
”Luther Noble 50—52 52—55
Hiram Noble 55-57 58-61 61
Washington
Watts 61-62 65-64
instructions Offered by Defendant 64
Instructions by the Court 65
i

 BREATHITT CIRCUIT COURT.
' SAMUEL L. STIDHAM PLAINTIFF
. vs. TRANSCRIPT or EVIDENCE.
LOUISVILLE & NASHVILLE RAILROAD COMPANY DEFENDAET.
*****************

This case came on for trial at the regular January
Term, 1916 of the Breathitt Circuit court, before Hon. J.F,
Bailey, Special Judge, and a Jury.

After hearing the statements in the case by both
plaintiff and defendant, the Court ruled that the burden
in this case was on the defendant.

The defendant, thereupon, in its behalf, introduced
the following evidence:

E.B. ROBINSON, being duly sworn as a witness on

' behalf of the defendant, testified as follows:
DIRECT EXAMINATION

By O.H. Pollard, Counsel for Defendant:
Q. Where do you live, Mr. Robinson?

A. Jackson.

Q. What is your occupation?
I; A. Railroad engineer.
- ,e g, what experience have you had in that business, railroad

 2
t engineering, how many years?
A. About three years and six months.
Q. Are you in the employ of the Louisville & Eashville Rail—
road Company now?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Were you in charge, as engineer, of the engine that killed
a mule up between Copland and Little on the morning of January‘
29, 1914?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Do you of your own knowledge know whose mule it was?
A. No sir, I don't. .
Q. What kind of a train was your engine pulling at the
time the mule was struck?
, A. A coal train mostly.
Q. What direction were you going?
A. Going north. .
g, Toward Jackson?
A. Yes sir.
Q. From what point had your train come that day?
A. From Neon.
q,' where is Neon?
A. It's one hundred miles south of here in Letcher County.
Q. Beyond Whitesburg, is it not?
A. yes, twelve miles beyond Whitesburg.
Q. How many cars was your engine pulling?
A. Twenty, I believe, that trip.
’ Q. Were they loaded or empty?
' A. Fourteen loads, I believe and six empties.

 5
Q. what time of the day was that that you struck hhis mule?
A. It was along about after five o'clock, five thirty or
’ forty five the best I remember, something like that. Five forty
I five the best I remember.
I Q. Merning or evening?
A. Morning.
Q. what was the condition of the temperature or the weather ’
at that time?

' A. The best I remember it was very foggy and a little bit ‘
chilly.

‘ Q. At the time you struck this mule, where were you? What

. was your position?

A. I was sitting on the seat box in the cab on the right hand

4 side.

‘ Q, was that your position in the engine?

a A. Yes sir.

‘ Q. State whether or not you were looking out upon the track

I in front of the engine? Looking out through the front window?
A. Partly, not all the time. I can't look out all the time.

i We have got other business to attend to.

A Q. How close were you on this mule before you discovered it?
A. About two or three rails length, something like that, when
they called my attention to it.

‘ Q. Who called your attention to it? ‘

, A. Either the firemen or head foreman one, I don't remember
which, on the other side.

. Q. What did you do when you discovered the mule in the track,

 4
A if anything?
A. I shut off the steam and made a light application of the
- air brakes.
. Q, Did you blow any whistle?
A. Yes sir, I blowed my whistle.
Q. State whether or not you could have stopped that train
after you discovered that mule, in time to have kept from
striking him?
A. Well sir, I could by using the emergency application
brake.
K Q. What you mean?
A. Putting the emergency brake.
Q. What would be the effects of that?
l A. Well, it's liable to throw the train off the track or
injure somebody on the rear of the train, the brakeman of
‘ the train.
‘ Q. You say that would probably throw the train off the track
and injure the men in charge of the train?
A. Yes sir, the brakes on those high are very severe.
| Q, What is the shortest distance in which you could have
stoPped that train with safety to those in charge of the
i train, considering the rate of speed and the track upon which
1 you were running at the time you saw this mule?
A. About fifteen or twenty car lengths.
Q. What is the length of a car?
‘ A. I really don't know, something about twenty feet, I
guess. Thirty, some of them are. I donat know what the length
’ . was of the cars I was pulling.

 5
Q. They are of different lengths, are they?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Did you have a head light on that engine?
A. Yes sir.
Q. State to the Jury what kind of a headlight?
A. Just had an ordinary oil headlight like the L & N uses
all over its system.
Q. The same kind that is used over the entire system?
A. Yes sir.
Q. what was the condition of that headlight with reference to
being in repair or light, at the time it struck this mule?
A. It was lighted and in good burning order.
Q. I forgot to ask you whether that track of the railroad at
' that point or not, was straight?
A. Yes sir, it was straight. Right where the accident occurred,
we was just around the curve.
Q. Had you passed around the curve when you struck it?
A. Yes sir.
Q. How far does the headlight, such as you had and such as
is ordinarily used on the L & N system, throw a light in front
of it when the weather is clear?
A. About three rail lengths. You can discover an animal, such
like as a mule. Probably four or five or something like that.
Q. Was there anything to prevent that headlight on the occaa
~3.1.011 of killing this mule, with reference to the atmospheric
,condition, that prevented the headlight from penetrating as
,far as it would unier ordinary circumstances?
A Well, it won't throw light as far in foggy weather,- you

 6
can't see as far. -

I Q. Did you soon discover this mule - discover it was a mule?
‘ A. Well, I couldn't tell until after I got right on it and
after I struck the mule, I discovered it was a mule.

, Qo
CROSS EXAMINED
r By Judge J.P. Adams, Gounsel for Plaintiff;
f Q. I believe you say you were looking out down the track at
the time that this mule was on the track?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Did any one call to your attention of something being on
the track or did you discover it before your attention was '
called to it?
A. Some one on the other side called my attention t) it.
Q. How many rail lengths was the mule ahead of the train
at the time you discovered it?
A. At the time I discovered it, about three rail lengths.
, q, Three rails lengths?
A. Yes sir.
Q. I believe you say that the condition of the weather on
, that ocoa§.on, that is, the fog was so heavy that the light

wouldn't penetrate as far as it would whenthe weather was
clear?
A. NO sir.
Q. And you say furthermore, that the light, when it is in

' good condition, will penetrate about those rail lengths?

“ A. Yes sir.

 7
q, As the light was then, could you see this mule three
a rail lengths?
. A. Yes sir, but not rounding the curve. When the mule was
first discovered, I was just rounding the curve.
. Q. Then you discovered the mule three rail lengths with the
aid of the light?
A. Yes sir, it was about three.
’ Q. Then it was light without the haadlight? Without the
headlight, it was light enough for you to see a mule three
. lengths and discover a mule on your track?
c A. Two or three, yes sir.
Q. Describe that head light to the jury?
' A. Well, it's just an ordinary headlight. I can't hardly
o the Jury all knows it‘s a head light.
, Q. Was it an electric light? .
A. No, it was an ordinary oil burner.
. q, 011 light?
. A. Yes sir.
, Q. How is the oil light Operated? And how is it regulayted?
, A. It has a big round wick in it and sets up in a cup.
Q. And that wick turns up and turns down?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Then the power of the light depends upon how high or
1 low it is?
. A. Yes sir. You can regulate it.
Q. Then it don't give the same power all the time, does it?
, A. Well, it's owing to how you set it.
c Q. If it is set low, it gives a dim light?

 8
A. Yes.
‘Q. And if it is turned high, it gives more power?
. A. Yes sir.
Q. And you can, if it is set low, it gives a dim light,
d does it not?
A. Yes sir.
I Q. Do you know whether it was light or dim on this occasion?
a A. No, at the last I saw it up there near Whick, it was in
good burning order.
' Q, What is good burning order?
I A. What I mean in good burning order, it was sufficient.
A Q. Do you know if the light, at the time you struck the
’ mule was giving off its full power for a lamp of that char—
actor?
P A. I don't know. I never looked at that time. I never
, looked any more until I got to Jackson.
‘ Q. You don't know whether it had any more capacity than it
b was then giving off or not?
‘ A. No sir. .
’ Q. You had twenty cars, I believe, fourteen of which were
I loaded and six empties?
‘ A. Yes sir.
' Q. Do you know the size of those cars or length of them?
‘ A. No sir, I don't.
‘ Q About how many car lengths is required to stop a train
‘ of that size on a level track?
) r A. At what speed?
, .7 Q.

 ’ 9

Q. Twelve miles an hour, or the speed at which you were ge-

ing at that time?

A. Fourteen miles, we ought to step it in fifteen or twenty

car lengths Just to make an ordinary ppplicatien, service

application to stop.

Q. Do you think it would require 400 feet to step a train of

that size?

A. Well, I can stop it something like 500 feet, 350, something

like that, safely.

Q. You can stop within 300 or 350 feet?

A. Yes.

Q. New by an application of the air brakes, how soon could

you step a train, or what distance would it require to shut

off the steam and turn on the air?

A. Well, it's owing to how much I turn on, you knew. Twenty

pounds will stop the train and in two applications, I can stop
’ it, in ten car lengths, something like that, or fifteen.

Q. What would forty pounds pressure do?

A. That would put it all on at once. That would make an
' emergency application.

q.- And what distance would be required ti step the train
‘ in an emergency?
' A. About four rails lengths or five.
‘ Q. The mule was running about what speed when you first

discovered him?

A. About fourteen miles an hour.

: Q. I mean about what speed was the mule running?

, i; A.

 10
A. I couldn't tell you about that, I haven't any idea.
Q. Was it between the rails?
A. Yes. '
Q. And running along the track?
_ A. Running right along the tradck when I first discovered it.
Q. was he apparently running as fast as he could run?
A. Well, I couldn't tell. I noticed ham loping along on the
track.
Q. You blew the whistle?
A. Yes sir.
Q. And the mule stayed on the track a short distance?
A. Yes sir.
Q. What was the mule doing at the time you struck him?
A. Standing there, fixing tr Jump over the rail.
Q. Had he turned to Jump from the track?
A. Yes sir, the best of my recollection.
Q. In your best judgment, the mule would have been off the
track in one second, would he?
) A. Well, I don't know about that, I expect in three or four
. seconds longer, he would have gotten off.
Q. Did your train check any?
, A. Check any?
' Q. Yes.
. A. yes sir, I don't believe I would have hit the mule if he
. hadn't stopped to Jump off.
Q. If you had put on a little more air, a second application
, : rather, how much more would that hhae checked your train?
. .A. Well, it would have checked it a right smart more if I

 11
'A had had time. You see it was done in a short time. It wasn't
.9 time to carry it.
.A Q. Your train hid run ten or twelve car lengths farther after
'3 you discovered the mule, before you hit the mule, didn‘t it?
°A A. Yes sir. i
’5 RE DIRECT EXAMINATION
“A By MI. Pollard:
13 Q. I don't remember exactly what you said, when you first
'J discovered the mule, you put on how much air? ‘
'A A. About five pounds of air. A light application.
’9 Q. Then did you repeat that?
'A A. No sir, hadn't time. You have got to wait a certain
' . length of time.
'A' . Q. Could you have taken any precaution and not struck him?
‘5 Plaintiff objects; objection sustained; pefendant excepts.
'A Q. Was there anything that you could have done, that you
': didn't do, to keep from hitting that mule? V
;xj A. Not without putting my brakes in emergency.
‘A Q. What would have been the probable effect, had you put
’98 the brakes in emergency, as you say?
4: A. Liable to have swung a car off the track or hurt some—
°A body in the rear.
'9 Q. It wasn't safe to that, is the reason you didn't do that?
'A A. no sir.
53d ' RE CROSS EXAMINED
'9 By Judge Adams: ‘ '
’51 ; q, About how many pounds of air does it take to make an
.A .- . ’

 12
emergency?
A. Twenty five pounds.
g. And you applied five?
A. Yes sir.
_ A.B. DAVIS, being duly sworn as a witness on behalf

of the defendant, testified as follows:
By Judge Pollard;
Q. Where do you live, Mr. Davis?
A. Up at Haddix.
Q. Are you a son of Field Davis that lives up on Lroublesane?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Were you raised in this county?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Are you an employe of the Louisville & fiashville Railroad
Company?
A. Yes. \
Q. How long have you been working for them?
A. A little over two years.
Q. Were you on the engine that struck a mule up between
Little and Copland on the 29th of January, 1914?
A. yes sir.
Q. Do you know whose mule that was, learned since?
A. I learned it was Stidham‘s mule. '

,V Q. Sam Stidham's?

7' A. Yes sir, I ain't acquainted with him.

Ԥ Q. What were you doing at the time the engine struck the

_ mule?

 ' 13
A. I was sitting on the fireman's side of the engine on the
seat and was looking ahead and saw him.
Q. What position was you occupying then with reference to
that train? What was your job?
A. Brakeman, looking ahead.
Q. Your post of duty was inside of the engine cab than?
A. Yes.
Q. Go on and tell the jury in your own way; what you saw
and what you difi.
A. Well, it was on a straight track and I was there looking
out and couldn't see very far ahead but I saw black on
the track and didn’t know what it was and went to call the
enginzgrhigout it, I went to Speak to him, I don:t know wke-ther
I spoke /or not, I don't know whether I had time or not until
it went to blowing tho Whistle and I didn't know what it was
until he blew the whistle and than the mule looked back and
started to run and by that time, we had done caught up with
him. He made a lean to Jump and I had went behind the boiler
and I didnét see the mule.
Q. You mean by that, the boiler obstructed your View?
A. No answer.
Q. Do you know what rate of speed it was going when it was
striking him?
_ A. It was going about twelve miles an hour, I guess.
' Q. Haw much train did you have?
A. I think we had fourteen loads and six empties. I don't
' 7 know what train it was.

 14
Q. About how far were you from the mule when you first saw
him?
A. It was about three rail lengths.
Q. What is the length of a rail?
A. Well, it's estimated about thirty feet, I reckon.
Q. You say at the time that distance when you first saw
him, you couldn‘t even tell it was a mule? -
A. Yes sir.
Q. Why was it you couldn't tell three rail lengths, what
it was?
A. Well, it was real foggy and before daylight and the
haadlight wouldn‘t show through the fog enough to tell what
it was. F
Q. A car going at the rate of speed that you were going on
that track at the time could have been stopped in safety in
what distance, that size train?
A. Well, it could have been stopped, I guess, in about,—
you mean to put the brakes in emergency?
Q. Yes. To put the brake in emergency, at what distance
could it have been stopped?
A. Well, it could have been st0pped at about five rail
- lengths, I guess.
Q. Could that car have been stapped, even by using the
emergency in time t1 have saved that mule after you discovered
i it?
3 A. NO sir, I don't think so. You know it takes swme time
$5. a man to) do a thing like that.

 15
Q. What do you mean by that?
A. It takes some time for a man to out the throttle off and
put on the brake and the train tanning all that time. And I
think it would be impossible for him to stop.
Q. Do you remember whether or not any air at all was applied
on that occasion? I
A. Yes sir, I think it was. A service application of the
brake made and pulled it down to some extent, but it didngt
stop.
Q. Who else was on that engine besides you and the engineer?
A. Well, I didn't remember when the case came u:, I didn't
remember, but I reckon now—
Q. Was there any other employe of the Company on 4 was there
more than two of you?
A. There were three of us.
Q. You didn't remember at the time, who the other man was?
A. I didn't remember when the case was called. It was
two years ago and I didn‘t remember until I seen him again
summoned here.
Q. Did you remember having seen the man who was on the en-
gins with you?
A. I know the man now.
Q. Who were they? ‘
. A. Parks and Robinson.
f Q. Do you remember what Parks was doing at the time you were
it sitting in there in his seat, looking out?
£:A. I believe he had just put in fire and stepped back up to
jglhis oab.

 16
Q. What do you mean by putting in fire?
A. I mean he had Just throwed some coal in the fire box and
_ Just stepped up in his side of the cab.
CROSS EXAMINED
By Judge Adams:
Q. How fast was the mule going at the time you discovered
2 him on the track?
A. I believe he was kindly walking when I first saw him and
about the time when the engineer blew the whistle, he went
' tormmhw.
2 Q. Running pretty fast?
A. Yes, he made a few right quick Jumps.
2 Q. And continued to run on down the track?
A. Well, he didn't have much time to run. He just made a
« Jump or two before he made a jump to get off, we was getting
2 so close on him.
2 Q. Was the mule running down the track at any time after
you discovered the mule?
1 A. I believe he was walking when I first seen him, but 1:
. couldn‘t tell.§$-é£-ho—asun—a$—any-ti-mev
'Q. Did he run at any time?
. A. Yes sir, he made two or thnee jumps to get off.
Q. And after you discovered the mule, the mule only made
. ‘two or thlee jumps until the train struck him?
. 3A. He made some jumps but I don't say it struck him, because
1I couldn't tell.
2 .EQ. You don't know how long the mule stayed in the track after
jivou saw it? I

 17
A. Ko sir.
Q. You don't know how far down the track it run before he
was struck?
A. No sir, but he didn't go any distance, I don't think,
very much.
Q. A Mule can run over twelve miles an hour, the speed of _
your train, for say, a quarter of an hour?
A. Yes, but he couldn't if he stayed in the railroad track,
it taxed him some to walk.
'Q. Give him ninety feet ahead, don‘t you think the male
could run as fast as that train was‘going?
A. Maybe he didn‘t start ninety feet ahead. You see he was
about ninety feet ahead when I first saw him and he wasnLt
running when I first saw him. V
Q. What kind of a head light did you have that morning?
A. Well, we just had a common headlight.
Q. Was it a dim hzadlight, that light that morning?
A. I don't know much about it. I hadn't noticed much about
it myself, but I believe it's about the average headlight they
have here . They have all oil burners.
Q. Did you give your deposition in this case, Mr. Davis,
on the first day of September, 1915?
A. I gave it one day. I don't know when it was. J‘t‘s been-
Q, I will ask you if these questions were propounded to
you and answered by you as follows:
counsel for Defendant: I object to that. The plaintiff took
'L his deposition and I brought him here to cross examine him.
"They can't introduce a witness and then contradict him.

 18
counsel for Plaintiff: He is not our witnes. He is their
witness now.

The Gourt owerruled the objection; defendant excepts.
Q, "You don't remember what mide post it wee?
A. "No, I don't remember whether it was below or above Copland.
Any way it was between Whisk and Haddix.
"Q. Tell the Examiner what happened in connection with it?
Then did you make this answer to that question: "When I saw
the mule, it was foggy and they had a dim headlight?" Did
1 you make that answer to that question in your deposition
that was taken? '
A. I may a made the answer.
Q. Was this question asked you and did you make this answer
to it? "Was the mule on the track when you saw it?" and your
answer, "Yes sir, it was making a little speed down the
track when I saw him." You made that answer did you?
A. I don't know what I made then. It's been long ago. I
don't remember.
Q. What you stated about it then was the truth, wasn't it?
it. Yes, that is the way I made the stated it now. 1
q. was this question asked you and did you make this answer:
"He went some distance before you realized that it was a mule?"
'."A. Just a little bit,and I just remember holloing to the en-
_gineer. It was the last before I got behind the boiler he
whistled and the mule looked back and still I thought that he
Thad killed him, but still I seen him turn to go off before
the want out of my sight around the head of the boiler. The
€5.9n81neer said hit him. Don't know whether it killed him or

 19
not.2 Did you make that statement?
A I made them then. I guess I made them.

' Q. And you repeat them now? Those are the facts are they?

. A. yes sir.

q, What did you say a moment ago about the engineer trying
to stop the train? .

A. I said he made a service application of the brake but he
didn't put in emergency.

- Q. I will ask you if he, on that same occasion, when you
gave your deposition, you were asked this question “At the
time, what rate of speed was the train going when ha first
blew the whistle? and your answer to that was "About twelve
or fifteen miles an hour I guess. Q. Did the engineer slow
up? A. no. HadnKt any time to slow up, to have done the mule
any good. I don't think he ever put on the brakes." Did you
state then that you didn't think he ever put on the brakes?
A. I don't know what I stated then. I don't remember what
I stated then, but I believe he put on the brakes. You see
it's been so long I can't remember all and wasn't noticing
very much about it.

, Q. You did state however, on the first day of September,
1915, this: "I don't think he ever put on the brakes." You
made that statement didn't you, when you were sworn and gave
your depo Si 131011?

A. I don't know. I don't say I did.

7} Q. I will ask you if this question was propounded to you when

vg your deposition was taken: "Q. The engineer did not make any

 . 20
effort to stop the train?" "A. Hot as I know of".
Mr. Pollard; I object to that.
Q. was that question propounded to you and did you make
that answer when you gave your deposition in this case
‘ last September.

A. (Not answered).
Q. was this question propdunded to you: “Q. The mule was
running when you saw him? A. Yes, it was." Did you make
that answer?
A. He was walking. He wasn't running when I saw him first.
Q. Then the answer you made when your deposition was taken
is not correct? '
flounsei for Defendant: I object to that. He was their witness
on that occas‘. on.
The Court: You have introduced him in diredt examination.
They have a right to cross examine him.
Counsel for defendant; Yes, but they introduced him when he
gave his deposition.

' The Court: I know but any statement he may have made when he
gave his depositition—
Counsel for Defendant: As I understand it they took this >
deposition and declined to file it. This deposition is not
filed at all.

A The Gourt: They understand that, but it is perfectly prOper

‘ to interrogate him. Go right on.
Q. How far were you below the first curve above where the

«- mule was hit when you discovered the mule on the track?

 21

A. well, I don't remember much about that. I don't believe
we were very far this side of the curve.
q, When you first discovered the mule, what light you had on
the engine was shining straight down the track?
A. Sir?
Q. The light was shining straight down the track, wasn't it?
A. Yes, I think so.
Q. Then you were not going around the curve when you dis-
covered the mule?
A. No, we was on a straight line.
Q. Which side of the engine was gnu on, Mr. Davis?
A. On the fireman's side, the left hand side of the engine,
going down.
Q. If the engine had been on a curve, you being situated
as you were, on the left hand side of the engine, going down
the river, you couldn't have seen anything on the track, could
you?
A. I couldn't have seen the mule unless it had been not a
very bad curve. Not a very bad curve you can see.
Q. In looking along the boiler and going around a left hand
curve, you being on the left hand side, couldn't see the
track for any distance down the track, can you?
A. yes sir, you can see the track if it's not such an abrupt
curve,- you couldn't see it.

I Q. Well, the usual curves that you have going up this river.
Defendant; We object to that.

y A. I can't answer unless I know what kind of a curve it is.

 22
Q. was it a quarter of a mile from where you discovered the-
' mule up to the first curve above there?
A. I couldn't make any certain statement about that, be-
cause I don't know.
Q. Just your best judgment, Mr. Davis, is all.
Q. Well, I don't know what about making my best judgment at.
I hadn't noticed it you see, at all.
RE DIRECT EXAMINATION
By MI. Pollard;
Q, Mr. Davis, you were asked about your deposition which was
taken in the ease by Judge Adams, the attorney for the plain-
tiff some time ago, do you remember about it?
A. Yes sir, I remember.
Q. At the time they took your deposition, you were very dan-
gerously ill, flat on your back here in bed?
A. I was said to have typhoid fever.
Q. And you werr sworn there at the time you gave that depo-
sition?
A. Yes sir, I was sworn.
Q. That deposition was taken down by Judge Adams' stenog-
rapher in shorthand. She took down your questions at the time
. and answer. What do you know about that?
A. The lady taken them down. I donét know who she was.
Q. You never saw her or the deposition either, after it was
: taken down?
A. No sir.
, Q. You never signed it?
A' No.

 25

Q. You don't know whether Shh as got it down the way you

gave it or not?

A. Yes, that is the reason I don't know whether I made the

statements or not. i

Q. You din't make any statements in that deposition that

were inconsistent with the statements you gave to—day?

plaintiff; We object; objection overruled; p1;aintiff excepts.

Q. I will get you to state whether or not, what you said in

that deposition, was substantially what you have stated on

the stand to-day?

A. Yes sir, I stated about the same things.

Q. SO far as you were asked about it?

A (No answer). ‘

RE CROSS EXAMINED

By Judge Adams: Y

Q. Then you re-state to the jury all the same statements

that you stated in this deposition when you were sworn about

it before?

A. You mean about how it Happened?

Defendant: I object. .

The Court: No, there is no evidence yet that that is the

deposition; objection sustained.

Counsel for plaintiff: If the court please, this is a cepy of
_ the deposition I am asking from, and the original deposition

I assime, has been filed.

 ‘ 24
I L.A. PARKS being duly sworn as a witness on behalf of
the defendant, testified as follows:
_ DIRECT EXAMINATION
By Mr. Pollard;
Q. Where do you live?
A. Irvine.
Q. What is your occupation?
A. Fireman of the L & N Railroad.
Q. How long have you been fireman?
A. Two years and a half for the company.
Q. Have you had any other experience with railroading besides ,
fireman?
A. Yes sir.
Q. What other experience have you had?
A. well, I fired about a year and a half before I come here
and run an engine before I come here.
Q. On what railroad?
A. For the Appalachian Railroad Company.
Q. what is your age, Mr. Parks?
A. Twenty seven.
q, were you on the train on January 29, 1914 at the time a
mule was said to have been struck, belonging to Mr. Stidhamz
A. Yes sir.
i Q. Did you see the mule?
'1 A. Yes sir.
I: Q. Just go ahead and tell the Jury what you recollect about
3f it?

 25

A. well, the first I seen of the mule, the brakeman said
nomething to the enginner about the mule and I was standing
up behind the brakeman and looking out the window and so
that is the first I saw of the mule, we was getting pretty
close to it then. I couldn't tell exactly what it was at
the time, at the time we first talked about it, but after- I
words, I understood it was a mule.
Q. Did you understand from what the brakeman said to the engi-
neer what it was on the track or did he indicate what it was?
A. He said there was something on the track as well as I
remember.
Q. Where was he in the cab? Where was the brakeman?
A. At the time, the brakeman was sitting in the fireman's
seat just in front of me. I was standing Just behind him.
Q. On which side of the cab is the fireman's seat?
A. Left side.
Q, How far was the mule in front of the engine, if you re—

’ member when you first discovered it? After hearing the brake—
man give the warning to the enginner?
A. Well, it was something like three rail laughs.
Q. What did the engineer do when the brakeman notified him
there was something on the track? I

. A. He blew the whistle and shut off the throttle. Shut off

. the steam and made an application of the brakes to stop the

I train.

7 q. Do you know what rate of speed that train was going?

, A. About twelve miles an hour.

I; Q. How many cars was in that train?

 . 26
A. Fourteen loads and six empties, I believe.
Q. Could that train have been stopped, tating into consid-
oration the Speed at which it was going and the way it was
loaded, after that mule was discovered, in time to have
saved hitting the mule?
A. No sir, not without damage to the train.
Q. Could it have been stopped at all, in ninety feet after
it was discovered; even by applying the emergency? .
A. no sir, I don't believe it could.
Q. Whose duty was it of that crew, to look after the head-
light? I
A. Mine.
Q. State to the jury what kind of a head light that train
had on it at the time the mule was hit?
A. It had a standard headlight and it was burning as good an
the average of the headlights the L & N system uses. Burning
as good as any they put out. .
Q. Did you see that headlight any more after that mule was
struck?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Examine it?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Where?
‘ A. Here at Jackson, I put the headlight out. I am supposed to
1 do that you know.
i Q. What was its condition at the time you arrived at Jackson?
., A. It was in good condition and burning bright.

 ‘ 27
Q. What was the condition of the weather if there was any-
thing to prevent the light from shining as far as ordinarily?
A. Foggy morning, very foggy weather.
Q. How far was the track from the river where you were
running, approximately, if you know?
A. Well, as well as I remember, it was something like fifty
feet, maybe sixty. I don‘t remember the distance.
Q. Running along the river bank there some distance, wasn‘t
it?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Do you know whether you were going up or down grade or
level or what kind of a grade you were going?
A. Well, it was a little bit down grade.
Q. You were coming in this direction?
A. Yes sir.
T. Who was the engineer in charge of that train?
A. Mr. Robinson.
'Q. You spoke about the fireman or vrakeman being in front .
of you— who was he?‘
A. Mr. Davis.
Q, young JJavis who just now testified?
A. yes sir.
Q. Who was the conductor on that train?
A. Mr. Gillespie.
1: 2. Is that