Seats & Crossings

Decided in U. S. courts last week were two disputes of direct significance to many of the U. S. traveling public:

P:Last July, Manhattan Lawyer Philip Davis boarded a New York Central train at Albany with a ticket for New York. Along with a score of others, he could find no seat in the day coaches, though there were plenty available in the Pullmans. When the conductor came along, Lawyer Davis at first refused to hand over his ticket unless given a seat. He surrendered when the conductor threatened to throw him off. All the way to Manhattan, for nearly three hours. Lawyer Davis stood in the aisle. Then, furious, "leg-sore" and worn down from the strain," he hustled to his office, looked up the law. He found that in New York railroads are required to provide "sufficient accommodation." In the Public Service Commission law he found that "common carriers shall provide such service and facilities as shall be safe and adequate and in all respects just and reasonable." Taking these phrases to mean that the railroad must provide a seat for every ticket, Lawyer Davis brought suit against the N. Y Central for $2.80 fare, $45 damages.

In Municipal Court, the road claimed that it is impossible to determine in advance exactly how many passengers will take a train, that the officials do as best they can. The road admitted that day-coach passengers unable to find seats may legally take unoccupied seats in Pullmans at no extra cost. Lawyer Davis retorted that several on his trip who tried this were refused permission. Last week the N. Y. Central rested its defense on the ground that Lawyer Davis had not proven that "the railroad failed to make a reasonable effort to provide sufficient accommodations."

Agreeing, the Court declared: "While they should try ... to see that sufficient accommodations are furnished, the railroad is not under any obligation to do so under all or any circumstances."

P: In May 1933, at a grade crossing six miles east of Toledo, the N. Y. Central's famed 20th Century Limited collided at 75 m.p.h. with a truck tractor and semitrailer owned by Sentle Trucking Co. The railroad promptly sued Harvey H. Sentle, declaring that his driver had been negligent since the railroad operated flasher warnings at the crossing. The driver retorted that he stopped at the warning, but neither saw nor heard the train until he was almost across the tracks, when it hit him. Railroads have won similar judgments before, and the Common Pleas Court decided in favor of the N. Y. Central, ordered Harvey Sentle to pay for damages to the Century. Truckman Sentle appealed. Last week, the Ohio Supreme Court refused to review the case.

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