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ways along the track; he listened; he heard and saw nothing. It is not the province of this Court, in my opinion, or of the trial court, to pass upon the truth or falsity of the testimony of a witness in a case at law. The credibility and the weight of testimony is for the jury. If there is absolutely no evidence tending to show a fact to be determined, or the uncontradicted and undisputed testimony establishes such fact beyond cavil or question, then the court may so instruct the jury; but if there is evidence to consider, and such evidence is to be questioned, then a jury must deal with it, and decide upon it.

It is argued that the plaintiff, under the circumstances, must have seen the head-light of the locomotive, if he looked at all; or that, if he did look, he did not stop in the right place to look, or did not take pains to lift his head sufficiently high to raise his vision above the board fence; and that an ordinarily prudent man, if in a place where his vision was obscured by the post at the corner of the fence, would have leaned sufficiently forward or backward to have gained an unobstructed view, or would have glanced between the boards.

The main argument, however, is directed against the truth of the plaintiff's statement that he stopped and looked. As already shown, this cannot be considered here.

And I do not think that a man must strain his eyes for a mile or so before he reaches a railroad track for sight of a headlight, or keep his mind or ears for that distance directed towards a possible approaching train. It is enough if the thought and caution comes to the mind before the track is attempted to be crossed, and time is taken to look and listen.

This was a freight train. Unlike a regular passenger train, its goings and comings were not familiar to the plaintiff, nor was the time of its crossing at all uniform.

Within a few feet, about 30, he stopped, and looked and listened. He stopped long enough to hear, but heard no bell or whistle. He saw nothing. It was not necessary that he

should stand up in his sleigh; probably not one man in a hundred would have done so. The very fact that he knew the crossing and its surroundings well would have a tendency, when he glanced down the track and saw nothing, to disarm any suspicion that the fence or anything else was obstructing his vision; and the fact that he heard no bell, whistle, or other sound of an approaching train, and not knowing that any was due, would still further lull him into security, and prevent him from moving on or backward in order to get a better view.

When this train gave no warning of its approach, save the noise of its travel, in a windy night, I am not prepared to hold as an inevitable conclusion that the plaintiff was negligent in not perceiving that the fence was obstructing his sight, or in not choosing a different stopping place, or in not looking before he did, or in not standing up in his sleigh. That seems to me to be a most proper subject for a jury to dispose of.

One thing is certain, if he tells the truth,-it would have been much safer for the plaintiff if he had not stopped and looked at all. In that case, he would, as it turned out, have made the crossing before the train reached it. He took the precaution the law required, if his testimony is to be believed. Having never seen the plaintiff on the stand as a witness, or the scene of the accident, I shall not here determine that he has committed perjury, nor shall I hold him responsible for not taking precautions that would not ordinarily have been suggested to a prudent and careful man, although it now appears that such precautions would have prevented the injury.

The defendant, upon this record, was grossly negligent, and yet seeks to defeat the plaintiff because he did not take extra precautions.

The case should have been submitted to the jury.

SHERWOOD, J., concurred with MORSE, J.

INDEX.

References are to pages. Where there are several notes on a
page, the number of the note is added in parenthesis, unless the
reference is to all.

ABATEMENT.

1. An assignment by a vendee for the benefit of creditors will
not abate a replevin suit for goods attached by the vendor's
creditors, the assignee taking the property under the assign-
ment. 667 (2).

2. Plea in is inadmissible in bastardy proceedings after the
defendant has recognized for his appearance in the circuit
court. 1 (4).

3. The abatement as to one party of a suit against all of the
parties to a promissory note cannot be complained of by any
but a joint contractor. 231 (1).

4. Suit in justice's court abates on failure of justice to wait the
statutory hour if the defendant fails to appear. 636 (1).
ACCEPTANCE-See BILLS AND Notes (1); EvIDENCE (24); HIGHWAY.
ACCIDENT INSURANCE.

1. The design to kill the assured must have existed at time fatal
shot was fired, to prevent a recovery on a policy providing for
non-liability where death was the result of design on the part
of assured or of any other person. 545 (1).

2. A clause in a policy requiring direct and positive proof that
death was caused by external violence and accidental means
cannot govern courts. 546 (2).

ACCOUNT-BOOKS.

Proof of contents admissible on failure to produce after due
notice. 510 (2).

ACQUIESCENCE.

The acquiescence by the trustees and officers and members of a
mutual benefit association in the refusal of the Commissioner
of Insurance to grant it a license, after which new members
were not admitted, nor new business looking to a continuation
[711]

ACQUIESCENCE-Continued.

of corporate business transacted, deprived the association of
the "moral or legal capacity to resume business." 317 (1).
See ESTOPPEL (2).

ADJOURNMENT.

Of a suit by a justice, without a showing on oath, operates as a
discontinuance. 215.

ADULTERY-See EVIDENCE (1, 2).

ADVERSE POSSESSION.

1. For twenty-five years by lot-owner, and those through whom
he claims, gives title as against the public. 78 (1).

2. When one enters upon land under color of title and with
claim of ownership, any acts of user which are continuous,
and indicate unequivocally to the neighborhood in which the
land is situated that it is appropriated exclusively to his indi-
vidual use and ownership, are sufficient to render the posses-
sion adverse. 670 (1).

3. It is not necessary that the occupation of land should be such
that a mere stranger passing by the land would know that
some one was asserting title to and dominion over it, nor that
the land be cleared or fenced, or any building be placed
thereon, to render such occupation adverse. Id. (2).

AFFIDAVIT FOR ATTACHMENT.

1. Must show that it is made by the plaintiff, or some person in
his behalf. 59 (1).

2. Must be filed with justice before writ issues, and if not, or if
defective in matters of substance, and no waiver by general
appearance, justice acquires no jurisdiction. Id. (2).

3. Failing to identify the plaintiffs is void. 74 (1).

4. In justice's court, need not be annexed to the writ. Id. (2).
5. Writ cannot be sustained without a good and sufficient affi-
davit, which is the document giving jurisdiction. Id. (3).

AFFIDAVIT OF PUBLICATION.

1. Purporting to be made by "book-keeper" is not authorized by
How. Stat. § 7498. 363 (3).

2. If it purports to be made on the knowledge of affiant, it is suf-
ficient evidence of the facts stated, under How. Stat. § 6047.
Id.

3. The objection that notice of hearing of a guardian's petition
for license to sell real estate was not given cannot be raised
for the first time in the appellate court, where such an affidavit

AFFIDAVIT OF PUBLICATION-Continued.

of its publication is received in evidence without objection on
the trial of a suit involving the validity of such sale. Id. (6).
4. Describing the affiant as "printer," etc., is equivalent to a
direct averment of that fact. 533 (1).

5. An affidavit averring due publication of a probate order once
in each week for three successive weeks, the first insertion
being on March 20, and the last not being given, but the jurat
bearing date April 10, is sufficient proof of such publication.
592 (1).

6 How. Stat. § 7497, does not require that the notice referred to
therein shall be cut from the newspaper in which it is pub-
lished, but that the notice annexed to the affidavit of publica-
tion shall be identical with the one published; nor is it neces-
sary to state in said affidavit the day of publication in each
week, but an affidavit stating that the notice has been pub-
lished once in each week for four successive weeks, giving the
date of the first publication, sufficiently specifies the times when
the notice was published 615 (4).

AMENDMENT.

A declaration misdescribing the land upon which a highway was
laid, alleged to be encroached upon, cannot be amended on
appeal, the statute requiring the trial to be had upon the issue
joined in justice's court. 45.

See CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (4); PLEADING (2).

ANIMAL-See NEGLIGENCE (6-8).

APPEARANCE.

Defendant in bastardy case must appear personally in circuit
court. 1(2).

APPLICATION-See LIFE INSURANCE.

ARTIST'S COMPENSATION.

1. The compensation of an artist is not generally measured by
intrinsic merit, either of himself or of his pictures, and until
recognized as a celebrity he seldom charges, or has a right to
expect, very high prices, and the pecuniary value of his work
cannot. as a rule, be tested by what some other artist may
think of it as a work of art. Such an opinion may be perti-
nent concerning its character as a good painting or a poor one;
but where a picture is not meant for sale, and would not be
readily marketable, its salable value is no test of what the
artist earned in painting it. 662.

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