Important Cases in Court.
Several Civil Cases of Interest Decided in the Circuit Court.
Since our last issue several cases of public interest have been settled in the circuit court. The first is the suit of Thomas J. Hammer's administrator against Eppard & Rothgeb. As most of our readers know, Thomas J. Hammer, a young man of the Elkton neighborhood, was killed in May, 1902, while working at a stave factory about five miles from Elkton, which was being operated by Eppard & Rothgeb. Billets of wood for this factory were sent down the mountainside in a chute nearly a mile long. After a quantity of wood had come down the signal was given to the men above to stop sending the wood down. This signal was obeyed for a while and young Hammer, along with others, was loading the billets of wood. It happened that a stray piece of wood got in the chute and, coming down at a constantly increasing rate of speed, it struck Hammer on the head and killed him instantly. His brother, Charles A. Hammer, of this place, qualified as his administrator and brought suit for $5,000 damages, alleging that Eppard & Rothgeb had been negligent in not providing proper safeguards, but the failure to put them in place was due to the negligence of a fellow employe and that they were therefore not liable for damages. The case has been tried twice and in each case Judge Letcher's instructions were strongly in favor of the defendants on the point of law involved. The first time the trial resulted in a hung jury, but on Saturday, when the case was again given to the jury, they brought in a verdict against Hammer's administrator.
Spirit of the Valley, Harrisonburg, Va, April 1, 1904
Several Civil Cases of Interest Decided in the Circuit Court.
Since our last issue several cases of public interest have been settled in the circuit court. The first is the suit of Thomas J. Hammer's administrator against Eppard & Rothgeb. As most of our readers know, Thomas J. Hammer, a young man of the Elkton neighborhood, was killed in May, 1902, while working at a stave factory about five miles from Elkton, which was being operated by Eppard & Rothgeb. Billets of wood for this factory were sent down the mountainside in a chute nearly a mile long. After a quantity of wood had come down the signal was given to the men above to stop sending the wood down. This signal was obeyed for a while and young Hammer, along with others, was loading the billets of wood. It happened that a stray piece of wood got in the chute and, coming down at a constantly increasing rate of speed, it struck Hammer on the head and killed him instantly. His brother, Charles A. Hammer, of this place, qualified as his administrator and brought suit for $5,000 damages, alleging that Eppard & Rothgeb had been negligent in not providing proper safeguards, but the failure to put them in place was due to the negligence of a fellow employe and that they were therefore not liable for damages. The case has been tried twice and in each case Judge Letcher's instructions were strongly in favor of the defendants on the point of law involved. The first time the trial resulted in a hung jury, but on Saturday, when the case was again given to the jury, they brought in a verdict against Hammer's administrator.
Spirit of the Valley, Harrisonburg, Va, April 1, 1904
Important Cases in Court.
Several Civil Cases of Interest Decided in the Circuit Court.
Since our last issue several cases of public interest have been settled in the circuit court. The first is the suit of Thomas J. Hammer's administrator against Eppard & Rothgeb. As most of our readers know, Thomas J. Hammer, a young man of the Elkton neighborhood, was killed in May, 1902, while working at a stave factory about five miles from Elkton, which was being operated by Eppard & Rothgeb. Billets of wood for this factory were sent down the mountainside in a chute nearly a mile long. After a quantity of wood had come down the signal was given to the men above to stop sending the wood down. This signal was obeyed for a while and young Hammer, along with others, was loading the billets of wood. It happened that a stray piece of wood got in the chute and, coming down at a constantly increasing rate of speed, it struck Hammer on the head and killed him instantly. His brother, Charles A. Hammer, of this place, qualified as his administrator and brought suit for $5,000 damages, alleging that Eppard & Rothgeb had been negligent in not providing proper safeguards, but the failure to put them in place was due to the negligence of a fellow employe and that they were therefore not liable for damages. The case has been tried twice and in each case Judge Letcher's instructions were strongly in favor of the defendants on the point of law involved. The first time the trial resulted in a hung jury, but on Saturday, when the case was again given to the jury, they brought in a verdict against Hammer's administrator.
Spirit of the Valley, Harrisonburg, Va, April 1, 1904
Several Civil Cases of Interest Decided in the Circuit Court.
Since our last issue several cases of public interest have been settled in the circuit court. The first is the suit of Thomas J. Hammer's administrator against Eppard & Rothgeb. As most of our readers know, Thomas J. Hammer, a young man of the Elkton neighborhood, was killed in May, 1902, while working at a stave factory about five miles from Elkton, which was being operated by Eppard & Rothgeb. Billets of wood for this factory were sent down the mountainside in a chute nearly a mile long. After a quantity of wood had come down the signal was given to the men above to stop sending the wood down. This signal was obeyed for a while and young Hammer, along with others, was loading the billets of wood. It happened that a stray piece of wood got in the chute and, coming down at a constantly increasing rate of speed, it struck Hammer on the head and killed him instantly. His brother, Charles A. Hammer, of this place, qualified as his administrator and brought suit for $5,000 damages, alleging that Eppard & Rothgeb had been negligent in not providing proper safeguards, but the failure to put them in place was due to the negligence of a fellow employe and that they were therefore not liable for damages. The case has been tried twice and in each case Judge Letcher's instructions were strongly in favor of the defendants on the point of law involved. The first time the trial resulted in a hung jury, but on Saturday, when the case was again given to the jury, they brought in a verdict against Hammer's administrator.
Spirit of the Valley, Harrisonburg, Va, April 1, 1904
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