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Show Supreme Court Hands Down an Opinion Remanding Caso for New Trial. DEATH OF MAIL CLERK IS BASIS OF ACTION Finding Is That Jury Disregarded Disre-garded Instructions of . Lower Court. Tho Supremo court, in an opinion handed down Saturday in the caso of Mary R. Schuyler and four children against tho Southern Pacific Railway company, to recover $30,000 damages for the death of tho husband and father, Charles A. Schuyler, in an accident bo-tween bo-tween Gartner and Lucin, .Tanuarj' M, 1907, rcversos tho $9,000 judgment of tho Weber county District court against the railway company and remands the caso for a new trial. Tho opinion is written by Chief Justice Jus-tice Straup and concurred in by his associates. Schuyler was in tho government gov-ernment employ as assistant chief mail elerk, with headquarters at Ogden, but was not riding on tho ill-fated train in the discharge of his duties. The jury hearhig tho oiso failed to follow the court's instructions and for this reason the Supremo court was not called upon to lay down any rulo as to tho liability of railway companies in carrying mail clerks not on duty. Tt is likely, though, that upon tho retrial of Ihe case the higher court .will havo to decide this poinr. While Schu.ylcr was stationed at Ogden. Og-den. his wifo and children lived at Oakland. Oak-land. Early in January of 1907 ho received re-ceived a telegram that his youngest child was dead and his chief at Ogdcu arranged for him to niako the trip to Oakland and return in a mail ear, providing pro-viding a cot and sleeping Tdankots for him. On the return the train was derailed de-railed because of defective track and Schuyler was killed. In Judge Howell's court, Mrs. Schuyler and the children socured judgment for $9,000. Instructions to Jury. The trial court instructed the jury that before it could render a verdict for the wifo and children it must find, under tho pleadings, that Schiryler was killed whilo in the discharge of his duties as mail clerk. The jury apparently ap-parently disregarded tho instructions, for it returned a verdict of $9,000 for tho wife and children, and tho railwaj' company appealed. The Supremo court sustains tho appeal, remanding tho case fur a new trial. Other minor contentions of the railway rail-way company were overruled. Tho railway rail-way compnnv asked that tho caso be sent to the "Federal court on the contention con-tention that a federal law was involved. Tho railwaj-- ulso contended that the trial court had no right to appoint a guardian ad litem to bring tho suit for tho minor children plaintiffs who woro non-residents of Utah. Tho Supremo court holds against tho railway company com-pany on both these points. The children rilaiutiffs were Rhea, Edward, Vera and Dorothy. |