Washington V Lane

The lower court said that there was no breach of contract on any of the counts except the fourth one by which it ordered that the defendants should pay the plaintiff [dollars] 25 in hire fees that were owing. The Supreme Court disagreed and said that there appeared to be a clear case for the plaintiff to recover on the two main counts. It ordered a new trial to reassess the plaintiff's claims. The defendants, partners in the Atlantic Railroad, had not taken good care of the slaves and had not given them suitable accommodations. The lodging of the plaintiff's slaves in any of the shanties was not taking such care of them as a man of ordinary prudence would take care of his own slaves. They had been hired at 80 cents per day to work on the Atlantic Railroad, but not below Bear Creek. The slaves came home suffering from frostbite. One slave, Wright, died after 2 weeks of typhoid pneumonia; George was badly frostbitten; Jack slightly. The fourth slave, Abram, was not returned at all as he had died in Kinston. The two frostbitten slaves were laid up for about 2 months whilst they recovered. Alleged breach of contract for taking the slaves below Bear Creek contrary to what was agreed in the hire contract. Evidence of key witnesses: Raiford, Dr C F Dewey, Robertson, John C Slocumb, William C Loftin. Comparisons with lodgings provided for slaves working for the North Carolina Railroad. Burdick had suggested that the Atlantic Railroad had good accommodations for some 100 hands. Raiford's evidence covered discussions with Burdick. Dewey, the physician, gave details on the conditions of the slaves after their experience of some 8 or 10 days. Slocumb confirmed Raiford's evidence. Robertson and Loftin gave information on the appalling state of the shanties. Loftin said that the shanties four miles below the Heritage place were not as good as an ordinary stable, the Tracey Swamp shanty had a gap 3 feet wide in its roof, and he noted that the slaves had been working about a quarter of a mile below the Heritage place on the edge of Dover Swamp at the time of the snowstorm. Loftin was a resident of Dover. The slaves had been forced to endure the terrible weather in the shanties.