App. Div.] Fourth Department, May, 1908. the record at folios 155-224. Several of the answers given to the questions propounded by plaintiff's attorney were clearly incompetent. Mr. Watts had been superintendent of the mine for some years and up to within three or four months of the time of the accident. He was permitted to testify, over defendant's objection, as to the manner in which the mine was managed and operated during the time he was superintendent, and such testimony was received upon the theory that it would be shown that the same methods had continued up to and including the time of the accident. But such connecting evidence was not given, and a motion was made to strike out the evidence already given, which was denied. The witness was also permitted to testify to what had been said to him by the manager of the mine in regard to placing blasts; that they wanted him to set off two or more blasts at one time, which he refused to do because it would increase the danger to the work. He was allowed to say, in substance, that the purpose of such request on the part of the management was to save time and expense. Other evidence of the same sort was given over defendant's objection, and it was clearly incompetent, and was such as to furnish ground for reversal, except that, as it seems to me, it did not have any bearing upon the real issue in controversy in this case, to wit, whether or not the mine at the time of the accident was reasonably safe. As before said, the fact that it was not so is established practically without contradiction. Upon the evidence the jury could not have found otherwise than it did, that the condition of the mine at the time of the accident was unsafe and dangerous because of the failure of the defendant to see to it that the roof was properly supported, and that that unsafe and dangerous condition existed for such length of time as that the defendant knew it, or ought to have known it, by the exercise of reasonable care and diligence. Besides, it cannot be said that the improper or immaterial evidence improperly influenced the jury, because the amount of the verdict was certainly conservative. Here was a bright, healthy young man, twentythree or twenty-four years of age, earning good wages, who was killed, and the verdict was only $2,500. No harm resulted from the reception of the evidence objected to. Beyond question the place where plaintiff's intestate was set to work was unsafe and dangerous in the extreme, and the defendant knew, or ought to [Vol. 126. Second Department, May, 1908. have known, that fact. The deceased knew nothing about it; he was performing his work precisely as directed. The judgment and order appealed from should be affirmed, with costs. All concurred, except KRUSE and ROBSON, JJ., who dissented. Judgment and order affirmed, with costs. MARY E. BOYCE, as Administratrix, etc., of HENRY H. BOYCE, Deceased, Respondent, v. NEW YORK CITY RAILWAY COMPANY, Appellant. Although the court charges that plaintiff's evidence must outweigh that of defendant, the jury is entitled to decide the question presented upon the whole evidence, and if defendant supplies evidence which the plaintiff needs to make out a case, it inures to his benefit. Where, in an action to recover for death of plaintiff's intestate, who was struck by defendant's car in a congested street, it is shown that decedent looked up and down the street on leaving the curb, it is to be inferred that he saw the approaching car, which was 150 feet away and traveling at a high rate of speed, and calculated that it was safe to cross ahead of it, and thereupon turned his attention to a car approaching from the opposite direction. He was not negligent, as a matter of law, because of his miscalculation caused by the defendant's negligence in running the car at too high a rate of speed, for he had a right to assume that defendant would use care. On the question of damages to the next of kin evidence that the deceased acquired stock by promoting patents and mining enterprises is admissible, as it bears upon his earning capacity. Evidence examined and a verdict of $27,500 held not to be excessive. APPEAL by the defendant, the New York City Railway Company, from a judgment of the Supreme Court in favor of the plaintiff, entered in the office of the clerk of the county of Westchester on the 7th day of March, 1907, upon the verdict of a jury for $27,500, and also from an order entered in said clerk's office on the 8th day of March, 1907, denying the defendant's motion for a new trial made upon the minutes. App. Div.] Second Department, May, 1908. Charles F. Brown [Bayard H. Ames, Vine H. Smith and Henry A. Robinson with him on the brief], for the appellant. Benjamin F. Tracy [Grosvenor H. Backus with him on the brief], for the respondent. MILLER, J.: At about one P. M. on October 14, 1903, the plaintiff's intestate was attempting to cross lower Broadway from west to east, about opposite No. 32, and a short distance north of Morris street and Bowling Green, when he was struck by a south-bound electric car and sustained injuries from which he died within an hour. The important question in the case is the one always present in this class of cases has the plaintiff sustained the burden of showing that the deceased was free from contributory negligence? It was apparently assumed on argument by the learned counsel for the appellant that the defendant's witnesses strengthened the plaintiff's case, because the proposition was advanced that the plaintiff's right to succeed must be determined solely by reference to her own evidence, in view of the charge of the court that her evidence must outweigh that of the defendant. We think the jury were entitled to decide the questions before them upon the whole evidence, and that if the defendant supplied the evidence which the plaintiff needed to make out a case she is entitled to the benefit of it. However, we think the plaintiff's evidence presented a question for the jury, and shall consider the case from that stand point. The plaintiff's evidence tends to show that as the deceased left the curb he looked both up and down Broadway, and that the car which caused his death was one hundred and fifty feet away, traveling at a high rate of speed, the witnesses say from fifteen to twenty miles an hour; that just as the deceased was leaving the east rail of the south-bound track he was struck by the approaching car, which had not slackened its speed, and was thrown to one side in such a manner as to strike upon his head and shoulders. A car approaching from the opposite direction was thirty or forty feet away from the place of the accident when it occurred. The curb was thirteen feet from the west rail of the south-bound track, the space between the rails was four feet eight inches, and the cars overhung the rails Second Department, May, 1908. [Vol. 126. a foot on each side. There are no street intersections on lower Broadway for a considerable distance north of Bowling Green. The accident happened at the luncheon hour, when many people are usually crossing the street. The defendant's witnesses testified that its cars could not safely be run faster than five or six miles an hour on lower Broadway because of the congested condition of the street. The plaintiff's evidence does not show that the deceased looked to the north after leaving the curb, and the court left it to the jury to decide whether he should have done so. The motorman did not give any alarm, by sounding the gong or otherwise, until the moment of the collision. The defendant's cars, at the time of the accident, usually ran under a headway of half a minute on lower Broadway. The defendant contends that there is no proof that the deceased saw the south-bound car, and that he was guilty of contributory negligence, as a matter of law, in getting in front of a car which he ought to have seen in time to avoid being hit. The facts involved in this case distinguish it from the large number of cases cited by the appellant dealing with similar accidents, and for that reason it would be profitless to discuss those cases. There can be no difference of opinion as to the legal principles applicable, but only a difference as to the conclusions to be drawn upon applying those principles to the established facts. We may assume that the defendant's cars had the right of way, but the character of the street, its congested condition, the frequency of the running of cars and all of the surrounding circumstances were important as bearing upon the care to be exercised by both the pedestrian and the motorman. It was not only lawful, but practically necessary, for people to cross the street at other points than street intersections or regular crossings, and the defendant could not lawfully run its cars in utter disregard of the rights of others. While it had the right of way, it by no means had the right to exclude the public from the use of the street, as it would do if permitted to run its cars as the plaintiff's evidence and the conceded circumstances proved the car in question was run. We start with the proposition that the decedent exercised some care, because he looked in both directions upon leaving the curb. We have a right to infer that he looked for the purpose of observ Second Department, May, 1908. App. Div.] ing whether it was safe to cross, and while the appellant argues that there is no proof that he saw the approaching car, the fact that he had an unobstructed view of it 150 feet away, when he looked, proves that he did see it. It is certainly permissible to infer that a man in the possession of his faculties sees what he looks at in plain sight. The fact that he looked for the purpose of determining the safety of attempting a crossing and saw the car, warrants the inference that he made a mental calculation that it was safe to attempt to cross ahead of it. The deceased had more than one thing to look out for, and it could not be said to be negligence as matter of law not to look again at the object from which he had calculated there was no danger. A car was approaching on the north-bound track. The natural thing, and the thing which we have a right to assume the decedent did after concluding that there was no danger from the south-bound car, was to keep his eye on the car approaching on the track farthest away. The appellant argues that if the deceased saw the south-bound car, he must have observed its reckless speed, but that does not follow. The car passed the witnesses who testified as to its speed. The deceased at least had a right to rely on the assumption that the defendant would not run its cars in utter disregard of the lives and safety of the people constantly crossing the street in that section of Broadway. If the car had been only one hundred feet away, running at a proper speed, he would have had ample time to pass the eighteen feet eight inches necessary to reach a point of safety beyond the path of the approaching car. Distances as stated on paper are deceptive. One has only to take actual observation of the conditions of travel in the congested portions of the city to perceive that if the rule contended for by the appellant is to prevail pedestrians may never cross a street without being subject to the imputation of negligence. In crossing the streets at such points pedestrians have to make calculations and act upon them quickly, relying upon the assumption that every person will respect the rights of others. A disregard of duty by a single person will almost inevitably result in accident at such points. Of course pedestrians must exercise alertness commensurate with the situation, but they cannot be held to be negligent as matter of law because of a miscalculation caused by another's negligence. The learned trial justice clearly presented the case to the jury in |