Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Company of Texas v. W. T. Carter & Brother

Summary

The Texas Supreme Court held that the 1883 release contract between Carter & Brother and the Trinity & Sabine Railroad was valid, assignable to the successor Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway, and could be used as a bar to the plaintiffs' claim; it also clarified that a railway must exercise ordinary care to select the best approved spark‑arresting devices, that the trial court erred by omitting that instruction, and that testimony about the condition of other locomotives was admissible. The court affirmed the lower court’s judgment.