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#Post#: 6717--------------------------------------------------
Damon's Demise
DIR By: HowBrown1953
Date: March 31, 2026, 4:40 am
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Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney
diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or
chronic nephritis.
It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in
the urine.
It was frequently accompanied by high blood pressure and heart
disease.
George Damon fell into an open coal hole near 39-41 Cortland
Street in
December 1903.
Not satisfied with the April 1904 ruling, he was the appellant
in a suit in 1905.
Not only did he lose the 1905 case, but it seems that fall may
have contributed
to a weakened condition of his kidneys. He would die in late
1906 from Bright's Disease.
SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION,
FOURTH DEPARTMENT.
1
GEORGE DAMON,
Respondent,
Vs.
GEORGE DOHENY, impleaded, &c. ,
Appellant.
STATEMENT UNDER RULE 41.
2
This action was brought by George Damon to recover damages for
injuries sustained by him,
which injuries were alleged to have been caused by the
negligence of the defendant. It was com-
menced on the 31st day of March , 1904, by the service of a
summons and complaint upon the
defendant Doheny. An answer was interposed and issue joined as
to the defendant Doheny on
the 20th day of April, 1904. The issues thus joined were brought
to trial before Mr. Justice
Andrew's and a jury at the Onondaga. Trial Term held at the
Court House in the City of Syracuse,
N. Y. , on the 11th day of May, 1905. The trial resulted in a
verdict for the plaintiff in the sum
of $1,500, and judgment entered thereon .
An order denying a motion for a new trial was entered in the
Onondaga County Clerk's Office on
the 16th day of May, 1905. From this judgment and order, this
appeal is taken.
This is his physician's testimony:
SHERMAN COOPER, Sworn for plaintiff,
testified as follows:
DIRECT EXAMINATION by Mr. Oldham :
I am a practicing physician and surgeon and
have been since 1857. I have known Mr. Damon
for seventeen or eighteen years, and I think 1
Jiave attended him and his family for ten or
twelve years. I observed him prior to December 30th , 1903,
I saw him very frequently. I have
treated him professionally.
By the Court :-Did he appear to be in
good health prior to that time ?
Objected to as incompetent, improper
and calling for a conclusion .
Objection overruled .
Exception for defendant.
d. He appeared to be a man in very good
health : very strong, active man.
Mr. Nottingham :-- I move to strike out
that he was an active man.
Motion denied.
Exception for defendants.
By Jr. Oldham :
He is fond of horses. I have seen him driving prior to December
30th single and double and
fast horses. I called on him the morning of the 31st. I treated
him professionally. I examined
him I felt his back all over and looked at it .
The appearance of it was that it had been bruised at that time.
He winced when I felt of
it . His knee was sore, that was hurt, that got well. The knee
was of minor importance. It
was bruised and skinned, but that got well in a few days. In
treating Mr. Damon's back , I
strapped him up tight, so as to support the muscles, and kept
him in bed, and I gave him
morphine to relieve his pain. He was in considerable pain. I
think he was in bed, my impression is
that I attended him then every day or twice a day--once or twice
; I think the second day I went I
twice, because he was in very much pain in the morning, and I
went down again in the evening.
And then I attended him every day for about ten or twelve days.
I did not examine Ur. Damon's
urine right away, that is, not in the first ten or twelve days,
because I supposed it was a strain
in the back, and my attention was not really called to it . The
pain in the back not leaving
him , it called my attention to his kidneys. I did examine his
urine. It might have been twenty
days after he was hurt perhaps.
Q. What condition did you find it in ?
Mr. Nottingham : I ohject to it as in competent and improper and
not shown
to have any relation to this accident, especially inasmuch as it
does not ap
pear that the doctor examined his urine before the accident;
The Court: He may answer.
Exception for defendants.
A. I discovered albumen, that there was an inflammation in the
kidneys, what we technically
call nephritis. I have examined him frequently since in this
same respect.
Q. Do you find the same condition there ?
Objected to as incompetent and immaterial. Not shown to have any
relation to the accident.
The Court :—He may state what he does find.
Exception for defendants.
A. I find he still has albumen in his urine ;sometimes more and
sometimes less. And I say
that condition is caused by inflammation of the kidneys.
Q. — You say that you have been a physician for pretty near
fifty years. I want you to tell us
in your experience whether a blow in the back will occasion
inflammation of the kidneys.
Mr. Nottingham :-I object to that as incompetent and improper,
and improper
in form ; not the proper question for an expert.
The Court :—He may state whether, assuming that there is any
inflammation
of the kidneys, that inflammation in his opinion might have been
caused by a
blow received by falling in this coal- hole on the 30th day of
December, 1903.
Mr. Nottingham :-1 object to that as incompetent and improper,
and as merely
allowing the witness to speculate as to whether there is any
connection between
the fall and the inflammation of the kidneys which he mentions;
also that it puts
the witness in the place of the jury in respect to the accident.
Objection overruled.
Exception for defendants.
A. It might.
I had known Mr. Damon for many years prior to that. I had been
his family physician. I have
testified that he was active and healthy. I heard the witness
testify to urinating many times a
day, and I have personally known of it too.
Q. What are the symptoms of inflammation
of the kidneys ?
Objected to as incompeteut and im
proper and not the proper question for
an expert.
Objection overruled.
Exception for defendants.
A. The symptoms of inflammation of the
kidneys would be frequent urination , light specific gravity,
albuminuria and pain in the back ;
that is constant in all cases ; that is, after it has arrived at
a certain stage. In my examination
of the plaintiff, I have observed the frequent urination and
have observed the albuminuria ; I
have tested his urine a number of times. The specific gravity is
lighter than it should be. I
think the specific gravity, if I remember, is about ten ,
whereas it should be from fifteen to eighteen
in healthy urine.
Q. From your experience and from the testimony which you have
given here, are you able
to say in the ordinary course of events what the natural length
or duration of this condition will
be ?
Mr. Nottingham : I object to that question as incompetent,
improper, and improper in form, and as allowing the witness to
speculate.
The Court :-He may state, if he can, whether in his opinion the
condition
which he has described will or will not be permanent.
Exception for defendants.
I can state whether his condition will be permanent or not. I
think it will.
#Post#: 6741--------------------------------------------------
Re: Damon's Demise
DIR By: HowBrown1953
Date: April 7, 2026, 12:11 pm
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Damon had malaria around 1887. His testimony at the trial below
is from 1905.
Before the accident, I had only this one doctor, my family
physician.
Dr. McConnell down there ( Cranford) used to be my physician
about twenty years ago. I don't think he ever treated me
personally.
I don't think he ever doctored me for anything. He might at some
time, when I had malaria, have treated me, but he hadn't treated
me in eighteen or twenty years. I had malaria about eighteen
years ago.
Before Damon fell into the coal hole ( 24 inches in diameter),
an attorney named
John C. Clark almost fell into that same coal hole as Damon did,
but five minutes earlier.
The front of his foot/shoe went into the hole, but he
fortunately caught himself before going completely in.
RE- DIRECT EXAMINATION by Mr. Oldham :
The coal hole is twenty -four inches wide. It
is made of iron. There is no glass in it. Its own
weight holds it down.
Q. Haven't you any chain on it or catch?
A. No chain.
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