Gunderson v. Peterson
Gunderson v. Peterson
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court:
The injuries, for which this judgment was rendered, are alleged to have been caused by the breaking of a defective mainmast in a vessel owned by appellant.
The proof shows that the mast was twisted to a certain distance; but did this contribute to the injury? Conceding all the facts assumed, it is inconceivable that the accident resulted from the twist. If this weakened the mast, and was the cause of the breaking, then the fracture would naturally be where the defect was. .
The evidence, however, is conclusive and uncontradicted, that the deficiencies complained of were at least 12 feet from the place where the mast broke. At the point where the breaking occurred, the wood was perfectly sound, without the slightest appearance of rottenness or decay. The assumed defect, therefore, in one part of the mainmast, could not have made it break at a place where it was wholly uninjured.
At the time of the accident the wind was strong aloft, and there wras very little on deck; and the injury must be regarded as one incident to the service.
The verdict is manifestly against the evidence.
The judgment is reversed and the cause remanded.
Judgment reversed.'
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Gabriel Gunderson v. Sigwald Peterson
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Negligence—whether injury resulted from negligence or accident. The plaintiff, while in defendant’s service as mate of a schooner, received a personal injury from the breaking of a mast, whereby he fell therefrom upon the deck. In a suit to recover damages, the only negligence charged to the defendant was that the mast, before the accident, was twisted to a certain distance, and, therefore, unsafe, while the proof showed that the defects complained of were at least 12 feet from the place where the mast broke, and that there was not the slightest appearance of rottenness or decay at the place of the breaking, and that the accident was caused by a strong wind aloft, while there was only very little on deck: Held, that the plaintiff was not entitled to recover, and that the injury must be regarded as one incident to the service.