Stine v. S. Morgan Smith Co.
Stine v. S. Morgan Smith Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The appellee is a moulder and at the time he was injured was in the employ of the appellant. He was smoothing with a stick a sand bed, over which there was suspended, about two feet from it, a flask weighing 4,190 pounds. In smoothing the bed he put his hand and part of his arm under the flask, and, as he was withdrawing his hand, the flask fell, crushing it and causing the injuries for which compensation is sought in this suit. On the trial the court was asked to direct a verdict for the defendant, for the reason that there was no proof of its negligence, and, even if it had been negligent, the plaintiff had voluntarily assumed a known risk and been guilty of contributory negligence. Under all the evidence, the jury might have found for the defendant, but, in view of what was proved by plaintiff and his witnesses, to have directed them to do so would have been palpable error. The learned trial judge could not have affirmed defendant’s sixteenth and seventeenth points or sustained its motion for judgment non obstante veredicto.
On the question of the contributory negligence of the appellee the jury fairly found against the appellant. He had a right to believe that his employer had properly fastened the end of the cable to the crane, and he testifies that, under such a belief, he put his hand under the weight; that in leveling the sand bed under the suspended flask he was doing the work in accordance with the instructions in the shop ; that he was doing it in the manner in which he had been shown that it should be done; that he was doing it in the manner which was customary, not only at that crane, by himself and others, but at other cranes in the foundry; that he did not think he was
In no one of the nineteen assignments complaining of the admission and rejection of evidence, of answers to points, and of portions of the charge, has any error been pointed out. The two questions of fact, the negligence of the appellant and the contributory negligence of the appellee, went to the jury under proper rulings and instructions, and the judgment is affirmed.
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- Stine v. S. Morgan Smith Company
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- Negligence — Master and servant — Contributory negligence — Unsafe appliance — Evidence—Case for jury. In an action by a moulder in a foundry against his employer to recover damages for personal injuries, it appeared that the plaintiff at the time of the accident was smoothing with a stick a sand bed, over which there was suspended, about two feet from it, a flask weighing several thousand pounds. In smoothing the bed he put his hand and part of his arm under the flask, and, as he was withdrawing it, the flask fell and crushed it. The flask was suspended by a cable fastened to a crane. The falling of the flask was due to the pulling out of the end of the cable fastened to the crane, and called the dead end. This dead end, after it had pulled out, presented a smooth and straight appearance. It was shown that before the accident its wires stuck straight up above the cone, and were not bent over it to make the fastening more secure, and it appeared from the testimony of an expert, that the proper and safe way of fastening the cable was to bend the ends of the wires over the cone, hammer them down, and fill the cone with material by a process known as babbitting, and that when the dead end was so fastened it was impossible for it to pull out. Plaintiff testified that he was doing the work under instructions and in the manner which was customary, that he had no warning of danger, and that he did not think he was in danger in doing the work in the manner which he adopted. Held, that the question of the defendant’s negligence and plaintiff’s contributory negligence, was for the jury, and that a verdict and judgment for plaintiff should be sustained. Under the facts as proved by the plaintiff’s witnesses the rule was recognized that an employer is presumed to have knowledge of structural defects in the machinery or appliances furnished by him to his workmen.