Sebastian v. Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co.
Sebastian v. Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The action was brought by Jacob Sebastian as father and next friend of Peter Sebastian, a minor, as well in his own right. Peter Sebastian who sustained the personal injuries complained of was at the time of the accident about seventeen years of age, and was employed at a colliery owned and operated by the defendant company. His employment was that of a driver, his duty being to take empty cars or wagons from the turnout within the mine to the face of the gangway and return the cars when reloaded to the turnout. He had been so employed some two or three months, during which time, on five or six occasions, he had been required to haul into the mine wagons or cars loaded with such timber as is used in mines. It was on one such occasion, when unloading the timber, that he received the injury. The timber while on the wagon is secured in place by a door or gate at the end; when it is to be unloaded this door or gate, attached by hinges to the upper part of the wagon is lifted so as to admit of the timber being drawn from the wagon piece by piece by means of a mule hitched by chain thereto. To keep the gate in its elevated position while this is being done, so as not to interfere with the unloading, an iron bar is used to protect those working thereabouts from injury by accidental falling of the gate if insecurely fastened. On this occasion when plaintiff was injured no bar was used, but in its stead a wet wedge was used to hold the gate in place, and while plaintiff was attempting to attach to a timber for the purpose of pulling it out, the gate of the wagon fell down and struck him in the back, inflicting serious injury.
The negligence charged was failure to furnish the employee with the customary bar or other sufficient appliance to support the end gate when raised. That the
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- Negligence. — Master and servant — Driver in coal mine — Evidence. 1. In an action against a coal mine owner to recover damages for injuries to an employee engaged in driving cars in the mine, the question of the defendant’s negligence is for the jury, where the evidence was that the plaintiff was injured while unloading timber from the end of a car, by the falling of the door or gate of the car upon him; that it was customary to use an iron bar to hold up the gate when the ear was being unloaded; that at the time of the accident a wet wedge instead of a bar was used to hold the gate in place; and that according to the explicit testimony of several witnesses no bar of any kind had been provided by the defendant for use on this particular occasion. 2. In such a case it is not error to permit evidence to be introduced as to the wet condition of the mine on the day of the accident, where it was introduced not for the purpose of showing a distinct negligence or in aggravation, hut simply to show insufficiency of the method which was adopted in the absence of the iron bar. Negligence — Damages—Present worth rule — Pain and suffering. 3. In negligence eases involving personal injuries, the present worth rule does not apply in awarding compensation for pain, suffering and inconvenience.