Bolen Darnall Coal Co. v. Hicks
Opinion of the Court
This writ of error challenges a judgment in favor of J. B. Hicks, a shot firer, employed by the Bolen-Darnall Coal Company, on account of numerous alleged errors of law, one of which is that the court refused to instruct the jury to return a verdict for the company. The only charge of negligence of the company submitted to the jury was that John Oiler, a miner in the employ of the company whose negligence was imputable to it under the laws of Arkansas where the accident happened, was guilty of negligence which caused the injury of Hicks, in that he left black powder in an open keg in an entry in the mine near to the mouth of one of rooms 8 and 9 in which Hicks fired, four shots. The question which conditions the correctness of the ruling submitting this charge to the jury therefore is, Was there an)' substantial evidence to sustain it?
It is a general rule that it is indispensable to a review of a ruling that there was substantial evidence to sustain a verdict or finding of fact that the bill of exceptions shall contain all the evidence in the case or all the evidence on the specific issue of fact found. Lesser Cotton Co. v. St. Louis, I. M. & S. Ry. Co., 52 C. C. A. 95, 105, 114 Fed. 133, 143.
There was evidence that one of six rules of the company posted in public places about the mine was that a shot firer should not fire shots in more than one place at the same time, and that the manager of the mine orally instructed Hicks not to fire shots in more than one place at the same time, but' Hicks denied that the manager so instructed him, and, while he admitted that he was aware of three of the six posted rules, denied that he ever heard of this one. He testified, however, that it was dangerous to set off shots in more than one place at a time, but that, if it was done in rotation, it was all right. One witness testified that it was possible for a practical shot to throw fire 75 feet, another that it might be thrown approximately 100 feet, and that it was possible, but not probable, that fire could have been thrown from the shots in room 8 to the keg of powder outside the room, and possible that it might have been so thrown from the shots in No. 9. The witness who put the shot from room 9 into the partition between the rooms testified that it was just a rough guess, that he did not really have much idea, that he judged it was between 50 and 60 or 65 feet maybe from his shot to the keg of powder in the entry, but that he was not positive about that, and then he testified in this way:
“Q. From what you know of the handling of powder and the shooting of shots throwing fire, is it possible or probable that lire ignited this room from*721 your shot from the switch (where the powder was) that leads into that No. 9 room? A. Well, sir, not certainly, but it is possible for it to be done. Q. Now it is possible, hut is it probable? A. It might have been at that particular time.”
And this is the strongest evidence, and the foregoing testimony and the fact that the powder was burned as it would have been by a cyclonic explosion from a windy shot is all the evidence that the location of the powder was the proximate cause of the explosion. The plaintiff himself testified that he did not know what the cause of it was, and he did not give any opinion upon that subject. No witness came to say that in his opinion fire from practical shots first ignited this powder in the entry outside the rooms and caused the explosion. None came to say that it was probable that the location of this keg of powder was the proximate cause of the explosion, while, on the other hand, four qualified witnesses testified that in their opinion the proximate cause of it was a windy shot.
Counsel for the defendant in error seek to escape from the conclusion which the facts and law that have been considered compel, on the ground that, even if the cause of the explosion were the windy shot, the cause of that shot was the negligence of the miners who
The judgment below must be reversed, and the case must be remanded to the court below, with directions to grant a new trial; and it is so ordered.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- BOLEN DARNALL COAL CO. v. HICKS
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- 4 cases
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- Syllabus
- (Syllabus by the Court.) 1. Appeal and Error (§ 695*) — Record—Questions Presented for Review— SUFFICIENCY OF EVIDENCE. It is indispensable to a review of a ruling that there was substantial evidence to sustain a verdict or a finding oí fact that the bill of exceptions shall contain all the evidence at the trial, or all the evidence upon the specific issue found. [Ed. Note.- — For other cases, see Appeal and Error, Gent. Dig. §§ 2911-2915; Dec. Dig. § 695.*] 2. Appeal and Error (§ 697*) — Record—Questions Presented fob Review —Sufficiency of Evidence. Bnt the omission of evidence which docs not appear to have been material from a hill of exceptions which recites that it contains all the evidence and hears the “O. K.” of the objecting party, and the signature of the judge, is not fatal to the review. A party may not avail himself of an error he has himself induced the judge who tried the case to commit. [Ed. Note. — For other cases, see Appeal and Error, Cent. Dig. §§ 2918-2927: Dec. Dig. § 697.*] 8. Evidence (§ 597*) — Master and Servant {§§ 265, 276*) — Injuries to Servant-Weight of Evidence. Conjecture will not sustain a verdict. The burden is on an employe to prove that his injury was caused by the negligence of his employer which he charges, and where the evidence leaves the matter uncertain, and shows that any one of several causes, for one of which the employer and for some of which the employé might have been responsible, may have produced It, and there Is no substantial evidence that the negligence of the employer was the real cause of it, the employé fails in his testimony, and a verdict for him cannot stand. Patton v. Texas & Pacific Ity. Co., 179 ü. S. 63S, 661, 21 Sup. Ct. 275, 45 L. Ed. 301. [Ed. Note. — For other cases, see Evidence, Cent. Dig. § 2419; Dee. Dig. § 597 ;* Master and Servant, Cent. Dig. Jííi '877-908; Dec. Dig. §§ 263, 276.*] 4. Master and Servant (§ 278*)- — Injuries to Servant — Sufficiency on Evidence. The plaintiff charged that he was burned in a mine by an explosion caused by the negligence of a miner in leaving an open keg of powder in an entry from 50 to 75 feet distant from shots the plaintiff fired. The defendant claimed that the explosion and burning were caused either by a windy shot caused by conflicting shots which it was the duty of the plaintiff to inspect before firing and not to fire if they conflicted, or by his firing shots in different rooms at the same time, contrary to a rule of the company. Three Witnesses testified that in their opinion the explosion was caused by the conflicting shots which produced a windy shot. Two witnesses testified that it was possible for fire from a properly prepared shot to reach and explode the powder in the keg and one that it might he probable in the particular case, but no witness testified that it was probable, or that In his opinion the explosion was caused by fire from a properly prepared shot reaching the powder in the keg. Held, there was no substantial evidence to sustain a verdict that the explosion was caused by the negligence of the miner who left the keg of powder in the entry. [Ed. Note. — For other cases, see Master and Servant, Dec. Dig. § 278.*]