Ash v. Century Lumber Co.

133 N.W. 888, 153 Iowa 523
Supreme Court of Iowa·Decided December 18, 1911·Published·Cited by 23 cases

Opinion

Ladd, J.

One It. L. Cruse had loaded a wagon with two-inch plank, a foot wide and thirty feet long, and had driven along the east side of a railroad car with his team toward the south. The wagon reach had been lengthened, but the planks extended over the back bolster about thirteen feet. The lines extended to the rear hub and were laid on the ground east of the wagon and the outside tug unhooked. The front end of the wagon was opposite the car door. Employees of defendant assisted Cruse in removing the lumber from the wagon into the car. In doing this, Cruse stood at the rear of the wagon, lifted the end of a plank so as to place it on the east hind wheel, and, by bearing down and swinging out, lifted the other end so as to clear into the doorway of the car. One man then seized the other end of the plank and drew it in through an opening at the south end of the car until the other could take the plank through the doorway. Cruse had placed a plank on the wheel and swung the end over, when it caught in the edge or jamb of the car door frame. According to his story: “-This happened because I suppose I misjudged my distance in raising it and did not raise it high enough at the south end. It caught about midway up from the door. At that time, there was a man standing at the car door, and he could have reached it. When it got caught, I attempted to raise it up by bearing the north end of it down. While I was doing this, it broke loose from the door, fell, and struck the west horse.” The team immediately started to run, and, after they had gone a little ways, the hind wheel caught on a post and swung the team around, and at the same time the lumber slid off, striking the plaintiff, who was in the street, and throwing him upon the pavement, causing serious injuries.

It is alleged that Cruse and the other employees were negligent: (1) In that they failed to tie, secure, or un[526] hitch the team from the wagon; (2) that Cruse was negligent in that he did not draw the plank far enough back so as to avoid hitting the car and prevent it from falling; and (3) that the employees in the car were negligent in failing to take hold of the plank and prevent it from falling on the horse.

The ruling on the first two grounds turns on the issue as to whether Cruse, in handling the team, was the servant of defendant, for he was not shown to have been negligent in the manner of unloading the plank, and, if guilty of any fault, this was in allowing the team to stand without hitching, or where, in event of a plank falling, they would be likely to be struck and frightened thereby. Was there sufficient evidence to carry the case to the jury on either of these issues ? This necessarily depends on whether, in the handling of the team, he was the servant and under the control of defendant. The evidence disclosed that defendant owned the wagon, but that the team and harness belonged to Mrs. W. W. Wright. Long prior to the accident, her son had inquired of defendant’s foreman if he could use another team. The foreman answered that he could, and asked whose it was, and, being told that it belonged to Mrs. Wright, and that it was a good team, directed him “to send him on down to work.” One Mason came with the team in the morning and hauled lumber with it several months. He then arranged with Cruse to take his place, and after that Cruse drove the team, from July 18, 1907, until long after the accident, which occurred in May, 1908. The arrangement between Mrs. Wright’s son and Mason was that he receive one half the earnings and Mrs. Wright the other half, and, without any conversation concerning the matter, she and Cruse divided the earnings in the same way. Defendant’s bookkeeper inquired of her, when each began, whether payment should be made to her or to the driver, and she directed payment to the latter, as she trusted him. Compensation was made at the end of each week [527] at the rate of $3.50 per day. According to Mrs. Wright’s testimony, “He took the team as he pleased, as if it was his own, and collected for it.” The horses were kept in Mrs. Wright’s stable most of the time Mason drove them and all of the time Cru.se did so. She furnished the feed and paid for shoeing. Cruse cared for and fed the horses. She never had anything to say about where Cruse went, nor did she “exercise any control over him in any way or direct his movements.” She had nothing to do with the bargain with the defendant save as mentioned. When Cruse began work, the defendant’s foreman inquired whether he was going to drive the team, and, on being told that he was, gave him a written order for a load of lumber, and where to take it, and this was the uniform practice while he remained there. Ordinarily, a laborer employed by the company helped him to load up. Upon delivering, he had the ticket signed by the recipient and returned it to the office.

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Ash v. Century Lumber Co., 133 N.W. 888, 153 Iowa 523 (iowa 1911).

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