Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railroad v. Cavanaugh

71 N.E. 239, 35 Ind. App. 32, 1904 Ind. App. LEXIS 138
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 24, 1904
DocketNo. 4,840
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 71 N.E. 239 (Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railroad v. Cavanaugh) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railroad v. Cavanaugh, 71 N.E. 239, 35 Ind. App. 32, 1904 Ind. App. LEXIS 138 (Ind. Ct. App. 1904).

Opinion

Comstock, J.

Action for personal injury alleged to have been sustained by appellee while in the employ of appellant, by reason of failure of appellant to perform a statutory duty. The cause was tried upon the second paragraph of the complaint, to which a demurrer for want of facts had been overruled and a general denial filed. The jury returned a verdict for $6,000 in favor of the appellee, upon which the court rendered judgment.

The ruling on the demurrer to- the second paragraph of the complaint is assigned and discussed as the first error. The objections made to its sufficiency seem to justify setting out its material averments at some length. They are as follows: “Paragraph 2. And the plaintiff says that on the 15th day of November, 1901, and for several months prior thereto, he was in the employ of the defendant as a carpenter ; that his duties as such servant required him to work in the maintenance-of-way department of said defendant, who, on said day, was the owner and operator of a line of railroad running into and through' Daviess county, Indiana; that said defendant, during all the time of plaintiff’s employment, owned and operated, in connection with its said railroad, large machine and repair shops, at and near the city of Washington, in said county; that said shops consisted of many large buildings, in which were kept and operated by steam-power all necessary machinery to manufacture and repair engines, cars and other material used by the defendant in its business; that among other machinery kept, used and operated by the defendant as aforesaid was a circular saw about twenty-two inches in diameter, and which was set in a table and revolved in a groove in the top of said table, so that about eight inches of said saw extended above the top of said table, and said saw was so connected by mechanical devices with the steam-power used in said shop that when in use it revolved with [35]*35great rapidity; that said saw was used for the purpose of sawing and ripping pieces of timber used by the defendant in its said business; that, in order to use said saw and to saw .therewith timber desired to be used by the defendant, it was necessary for the servants of the defendant using the same to lay the piece of timber to be sawed on top of said table, and hold the same with their hands, and guide the same against said saw, by which means the timber would be sawed into lengths and thickness desired; that it was necessary to the safe operation of said saw, and to the safety of defendant’s servants so operating the same, that the top of that part of said saw extending above the top of said table should be properly protected and guarded by the use of a- guard, so as to form a shield and pi’otection thereto, and to ward off and keep the hands and arms of such employe from coming in contact with the said saw; that such guard should, for such protection, be kept and maintained around and over said saw whenever the same was in use; that whenever such saw was used in the business aforesaid, and without such guard and covering, it was dangerous to any employe using the same in the manner aforesaid, all of which defects were well known to the defendant, and which defendant negligently failed, to remedy at the time and times hereinafter and heretofore stated.

“And the plaintiff further avers that his duty as such employe was to work in and about said shops, and, whenever called upon by his foreman so to do, to use said saw and saw and rip pieces of timber as aforesaid; that on the 15th day of November, 1901, plaintiff, while at work for, the defendant as aforesaid, was directed by his foreman to use said saw, which was not properly guarded as aforesaid, and to rip pieces of timber into- strips for the use o-f the defendant in its said business, and while he was so doing, and using said saw, he was at all times in the exercise of reasonable care and diligence to avoid and save himself from injury, and while thus engaged, and while holding a [36]*36piece of timber, and guiding tbe same against said saw, it became necessary for him to hold the same by placing his left hand in front of said saw and his right hand in the rear of the same; that, while thus holding said piece of timber, the same, suddenly and with much force, by reason of the contact with said saw, and from other causes unknown to the plaintiff, was jerked and thrown forward and upward, thereby jerking and throwing plaintiff’s right arm against said saw, all of which was caused without any carelessness or negligence- of the plaintiff; that by reason of his arm being so jerked and thrown against said saw the same was thereby cut, sawed and injured in such a manner that the same had to be amputated between the wrist and elbow;” that all of said injuries were caused by the negligence of the defendant in not having said saw properly guarded, and in allowing the. same to be used without guards, and all without the fault of plaintiff.

This action is founded upon the act of March 2, 1899 (Acts 1899, p. 231, §9, §7087i Burns 1901, §5169k Horner 1901), entitled “An act concerning labor, and providing means for protecting the liberty, safety and health of lar borers, providing for its enforcement by creating a depart-' ment of inspection, and making an appropriation therefor, repealing all laws in conflict therewith.”

1. The only negligence charged is the failure of appellant to have a guard on the saw with which appellee was working when he received his injuries. The first objection made to the complaint is that the factory act does not apply to persons or corporations using machinery exclusively for their own repairs and for the manufacture of materials for their own exclusive use; and as it appears from the complaint that the machine-shop of the appellant was operated in connection with its railroad for the sole purpose of its own use, the facts are not within the statute. The title of the act indicates its purpose. It is “An act concerning labor, and providing [37]*37means for protecting tlie liberty, safety and health, of laborers.” The title is broad enough to justify a wide scope in the provisions of the statute. . Section one limits the hours of labor for minors of both sexes “in any manufacturing or mercantile establishment.” Section two forbids the employment of children under fourteen years of age “in any manufacturing or mercantile establishment,” and imposes conditions upon which persons under sixteen years of age may be employed. Sections five and six provide for the safety of the employe in any manufacturing or mercantile establishment. Section eight makes it the duty of the owner, agent or superintendent, or other person having charge of any manufacturing establishment, to report to the State Eactory Inspector, in writing, all accidents or injury done to any person on such premises, within forty-eight hours of the time of the accident. Section nine makes it the duty of the owner of any aforesaid establishment to furnish contrivances for the safety of the employes, and provides that all saws and machinery of every description therein shall be properly guarded. Section eighteen interprets the language used in the act as follows: “The words ‘manufacturing or mercantile establishment’ * * * means any mill, factory, workshop, store, place of trade or other establishment where goods, wares or merchandise are manufactured or offered for sale * * * and persons are employed for hire.”

To manufacture is to modify or to change natural substances so that they become articles of value or use. Anderson’s Law Diet., 654.

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Bluebook (online)
71 N.E. 239, 35 Ind. App. 32, 1904 Ind. App. LEXIS 138, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/baltimore-ohio-southwestern-railroad-v-cavanaugh-indctapp-1904.