Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railway Co. v. Spaulding

52 N.E. 410, 21 Ind. App. 323, 1898 Ind. App. LEXIS 662
Indiana Court of Appeals·Decided December 23, 1898·No. No. 2,645·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

Wiley, J.

Appellee sued appellant to recover damages for injuries received while in the service of appellant as an employe. The complaint upon which the case was tried was in two paragraphs, and a brief statement of its allegations will suffice. In the first paragraph it is averred that appellant maintained and operated machine shops in the city of Washington, Daviess county, Indiana, connected with which was a blacksmith shop, wherein a large number of blacksmiths and their helpers are employed; that appellee was helper of one of the blacksmiths employed therein; that near said blacksmith shop appellant kept and maintained a scrap bin, in which scrap iron was thrown and kept; that some sheet iron had been put in said scrap bin, with one end leaning against the wall; that it was a part of the duty of appellee to, and his employment frequently called him to go to said scrap bin for pieces of iron to be used by the blacksmith, whose helper appellee was; that when the doors of said shop building were left open, as they frequently were in the warm wéather to let the air circulate through the building, if the wind was strong, it would blow the fire and [325] smoke from the forge upon the blacksmith, and that upon such occasions it was the duty of appellee to go to said scrap bin and procure a piece of sheet iron and set it up in front of the forge to protect the blacksmith from fire and smoke, all of which was known to appellant; that said scrap bin was constructed with walls on each side, with one end closed and the other open, where the employes were to enter in the discharge of their duties, and that it was about twelve feet wide; that long prior to the time appellee was injured, appellant had caused to be carried into said bin large and heavy pieces of sheet iron, and had carelessly and negligently placed said pieces of iron on end, and set the same against one of the sides of said building in almost a perpendicular position, and in such a negligent and careless manner that same was liable to topple over and fall on persons entering said scrap bin; “that said pieces of sheet iron had been in said dangerous and unsafe condition for a long period of time, to wit, for the period of three days or more, and defendant knew or might have known of the unsafe condition of said scrap bin occasioned thereby, by the use. of due diligence; that plaintiff had no knowledge * * * of the unsafe and dangerous condition of said scrap bin; that * * * while in the discharge of his duty under his employment, * * * he entered said scrap bin to get a piece of sheet iron to set up against said forge to protect said blacksmith from the heat and smoke which was blowing against and upon him, * * * and while exercising due care and diligence, and without any fault or negligence upon his part,” and while so engaged, said pieces of sheet iron which were standing against the wall toppled over and fell upon him, etc.

The second paragraph of the complaint is like the first, except that in the second it is alleged that the [326] pieces of sheet iron that fell upon and injured appellee were standing on the floor, on one edge, with one edge leaning against the wall; that some of the pieces nearer the wall were crooked and uneven, while those on the outside were straight, and that he was thereby deceived as to their actual condition. A demurrer was overruled to each paragraph of the complaint -for want of sufficient facts, and an exception reserved. The case was put at'issue by general denial, tried by a jury, resulting in a general verdict for appellee. Appellant’s motion for a new trial was overruled, and it has assigned errors, challenging the overruling of the demurrer to the complaint, and overruling its motion for a new trial.

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Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railway Co. v. Spaulding, 52 N.E. 410, 21 Ind. App. 323, 1898 Ind. App. LEXIS 662 (Ind. Ct. App. 1898).

52 N.E. 410 (Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railway Co. v. Spaulding) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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