Bedford Belt Railway Co. v. Brown

42 N.E. 359, 142 Ind. 659, 1895 Ind. LEXIS 223
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 10, 1895
DocketNo. 17,450
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 42 N.E. 359 (Bedford Belt Railway Co. v. Brown) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bedford Belt Railway Co. v. Brown, 42 N.E. 359, 142 Ind. 659, 1895 Ind. LEXIS 223 (Ind. 1895).

Opinion

Hackney, J.

This appeal is from a judgment, in favor of the appellee, for personal injuries sustained while employed by the appellant in the construction [660]*660of a railway bridge. The complaint charged that the appellee was employed in' the construction of said bridge; that when about one hundred feet had been nearly completed, and several bents had been placed in position, boards were laid on either side, along the top, for the workmen to walk upon. £ £ Between said running boards, on the top of said bridge and along the middle of it, from bent to bent, were laid two lines of stringers, side by side, and on the top of these stringers, lengthwise of them and of the bridge .as well, were laid consecutively heavy planks, end to end,” to be used asa track, upon which to move, from place to place, heavy timbers for the construction of the bridge; such timbers being so moved upon said track by means of a small, solid frame twelve inches square, with an iron roller adjusted beneath, and called a “dolly.” It was averred that the appellant negligently and carelessly constructed said track, and negligently permitted the same to become and remain in an unsafe and infirm condition, unbraced, unsupported, and not properly leveled, and which condition was well known to appellant, and unknown to appellee, and which could and should have been repaired; that while he and other workmen were moving a large timber along said track, upon said “dolly,” the appellee walking along one of the board walks so made along the top of said bridge, said £‘dolly” and the timber thereon, by reason of said defects in said track, became unbalanced, and fell from the bridge, hurling the appellee to the ground below, and inflicting the injuries complained of. It yras alleged, also, that the appellant was guilty of no fault or negligence contributing to said injury.

There was no demurrer or motion addressed to the complaint in the lower court, and its sufficiency is [661]*661attacked here upon an assignment of error that the court overruled appellant’s motion in arrest of judgment.

Appellant’s learned counsel attack the complaint under the fellow-servant rule, the rule as to the assumption of the ordinary and the extraordinary risks of the service, and the rule as to contributory negligence. Where there is enough in a complaint to bar another action, it is sufficient against an attack first made in this court. Harris v. Wright, 123 Ind. 272; Peters v. Banta, 120 Ind. 416 ; Chapelt v. Shuee, 117 Ind. 481; Sims v. Dome, 113 Ind. 127; Donellan v. Hardy, 57 Ind. 393. After verdict all intendments are taken in favor of the pleading, and the same rule applies where the attack is by motion in arrest, as where it is made for the first time upon assignment in this court. Colchen v. Ninde, 120 Ind. 88, and cases there cited. See also Elliott App. Proced., section 473.

We cannot presume, as counsel urge, that the appellee knew of the defects, in the face of the allegation that he did not know of them. Without such knowledge, there could be no assumption of the hazard as an extraordinary risk of the service. If we accept the rules above suggested, we cannot presume that the appellee had participated in the construction of the track, or that he was a fellow-employe of those who did construct it, or even that he was an employe at the time of such construction. The fellow-servant rule, therefore, cannot be invoked. No facts appear to indicate that appellee was negligent, and he alleges that he was not negligent: We cannot, therefore, presume contributory negligence. It is not claimed that any essential fact is wholly omitted. We cannot concur in appellant’s position that the complaint did not state facts sufficient to bar a second action for the same injuries. If the complaint were tested upon demurrer, we should not feel safe in [662]*662the conclusion that its facts were sufficient to constitute a cause of action.

A conflict between the general verdict and answers to interrogatories is claimed, and is urged as sustaining appellant’s motion for judgment non obstante. Finding it necessary to reverse the judgment of the lower court, and, believing that this question will not arise again in the cause, we pass it without decision.

The cause was tried and submitted to a jury, upon the testimony introduced on behalf of the appellee. The following facts were established without conflict: The appellant engaged in the construction of a railway bridge, and the labor thereon was performed by a foreman, the appellee, and two or three other bridge carpenters. The work had proceeded to the point where twelve or fourteen bents had been constructed, and another was being added. Upon these bents, and extending from one to another, as they were constructed, the appellee and his fellow-workmen laid, near the center, two timbers, side by side, each timber being sixteen inches wide and sixteen feet long. Upon these timbers were placed, lengthwisb and end to end, oak boards three inches thick by ten inches wide. The timbers and boards so laid constituted a track upon which to transport, by means of a small but heavy carriage, the timbers from which the bridge was constructed. On the outer edges of the bents, and on either side of this track, were laid board walks for the workmen to walk upon in the discharge of such duties as required them to be upon the superstructure. In the top course of the track it was found that the ends of the boards would vary in thickness, and would make uneven joints. In order that these joints might be even, and afford a smoother course for the timber carriage,- the appellee and his fellow-workmen would insert, under the thinner boards, a [663]*663wedge, or shim, of such thickness as would bring the upper surfaces of the boards, at the ends, upon a level each with the other. In the use of this track, from time to time, these wedges, or shims, would work out from their places; and, to maintain a smooth track, all of the workmen, including the appellee, observed the condition of the joints and the positions of the wedges, or shims, and, when necessary, replaced them. These wedges, or shims, if displaced, could easily be seen by any one who would look at the joints.

This work, in which the appellee engaged, proceeded from the 26th day of December, 1892, until the afternoon of March 9, 1893. This method of transporting timbers was the usual and customazy method izi bridge building. The day of appellee’s injury, he had frequently beezi upon the superstructure azzd along the course of the track. The foreman had, likewise, been upon the superstructure and along the course of the tz-ack sevez-al times during the day, and had directed the work for that particular afterzzoon. The work so directed was'hi the trazisportation of timbers. In this, the appellee and two other woz-kmen were engaged; and, at the time of the znisfortuzie, the appellee was upon one of said board walks, the other two workmen were pushing and guiding the timber carriage with a large timber, upozr it. The appellee was proceeding towards the extended end of the timber, to assist in pushing azid guidizigit, though he had not come zieaz-er than four-feet from'it when the caz-riage came upon a joint in the track, from which a'.wedge or shim had worked and left the joizrt uneven. In meeting this uneven joint, the caz-riage was jolted, azid the timber thez-eon toppled and fell from the superstructure.

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Bluebook (online)
42 N.E. 359, 142 Ind. 659, 1895 Ind. LEXIS 223, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bedford-belt-railway-co-v-brown-ind-1895.