Carroll v. Mayor

51 N.Y.S. 620
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedMay 13, 1898
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 51 N.Y.S. 620 (Carroll v. Mayor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carroll v. Mayor, 51 N.Y.S. 620 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1898).

Opinions

RUMSEY, J.

On the 25th day of July, 1893, the defendant was the -owner of a pier at the foot of East Twenty-Fourth street, which was used for the storage of materials required by the city in the repair -of the streets. Among other articles that were delivered, there was broken stone which was stored in bins until such time as it might be needed. Upon the pier was a mast and gaff, put there by the city authorities, which, when equipped with the necessary rigging and tackle, could be used as a derrick. The precise purpose for which •the mast and gaff were put there does not appear, but it is in evidence, and was not disputed, that persons who had occasion to deliver materials at the pier were accustomed to use it if they saw fit and to put it in á condition to be used. On the day mentioned, a scow load of broken stone lay at the pier for delivery. It had been sold to the -city to be delivered upon the pier, but had not yet been delivered. The seller had employed one Wynn to deliver it to the city. In order to do that, it was necessary that the stone should be taken out of the scow, and transferred to bins provided to hold it. That [621]*621work was to be done by Wynn. He had no connection with the city whatever, but was employed and paid by the Hudson River Stone-Supply Company, the contractor which had sold the broken stone to the city. The plaintiff was in the employ of Wynn, and was by him set to work in transferring this stone from the scow to the bin. When Wynn’s men went there to work, they found the mast and gaff standing on the pier. They brought with them or provided in some way the necessary ropes and tackle with which they rigged the mast and gaff as a derrick, and undertook to use it for hoisting the stone out of the scow and transferring it to the bins. This was done, so far as the evidence shows, without communication with any official of the city, or with any one who had control or charge of the pier or the derrick. The work began at the usual hour in the morning, and continued until about 11 o’clock, when a pin upon which the gaff swung broke, and a bucket of stone which was hanging from the gaff fell and struck the plaintiff, seriously injuring him. To recover for the damages sustained from these injuries he brought this action. Upon the trial no testimony was given on the part of the defendant, but the complaint was dismissed upon the plaintiff’s evidence. From the judgment entered upon that dismissal this appeal is brought.

The mast and gaff were clearly no part of the pier, but were simply parts of an appliance put there for use in delivering goods. The evidence shows that they were not a permanent fixture upon the pier, but were put there temporarily, although for convenience the mast was fastened to the bulkhead; but it was no part of the pier itself, and, like any other derrick, was a mere tool for convenience in hoisting goods which were to be delivered upon the pier. The rules to be applied with regard to negligence in its use and in its construction and maintenance are the same as are to be applied in the case of any other tool. It is apparent from the evidence that the defect complained of might very easily have been observed by the slightest inspection, if, indeed, it was not visible to any one who had occasion to go to the derrick at all. For these reasons the ruling of the trial judge in dismissing the complaint might well be sustained on the ground that the plaintiff, in undertaking to use this tool with an apparent defect in it, took upon himself the risks or was guilty of contributory negligence. But we are not disposed to put our affirmance of this judgment upon any such ground.

The plaintiff insists that the defendant is guilty of negligence in providing the derrick for the use of those persons who had occasion to deliver, goods upon the pier, and that it was its duty to use reasonable care to inspect the tool, and see that it was reasonably fit for the purpose for which it was intended. Whether the plaintiff is right in this contention is the more serious question presented in this case. It must be conceded that there was no negligence on the part of the defendant, unless it had assumed by contract, or had imposed upon it in some way, a duty towards the plaintiff to supply him an article which "was reasonably safe when used for delivering this stone. There is no claim made that there was any express agree[622]*622ment on the part of the defendant to that effect. Under the contract as proved, the broken stone was to be delivered by the seller in the bin, and it undertook to perform that portion of its contract by an •express agreement with Wynn to make the delivery. The defendant was not called upon to take any part in that delivery, or to furnish any of the tools with which the delivery was to be made. In •that respect the case is distinguishable from the case of Coughtry v. Woolen Co., 56 N. Y. 124. There, the defendant, who had contracted with a firm of iron workers to put a cornice upon its mill, had made an express agreement by which it was to furnish the necessary scaffolding upon which the contractors’ workmen might stand while putting up the cornice. The scaffold put up by it was defective, and because of the defect the plaintiff’s intestate fell from it and was killed. The court held that, the defendant having by express contract undertaken the duty of furnishing a safe scaffold, the plaintiff’s intestate had the right to rely on the assumption that the scaffold was properly made, and that the defendant was- liable for a violation of the duty which it had taken upon itself. No such facts are made to appear here. The defendant made no contract with anybody with regard to this derrick, and, if it is to be held liable at all, it must be upon the ground that, by permitting a part of the tool to stand upon its pier, and permitting any persons who chose to use it to transfer goods, it assumed a duty of using reasonable care to see that it was fit for the purpose for which they might use it. In our opinion, ño .such duty is to be implied from the facts proved. It is undisputed upon the evidence that the mast and gaff, as they stood there, were not in condition to be used for any purpose whatever. Before it could be used as a derrick, it was necessary that it should be supplied with ropes and tackle, and until that was done it had not become •a tool which could be used in the transfer of goods. It is not claimed that any express invitation was given to Wynn to make use of this article, but it seems that he did so because it -was there and it was •convenient, and he- saw fit to use it for his own purposes. Indeed, there is no' proof in the case that either the defendant or any of its employés had any notice whatever that Wynn intended to use it. The only evidence upon the subject is- that Wynn’s employés, going there on the morning of the day on which this accident occurred, found this mast and gaff standing there, rigged it up with the necessary tackle, and commenced to use it, and transferred the stone, without any express permission to do so, and without giving any notice to anybody of their intention to do so. It is not a case, so far as the ■evidence shows, of a loan of a tool for a particular purpose, .which the lender knows is not fitted for the purpose for which it was intended to be used. It appears that the derrick had been dismantled, or, at least, that it did not, at the time when Wynn undertook to use it, "have the necessary attachments for use as a derrick.

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Related

Cullen v. Mayor of New York
53 N.Y.S. 1102 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1898)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
51 N.Y.S. 620, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carroll-v-mayor-nyappdiv-1898.