Clay v. Butane Gas Corp.

39 N.W.2d 813, 151 Neb. 876, 1949 Neb. LEXIS 157
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 6, 1949
DocketNo. 32637
StatusPublished
Cited by43 cases

This text of 39 N.W.2d 813 (Clay v. Butane Gas Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Clay v. Butane Gas Corp., 39 N.W.2d 813, 151 Neb. 876, 1949 Neb. LEXIS 157 (Neb. 1949).

Opinion

Messmore,, J.

This is an’action at law brought by the plaintiff to recover damages to a building owned by her caused by an explosion of butáne gas alleged to have been due to the defendant’s negligence, and for the loss of personal .property located in the building. The 'case was tried to a jury resulting in a verdict in favor of the plaintiff. Upon the overruling of the motion for new trial, defendant appeals.'

For convenience the parties will be referred to as .designated in the district court. '

.. The negligence charged against the .defendant in the plaintiff’s petition is as follows: (1) The failure of the defendant’s' truck driver to ascertain the conditions existing before delivering butane' gas into an underground tank adjacent to the plaintiff’s building' and ■ which serviced the product into the building; ánd (2) .the. delivery by the defendant of such butane gas. into á storage, tank when it knew, or should have known, 'that the storage tank was not'in a safe condition to receive such gas. • These allegations of negligence were ’’denied by" the defendant’s'answer. Such alleged negligent acts of the defendant were submitted to the jury.

The record discloses that on April 4 and 5, 1947, the plaintiff owned Lots 5 and 6, Block 52, in North Bend, Nebraska, upon which was located a one-story brick building. ...The building was 44 feet wide, 110 feet long, running east and west, and situated on a córner facing west. The building was rentéd by Charles árid Wilson Emerson, sons of the plaintiff, and uséd and operated as a bakery and restaurant.

[879]*879Any claims that the Emersons had by virtue' of the loss of personal property have been assigned to the plaintiff.

There was a partial basement under living quarters which were in the rear of the building. The basement was 12 feet wide, 18 feet long, and 5 feet deep. The stairway to the basement was east of the kitchen, and the steps downward were adjacent to an automatic gas furnace located in the northwest corner of the basement approximately 10 feet from the south wall. The furnace was in operation on April 4 and 5, 1947! It went off and on at intervals of 15 minutes. The igniter in the fire box and the motor produced a spark, or flame, in the operation of the furnace. There was also a com-presser in the basement that would go off and on every two hours or so, which would produce á sf>ark or flame from an electric motor.

On thé soiith side of the building the ..sidewalk extended to the curb, and in the center of- the sidewalk was a manhole which covered a metal tank buried underground adjacent to the basement, with a wáter capacity of 218 gallons. Butane gas, which was purchased from the defendant, was put into this tank tó service appliances used in the restaurant. ' The tank was equipped with a criterion gauge which registered the amount of gas in the tank, and a pressure gauge which registered the pressure. There was also a regulator that fit ontb the line between the storage tank and the appliancés. The gas came into one side of the regulator at 35' pounds pressure ánd was reduced to 6 ounces of pressure, which was the amount of gas necessary to operate the appliances used in the restaurant. There was a screw valve on the transmission line which- was manually operated to discontinue the flow of gas if desired, generallylbcated between the storage tank and the regulator. There was also an automatic shut-off valve placed in the transmission line so that in the event of failure bf equipment resulting in a rush of gas to the valve, the valve would [880]*880automatically shut off. There was a galvanized pipe about one-half inch in diameter which led from the tank into the basement, and copper tubing leading upstairs to the kitchen where the outlets serviced a gas range, steam table, and automatic dishwasher.

Butane gas is a manufactured product, a liquefied petroleum gas which is between gasoline and natural gas. It is inflammable, explosive, has a distinct odor, and is very volatile. It boils at approximately 26 degrees above zero. It has 3,300 B. T. U’s per cubic foot for heat value. It is heavier than air and sinks below the surface of water. The gas is transported in trucks in liquid form and must be handled with the same type and degree of care as gasoline.

On April 4, 1947, Charles Emerson was working on the evening shift and noticed that there was insufficient pressure in the gas range to cook with. He went outside, checked the gauge on the tank, and found that they were out of butane gas. He called the defendant corporation at Omaha, made inquiry for someone in charge, and contacted Mr. Reitan who was a salesman for the defendant. He informed the salesman that they were out of gas, and was told by him that it would be impossible To deliver gas to them right away.- Emerson asked the salesman if he could call Wahoo to see if their truck would come over, and was informed that propane gas, due to its pressure, would not work in. their stove. Emerson then told Reitan that bottled gas could be' obtained in North Bend, and was informed by Reitan that ■ it was all right to hook up the appliances, that the pressure was all right. Emerson then told Reitan that he would go to. the hardware dealer and have him hook up the bottled gas, and Reitan stated that they would be out in the morning and fill the tank with butane gas.

.After the conversation with Reitan, Emerson went to the hardware dealer and asked about getting gas to run the range. He was asked by the hardware dealer if he had permission from the gas company to hook on to the [881]*881bottled gas which he could furnish. Emerson told him he had just finished talking to the representative of the defendant, and it was all right to hook on a bottle of gas. A man was sent over to deliver the gas and hook it up. To do this, the valve at the main tank was turned off. The connections from the tank which led upstairs to the appliances were broken, and connections were made from the bottle to the main line. The gas was turned on from the bottle, and the joints and the appliances tested at the places where the connections were made. The pipe which came down from the large butane tank was tested by putting and holding a lighted soda straw next to it to see if there was any flame. There was none, and no sign of gas coming out. The connection between the line and the butane tank was just inside the foundation of the building in the basement, about four feet from the basement floor, and two feet beneath the basement ceiling.

Additional tests were made about two hours later in the evening by the hardware dealer who stopped in and inquired as to how the gas was working. He found that it worked nicely. He inquired if his man had tested the joints and was informed that he had, and that Emerson was with him at the time the tests were made. The hardware dealer then suggested that another test should be made to be sure, explaining that bottled gas had more pressure than the gas in underground tanks. He and Emerson went down and tested all the joints downstairs, came back up and tested the joints upstairs. These tests were made with matches, and there was no sign of gas coming in. The outside tank was also tested.

The hardware dealer also testified with reference to the mechanism which led from the butane tank, that the valve is of metal set in rubber which screws down into a rubber socket to make it gas-tight. He stated that the line was not cut off, but it was disconnected by being unscrewed. When the valve was shut off, the pipe was not capped.

[882]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
39 N.W.2d 813, 151 Neb. 876, 1949 Neb. LEXIS 157, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/clay-v-butane-gas-corp-neb-1949.