Corona Coal Co. v. Davis

94 So. 532, 208 Ala. 358, 1922 Ala. LEXIS 531
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedOctober 26, 1922
Docket6 Div. 688.
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 94 So. 532 (Corona Coal Co. v. Davis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Corona Coal Co. v. Davis, 94 So. 532, 208 Ala. 358, 1922 Ala. LEXIS 531 (Ala. 1922).

Opinion

MILDER, J.

This case is appealed from a judgment rendered by the court on a verdict of the jury in favor of John S. Davis and against the Corona Coal Company. The plaintiff, appellee, John S. Davis, claimed damages of the defendant for injuries in two counts, which were submitted to the jury. They were counts 1 and 5. Count 1 claimed damages for an injury averred to have been caused “by reason of a defect in the condition in the ways, woi-ks, machinery, or plant connected with or used in the business of the defendant”; and count 5 placed his cause of action upon alleged negligence of a superintendent of the defendant.

Written charges asked by the plaintiff and given • by the court and written charges requested by the defendant and refused by the court are the ozily errors assigned that are insisted upon by the appellant.

These three charges are in writing; the appellant requested the court to give each of them separately to the jury; the court refused to give either of them; and they read as follows:

Charge No. 2: “If you believe the evidence, plaintiff is not entitled to recover under count one of the complaint.”
Charge No. 5: “I charge you that, if yozz believe the evidence, the timber which gave away was not a part of the ways, works, machinery, or plant connected with or used in the business of defendant.”
Charge No. C: “I charge you that, under the evidence in this case, the plaintiff’s injuz-y was *359 not caused by reason of a defect in the condition of the ways, works, machinery, or plant connected with or used .in the business of the defendant.”

Count 1, at which these charges were directed, was drawn under subdivision 1 of section 3910 of the Code of 1907 as amended Gen. Acts 1911, p. 4S5; and the material part of this count to be considered under those refused charges and the evidence reads as follows:

“And plaintiff alleges that bis said injuries and damages were caused by reason of a defect in the condition in the ways, works, machinery, or plant connected with or used in the business of the defendant, and in this: The .contrivance or timbers which defendant bad rigged or fitted up for lifting timbers from the ground onto the trestle was defective, not sufficiently braced or nailed to carry the weights or to do the work required of it, and it fell on plaintiff, precipitating him to the ground and injuring him as aforesaid.”

The plaintiff was an employe of the defendant. He was working for the defendant in the construction- of a trestle or tipple when Injured. “Certain timbers above him fell,” which struck him or precipitated him to the ground, about 32 feet from where he was working. It was a trestle or tipple to carry coal from the mines to the washers. Where he was there was nothing but tbe stringers. The stringers were large heavy pieces of wood placed on each side of the tipple. The stringers were supported by framework or beams from tbe ground. The day before the injury two pieces of timber, one 2x6 or 2x4 or 2x8 inches and about 16 feet long, were fastened with No. 10 or 20, or both, nails to the stringers or timber of the trestle, and it was braced by a piece of timber about 3x6 or 3x8 inches and about 6 feet long, being nailed to it, and then nailed to timbers of tbe trestle. They were thus fixed above tbe trestle. A pulloy was placed on the high end of one of these pieces and was attached by rope with a pulley near the ground. Ties, timbers, about 6x6x8 inches and about 6 feet long were raised from the ground to the top of the trestle by being fastened to tbe rope and mules pulled them from the ground to the top of the trestle. The plaintiff was engaged in landing these ties as they were pulled from the ground. The ties were to be laid across tbe tipple from one stringer to the other. Five or six ties were fastened to the rope and as they were being pulled to tbe top of tbe trestle or tipple these two pieces of timber or plank on which the pulley was attached gave way, the nails fastening them pulled out, and it fell on plaintiff precipitating him to the ground- and injuring him. This long piece of timber is called by the witnesses a boom or gin pole.

In tbis count plaintiff alleges “a defect in the condition in the ways, works, machinery, or plant connected with or used in the business of tbe defendant and in tbis: The contrivance or timbers which defendant had rigged or fitted up for lifting timbers from tbe' ground onto the trestle was defective, not sufficiently braced or nailed to carry tbe weight or to do the work required of it.” The defect was not averred to be in the rope or the pulley or block and tackle, but it was averred to be in not sufficiently bracing or nailing the contrivance or timber to carry tbe weight of timbers to be lifted from tbe ground.

The evidence tends to show these two pieces of timber were not sufficiently braced or nailed to carry tbe weight of the ties or to do the work required of it, lifting the ties. But were these two pieces of timber as nailed and used on the occasion of plaintiff’s injury a part of the ways, works, machinery, or plant connected with or us,ed in the business of the defendant? This is the first and real question in the case under this count. The plaintiff in this count alleges they were. This places on him that burden of proof; there being on file a plea of general issue to that count by tbe defendant. Alexander v. W. O. W., 161 Ala. 561, beadnote 6, 49 South. 883.

Is there any evidence to sustain the allegations? We think not. One witness for plaintiff testified on this subject:

“I think the gin pole was put up the day before, but it was not used that day. The best I remember the gin pole was a piece of timber about 2x6. * * * The timber that fell is called a boom or gin pole, a gin pole most of the time. It was not a part of the trestle they were building. It was only fastened to the top of the trestle and was put up temporarily to lift the ties. They put this one up in the center of the trestle, and it was put up simply for the purpose of raising ties to the top of the trestle and was put wherever it was most 'convenient, where the ties were raised.”

Another witness for plaintiff said on this subject:

“The gin pole was fastened to the tipple by being spiked to the tipple cord and was spiked onto a little piece of 2x6 or 2x4 just nailed onto the side of it. Where it was spiked to the top of the tipple it was about 4 feet higher, and the gin pole, I believe, was nailed to the tipple cord to an upright piece 2x6 and stuck out over there something like 5 or 6 feet. The gin pole was about 14 or. 15 feet long, and my recollection is that it was 2x6. It was about 5 or 6 feet from the second fasten to the end. This little post right here [indicating on diagram] that held this pole up that the hoist was fastened to was setting on the cap between the two stringers.”

Another witness for plaintiff said:

“The boom had just been put up that morning. John Moore, John Belk, and myself put this pole up there. At the lower end we fastened it to the sills of the trestle. We nailed it with some tenpenny nails and some twenty’s. The pole was 2x6, I think, 12 or 14 feet long.”

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Bluebook (online)
94 So. 532, 208 Ala. 358, 1922 Ala. LEXIS 531, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/corona-coal-co-v-davis-ala-1922.