Crawford v. Sawyer & Austin Lumber Co.

121 S.W. 286, 91 Ark. 337, 1909 Ark. LEXIS 195
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedJuly 12, 1909
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 121 S.W. 286 (Crawford v. Sawyer & Austin Lumber Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Crawford v. Sawyer & Austin Lumber Co., 121 S.W. 286, 91 Ark. 337, 1909 Ark. LEXIS 195 (Ark. 1909).

Opinion

Battue, J.

Thos. D. Crawford brought this action against Sawyer & Austin Lumber Company to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by him as a result of the negligence of the defendant. The substance of the contents of his complaint is correctly stated in the abstract of appellant as follows:

“The defendant is a corporation, owning and operating a saw mill plant at Pine Bluff, Arkansas. West of its principal saw mill, and separated from it by a large mill pond, the defendant operates a sash and door factory. Extending from the sash and door factory, and running in an easterly direction and curving around the northern boundary of the mill pond, was one of the railroad tracks of the Pine Bluff & Western Railway Company. This track passed in close proximity to the principal saw mill and also near the machine shop, the track passing just north of both. This track was generally used by the employees of the company in going from the sash and door factory to the principal saw mill, the machine shop and the office of the company. Plaintiff was the superintendent of the sash and door factory, and was earning a salary of $2,000 per year. On the morning of the 23d of October, 1905, he started from the door factory to the machine shop, and proceeded over the track mentioned. When opposite the saw mill, defendant negligently opened a valve to blow out the boilers, which so enveloped the plaintiff in steam and vapor as to prevent him from seeing in any direction, thereby confusing him and blinding him as to his surroundings and preventing him from getting off the track with safety, as the track at this point was on a high embankment with a ditch on both sides. The blowpipe was negligently constructed in -that it directed the steam immediately across the track. While plaintiff was trying to get out of the steam, he was negligently struck by a flat car propelled by the defendant’s engine, and knocked down upon the track, the wheels of the car so bruising and mutilating his left foot as to cause the loss of all of his toes on that foot and to render him a cripple for life. By reason of the enormous quantity of steam and vapor enveloping the plaintiff, he was prevented from seeing the train, and the operators of the train were prevented from seeing him. The damages were laid at the sum of $15,000.”

Defendant answered and denied material allegations of the complaint, and alleged that plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence.

After hearing all the evidence- adduced by the parties, the court instructed the jury to return a verdict in favor of the defendant, which they did, and plaintiff appealed.

The only question for us to decide is, was the evidence adduced by the plaintiff legally sufficient to support a verdict in his favor? In deciding this question we should give the testimony in his favor its strongest probative force, and accept that view of it most favorable to him. Catlett v. Railway Co., 57 Ark. 461; Rodgers v. Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad Co., 76 Ark. 520; Wallis v. St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Co., 77 Ark. 556; Scott v. St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Co., 79 Ark. 137; Evans v. St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Co., 87 Ark. 628.

Pursuing this course, we find the facts in this case as follows :

“The Sawyer & Austin Lumber Company operates a large saw mill plant near the city of Pine Bluff. Some distance west of this plant and separated from it by a mill pond was a sash and door factory belonging to the same company, but operated as an entirely distinct and separate business, except as hereinafter stated. The employees of the door factory had nothing in common with the employees of the saw mill, and, so far as the record shows, the respective service of the two sets of employees never brought them in any kind of personal contact or relationship. The saw mill was in charge of one superintendent, and the door factory was in charge of another, and, while both superintendents were under a common master, there was no co-service between them, and neither had anything whatever to do-with the employees under the other.

“According to the testimony of the defendant, the company had established a roadway and walk from the door factory around the southern end of the ■ pond to the company’s office, which was located east of the saw mill. As a matter of fact, a railroad track extended from the office and curved partially around the saw mill plant and the north end of the pond. It was known as the pond track. Various employees, especially those of the door factory, often used this track as a walkway, in going to and returning from their work and in going from the door factory to the office of the company, with the full knowledge and acquiescence of the company. Plaintiff testified that he invariably used it two and sometimes three and four times a day, as the occasion demanded. The company operated its log trains on this track.

“The saw mill was run by steam, while the door factory was operated by electricity. The boiler and engine rooms of the saw mill were located north of the saw mill plant, and in close proximity to the railroad track. Electricity was generated in the engine room by the same power which ran the saw mill, and was conducted through wire cables to the door factory. Except for this connection between the two, the door factory was as separate from and independent of the saw mill as it would have been if located in another city or in a different part of Pine Bluff.

“A blow-off pipe extended from the boiler room to within five or six feet of the track, and pointed directly across the track. The location and direction of this pipe when blowing off menaced the safety of'any one passing along the railroad track, for in blowing off the steam it went with great force directly across the track. To avoid danger, the superintendent of the saw mill, who had absolute power in the premises, contented himself by giving positive instructions and establishing a rule that the boilers were not to be blown off in the day time, unless it was imperative, and that they were never to be blown off until the man in charge of the boilers had first looked to see if any person was in a position to be injured. The superintendent himself testified to these instructions and to this rule, and the testimony of Henry Washington, the employee in charge of the boilers, was to the same effect. This testimony not only established the fact of the existence of a dangerous agency which threatened the safety of the employees, but it showed a knowledge and appreciation of the danger on the part of the company.

“The plaintiff was the superintendent of the door factory, and often used the railroad track in going from the factory to the company’s office. In doing this he passed directly in front of the blow-off pipe. He testified, however, that he had never noticed the blow-off pipe, and did not know that it was there, and had never seen the steam blown off.”

“On the fifth of October, 1905, about 8:30 o’clock in the morning, the plaintiff started from the door factory to the machine shop and to the office, and went by way of the railroad track because it was a shorter route. As he passed the corner of shed No. 4, which was on the western shore of the mill pond, he noticed defendant’s log train moving east on the scales track on the south side of the saw mill plant.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
121 S.W. 286, 91 Ark. 337, 1909 Ark. LEXIS 195, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crawford-v-sawyer-austin-lumber-co-ark-1909.