Donk Bros. Coal & Coke Co. v. Thil

128 Ill. App. 249, 1906 Ill. App. LEXIS 139
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedSeptember 14, 1906
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 128 Ill. App. 249 (Donk Bros. Coal & Coke Co. v. Thil) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Donk Bros. Coal & Coke Co. v. Thil, 128 Ill. App. 249, 1906 Ill. App. LEXIS 139 (Ill. Ct. App. 1906).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Creighton

delivered the opinion of the court.

This was an action in case, in the Circuit Court of Madison county, by appellee against appellant, to recover for a personal injury sustained by appellee while engaged in the service of appellant in its mine as a driver. Trial by jury. Verdict and judgment in favor of appellee for $2,000.

The declaration consists of two counts charging in substance, that while appellee was passing along one of the entries or passageways in appellant’s mine, in the exercise of due care and caution for his own safety, appellant caused explosives to be discharged in the rock roof of the passageway, whereby the roof was broken and fell upon appellee, and flashes of fire from the explosion struck him and seriously injured him. And that this was done without giving him any notice or warning, and without any knowledge on his part of an intention to do so, or of the existence of danger. The declaration is based upon the common law duty of a master to exercise reasonable care and diligence to provide and maintain a reasonably safe place, and to warn the servant of increased risks and impending-dangers known to the master and not known to the servant.

The grounds upon which appellant asks a reversal in this case are: The alleged error of the trial court in admitting- certain evidence on behalf of appellee; in giving the first and second instructions given on behalf of appellee; in refusing to give instructions “B,” “G” and “D,” asked on behalf of appellant; and in refusing to grant a new trial, for want of a preponderance of the evidence in support of the verdict, and because the amount of damages assessed is excessive.

The evidence tends to prove that appellee had been employed by appellant as a driver in one of its mines for more than two years before the time of his injury; that the usual hours for ordinary work in the mine were from seven o’clock in the forenoon to three thirty o’clock in the afternoon; that on the day of the injury appellant had put two of its timbermen at work in the main north entry for the purpose of making it safe, and their duty was to timber it°up where necessary, or to take it down if they could not timber it; that in doing this work these timbermen drilled two holes in the rock of the roof and charged them with dynamite, to be exploded for the purpose of throwing down the rock; that it was the general custom and practice with respect to doing work of that kind in that mine, that the charges of dynamite were-not exploded in the entries or drive ways before three thirty o ’clock, or until the ordinary workmen were all out of the mine; that appellee took his mule to the stable about three o’clock, and started to go back by way of the main entry to get his coat and bucket, preparatory to going out of the mine for the day, and in doing so would pass under the roof containing the dynamite charges, at a place about three hundred yards from where he started, and that as he reached that point, without any knowledge or warning whatever, except that he heard some one say “look out,” or “hey,” the dynamite exploded; that it exploded at the same time he heard this expression, knocking him down, bruising and burning him and severely injuring him.

The evidence on the part of appellant tends to prove that the dynamite charges were small charges, ignited by means of fuses fifteen or sixteen inches long, and that such fuses bum at about the rate of one foot to the minute; that just before or at the time the first fuse was lit, both of the timbermen “hollered” “fire,” and that this was repeated two or three times, and that after the second fuse was lit they went up the entry towards the face far enough to be out of danger of the charge next to them, thirty or forty feet, and were stopping the men that were coming along; that the two charges were placed ten or twelve feet apart, and that the first one to explode,.the one that injured appellee, was the one furthest from where the timbermen stood; that after lighting the fuses the timbermen both went together in the direction of the face, because they did not think that any one would be coming from the direction of the bottom of the shaft; that after the second fuse was lit they saw a light approaching fast, and they both “hollered” “fire,” and one of them “hollered” “shoot,” “stop,” “stay there”; that when they first saw the light it was fifty or sixty feet from ■the charge that first exploded; that they “hollered”, loud enough to be heard one hundred feet; that the light did not stop, but continued to approach until put out by the explosion; that after the explosion they went up to the place and found appellee there, and that if he had stopped when they first “hollered” he would have been safe. Appellee denies that he heard any warning expression of any kind, until just at the time of the explosion.

The only controverted questions of facts in the case are whether appellant exercised reasonable care and diligence under the circumstances, to warn appellee of the impending danger; whether appellee did in fact hear. such warning as was given, and if not, then whether his failure to hear it resulted from want of ordinary care and caution on his part, under the circumstances ; and as to the character and extent of appellee’s injuries.

We are of opinion that the state of" evidence disclosed in this record is such as to warrant the jury in resolving all these questions of fact in favor of appellee, as by their verdict they did. In coming to this conclusion we have not overlooked counsel’s contention that the timbermen in charge of the work gave ample warning; that if appellee did not have or heed the warning given, it was because of his own negligence; and that the evidence does not prove such injury as will warrant the amount of damages given by the verdict. '

As to the state of the evidence concerning the warning, it must be borne in mind that both the timbermen went forward in the entry from thirty to forty feet beyond the charges nearest the face, that the charges were from ten to twelve feet apart, one of the timber-men makes it twenty-five feet, that appellee was coming from the opposite direction, that the timbermen say he was from fifty to sixty feet from the charge nearest to him and farthest from them, when they saw the approaching light and shouted “fire,” “stop” and “stay there,” that they say this shouting could he heard one hundred feet away. At this time, according to their statement, appellee was at -the very limit, if not beyond range of this warning, assuming that it was given as they said. Appellee states that he did not hear it, and his conduct corroborates his statement; a witness on behalf of appellee states that he was 60 to 75 feet away from the point of the explosion and that he did not hear any warning; one of appellant’s witnesses states that he was from 90 to 115 feet from where the timbermen stood and heard them “holler” “fire,” “fire,” twice about two minutes before the explosion, and that there was no other “hollering”; another of appellant’s witnesses states that he was ten steps (about thirty feet) away from the timbermen, and heard them “holler” “fire,” “fire,” “fire” and say “stop the men” from coming, and stood there four or five minutes until the shots went off and they did not “holler” anymore.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
128 Ill. App. 249, 1906 Ill. App. LEXIS 139, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/donk-bros-coal-coke-co-v-thil-illappct-1906.