Drummond v. Seal

71 So. 2d 381, 1954 La. App. LEXIS 640
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 22, 1954
DocketNo. 3823
StatusPublished

This text of 71 So. 2d 381 (Drummond v. Seal) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Drummond v. Seal, 71 So. 2d 381, 1954 La. App. LEXIS 640 (La. Ct. App. 1954).

Opinion

LOTTINGER, Judge.

As the trial judge in this matter has rendered written reasons for judgment which adequately disposes of all the factual and legal questions presented, we adopt them as our own, viz.:

“This action is one sounding in tort wherein the plaintiff seeks the recovery of substantial damages from the defendant for injuries received by the plaintiff on November 10, 1950, while working as a machinist in thé Tisdale Machine Shop on Columbia Street in Bogalusa, Louisiana.

“The allegations of the petition show that on the above mentioned date while the plaintiff was engaged in his work as a machinist the defendant Seal came to the plaintiff’s place of employment and presented the petitioner with what is known as a re-loader or re-sizer which is used for the purpose of re-sizing cartridges or shells to fit into a rifle, and in otie end of this re-sizer or re-loader there was a shell or cartridge which' was stuck and which contained a live cap, and that in the other end of said' re-sizér ór re-loader'there was a plunger which had 'been used by the defendant in an attempt to dislodge this empty shell from the re-sizer, .and that it was likewise stuck; that the defendant presented the said re-loader in its above mentioned state to the plaintiff for the purpose of having the shell and the plunger removed from said reloader; that plaintiff having had much experience with cartridges and ammunition during his military service was interested in knowing whether the loaded or live cap was all the explosive material that was contained in said re-loader. He then being assured that that was all the explosive material in said re-loader, the plaintiff undertook to disengage the shell and the punch from the re-loader, .and proceeded to remove the loaded live cap from one end [382]*382thereof with a hack saw’ by sawing off a part of the • cartridge; that after sawing off this cap the re-loader was secured in a vise and he inserted an easy out, which is a tool common to machine shops, with the purpose of removing the empty shell, and that in his effort to do this he struck a light blow to the wrench and tool inserted in the re-loader and a great explosion. occurred, which caused injuries to the petitioner which form the basis of this suit.

“It is further alleged that the plaintiff, exercised due care in handling the re-loader given to him by the defendant and that he was experienced in working with such materials and that he was in no way guilty of negligence, nor did he-in any way contribute to said, explosion, and that if it had not been for the false representations of the defendant that there was no other explosive material in said cartridge other than the live cap, then the resulting accident would not have happened. It is, of course, these representations of the defendant which the plaintiff surmises constituted negligence and which he alleges to be the proximate cause' of this accident.

“The defendant in answer denies .he was guilty of any negligence or false representations in connection with this matter; the defendant’s hobby consisted of target shooting, and in connection therewith he did not buy loaded shells for his rifles, and. bought empty cases or cartridges and loaded them himself. It seems not every empty cartridge, even though it is the same caliber as the rifle, will exactly fit the rifle bore, and the re-sizer or re-loader is used for the purpose of re-sizing the shell in order that it will perfectly fit the bore of the rifle.

“On the date of November 10, 1950, the defendant was engaged in re-sizing one of his shells in the re-loader, which shell was empty except for the fact it had a live cap in the end thereof, which live cap contained highly explosive material; that in attempting to re-size this empty shell it became stuck in the end of the re-loader, and in order to remove the shell from the end of the re-loader the defendant obtained a punch and drove it into the re-loader and into the empty cartridge from the other end of said re-loader, but was unsuccessful in removing the empty' cartridge, and as a matter of fact, 'stuck the punch into the end of the re-loader; that being unable to dislodge either shell or the punch, he then carried it to the plaintiff at tire machine shop, at which time he advised the plaintiff about the live cap in the end of the shell, and further advised him he feared there might be damage to said live cap by the driving of the punch into the shell, and that the primer powder might have spilled into the empty shell from the live cap; that irrespective of these instructions to the plaintiff, the plaintiff then proceeded to saw off the end of the shell and take an easy out or tool, and placed it in the end of the shell and hit it with a hammer in order to remove it, and it was this action of the plaintiff which caused the explosion.

“The answer further' shows the plaintiff told the defendant he was an expert with powder and ammunition, and it is accordingly further set forth in the answer the defendant was without fault in the premises and the proximate cause of the accident, and any injury to the plaintiff was his own fault and negligence.

“These particular acts of negligence on the part of the plaintiff are.set forth in Article 28 of the answer as follows:

“(1) In undertaking and agreeing to a hazardous piece of work well knowing the same was hazardous in the extreme.

“(2) In improperly and unskiílfully saw-ingoff the end of the jammed cartridge case while the same was contained in the re-loader.

“(3) In not heeding the warning, plain to his eyes, that the punch which had been hammered into the cap or primer end of the encased cartridge might have caused some of the explosive contained in the live cap or primer to have spilled over into the body of the encased cartridge.

“(4) In not exercising • the expert skill and knowledge which the plaintiff claimed to have possessed.

“(5) In striking a blow to the cartridge case which the plaintiff knew, or should [383]*383have known, could have contained explosive substances.

“As is usual in cases of this character the testimony is very conflicting.. . On the one hand, the defendant claims he carried this re-loader with the cartridge and punch contained in it to the plaintiff for the purpose of having the cartridge removed, and that when asked if the cartridge contained any explosive material he did tell the plain■tiff that it contained a live cap or primer, ‘but that he had used a punch in attempting to remove this primer and he feared some of the explosive material from this live cap or primer had spilled over into the case of the shell. On the other hand, the plaintiff admits that the defendant did tell him about the live cap being in this 'shell or cartridge, but told him this was the only explosive'material there was in the shell; that as a result thereof he decided that cutting off this live cap would remove all danger in connection with the work in removing the rest of' the shell or cartridge; he specifically denies the defendant told him the punch might have struck the primer and some of the explosive might have spilled into the empty shell. There was only one other witness at the time of the conversation between the plaintiff and the defendant, and this witness, Ragland, heard the defendant tell the plaintiff about the live cap being in the shell, but he did not hear any conversation relative to the punch that might have damaged the primer in said shell. His testimony convinces me, however, this conversation could have taken place without him having heard it.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Carter v. Fred W. Dubach Lumber Co.
36 So. 952 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1904)
James ex rel. James v. Rapides Lumber Co.
44 L.R.A. 33 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1898)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
71 So. 2d 381, 1954 La. App. LEXIS 640, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/drummond-v-seal-lactapp-1954.