Gaar, Scott & Co. v. Wilson

51 N.E. 502, 21 Ind. App. 91, 1898 Ind. App. LEXIS 626
Indiana Court of Appeals·Decided October 27, 1898·No. No. 2,563·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

Black, J.

A demurrer to the appellee’s complaint for want of sufficient facts was overruled. It was in substance shown by the complaint that the appellant was a corporation, etc.; that it had, at Richmond, Indiana, a manufacturing establishment in which it manufactured portable steam engines and other machines for the market; that it employed in this establishment a large number of employes who were en[93] gaged in the building of said engines, etc.; that the appellee entered into the employ of the appellant about five years before the bringing of this action, and as such employe he was, under the direction of the appellant, engaged in working upon said machines for the appellant; that in building its steam engines, “there is used in one of the rooms, under the charge of a superintendent, what is known as a shaft, or arbor, made of metal, which is several inches in diameter and about eight feet long and is circular; that the said shaft is used for the purpose of being placed in a certain position in an engine, when it is being constructed, for the purpose of having metal poured around it, in order to form what is known as boxing; that when said metal is poured and said boxing is formed and completed, the said shaft, or arbor, is removed by the employes of the defendant and is placed upright beside posts in the room where they are used; that upon said posts are attachments provided by the defendant for the purpose of holding the said shafts, or arbors, upright in position until they are again needed; that the said shafts, or arbors, are heavy; that when the said attachments for holding the same in position are in proper order and condition, the said shaft will not slip therefrom and fall;” that on or about the 6th of April, 1896, the appellee was an employe of the appellant, and as such, under the direction of the appellant, was engaged in working upon an engine which the appellant was having constructed in its said machine shop, and it was a part of the duty of the appellee, while performing work aforesaid under the direction of the appellant, to take what is known as a chain, that is used in an engine, from a blacksmith shop of the appellant in its factory^ “to where he was engaged in working upon said engine; that in doing so it was necessary for him, in the line of his [94] duty, to pass near where one of these shafts, or arbors, was placed upright beside one of the posts and held by one of the attachments aforesaid upright in position; that in passing near the same, without any fault or negligence whatever upon the part of the plaintiff, the said shaft, or arbor, by reason of the attachment by which it was held upright as aforesaid being defective and out of order, as hereinafter stated, without the fault or negligence of plaintiff, slipped from said attachment and fell against” him and upon his right foot with great force, by which he was greatly injured, etc., the character and effect of the injury being stated, with his expense, etc.; that said injuries were received and sustained by him as aforesaid without any fault or negligence on his part.

It was further alleged, that the appellant had a foreman in charge of the room in which the arbor, or shaft, was at the timp it fell upon his foot as aforesaid, whose duty it was to see that the same was placed in a proper and safe position, and to see and know that the attachment provided for holding the same upright as aforesaid was in proper repair and condition; that “the said attachments were not in proper condition, and would not safely hold the said shaft, or arbor, upright as required, of which facts plaintiff avers the defendant and his said foreman at all times had full notice and knowledge, but that said foreman and the said defendant knowingly permitted the said attachment to be and remain out of condition and out of proper repair, negligently and carelessly, and to be and remain in a condition to not securely hold said arbor, or shaft, and to permit the same to be liable at any time to fall and injure any one passing by or near the same; that he, the plaintiff, had no notice or knowledge of the unsafe condition of said attachments as aforesaid, or of the inse[95] cure position of said shaft as aforesaid, and was without fault in the premises;” that at the time the appellee was so injured, he was in the line of his duty and in the employ of the appellant as aforesaid, and" was in a place where his duty required him to be, and that “he is now and was at all times and in ail things' hereinbefore stated wholly without fault or negligence.” Wherefore, etc.

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Gaar, Scott & Co. v. Wilson, 51 N.E. 502, 21 Ind. App. 91, 1898 Ind. App. LEXIS 626 (Ind. Ct. App. 1898).

51 N.E. 502 (Gaar, Scott & Co. v. Wilson) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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