Galvin v. Brown & McCabe

101 P. 671, 53 Or. 598, 1909 Ore. LEXIS 173
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedMay 18, 1909
StatusPublished
Cited by53 cases

This text of 101 P. 671 (Galvin v. Brown & McCabe) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Galvin v. Brown & McCabe, 101 P. 671, 53 Or. 598, 1909 Ore. LEXIS 173 (Or. 1909).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Slater

delivered the opinion of the court.

1. It appears from plaintiff’s testimony that the timber being loaded was newly sawed and very heaivy, and was of a particular class known as “mining timbers,” being 8x8 and 8x10 inches in dimensions, and 12 to 20 feet long. Two men, Wm. Lockington and John Murphy, who were experienced longshoremen in this particular class of work, were engaged in making the “sling loads,” under the direction of Fred R. Alexander, a gang foreman at hatch No. 1, of the vessel. The deck of the vessel was about on a level with the dock. The loads were prepared on the dock distant from the hatch 60 to 100 feet, over a portion of which the loads were dragged by the cable before it was lifted clear of the deck. The space over which the loads were dragged was rough and uneven, and the operation of dragging was by jerks, so that the loads were liable to be more or less disarranged. Lockington and Murphy had been working two days before the accident occurred, which happened about 10 o’clock in the morning, during which time they had been putting four timbers in each “sling load.” This was done by placing four timbers upon a cross-beam [605]*605or block so that one end of the timbers would be raised from the floor, leaving four to five feet thereof free to permit the placing of a chain under and around them, to which the cable was attached. The four timbers were arranged in the form of a square, as near as the dimen-, sions would permit. When arranged in this manner the binding chain came in contact with a corner of each .piece, and, however the load might be jostled about, there was no chance for a timber to get out; but, by putting five timbers in, there would be an odd one, and a chance for one of them to get out. A short time before the accident Matthew Troy, the general superintendent of the corporation, came upon the dock and directed Lockington and Murphy to put five timbers into each “sling load” instead of four. To this Murphy objected, saying it was dangerous. Troy insisted, and, obeying the order, Murphy and Lockington were about to lift the fifth timber, and to place it on top of the four, forming a pyramid, when Troy directed them not to lift it, but to “roll it in on the side,” thereby making the load consist of three pieces on the bottom, and two on the top. It was from the third load so prepared that the middle timber of the bottom row fell, causing the injury. Immediately preceding or after the giving of this order Troy went to the men laboring at hatches 2 and 3, and gave similar orders, and like objections to the safety thereof were made. Eight men were working in the hold, stowing lumber lowered through hatch No. 1, four on each side thereof, who took every alternate load. They were required to be ready to receive the load as it came down and guide it onto a dolly, or roller, and get it out of the way before the arrival of the next load, which required the men to work rapidly, and to the utmost of their ability. Galvin was on the side of the hold opposite to the dock, and the load from which the timber fell was to have been lowered upon his side. A warning was given by the hatch tender to the men in the hold when the timber, which fell, [606]*606started from the sling. Galvin, with the others, ran back into the “wings” of the hold to escape, and went as far as possible in the direction he was going, but the timber bounded over into the side of the vessel where he was and struck him. It is urged in support of the motion for a nonsuit: (1) That the evidence as to negligence was insufficient and conjectural; (2) that the accident resulted from a risk and danger naturally inci-. dent to the work, and voluntarily assumed by the deceased; and (B) that the negligence, if any, was that of a fellow servant.

That the accident was the result of a negligent act is affirmatively asserted in the answer, where it is alleged:

“That, while a sling load of five timbers of the dimensions above described was being loaded into said vessel, the same being a proper and suitable number of said timbers to be placed in said sling load, in accordance with the customs of loading vessels in this community and elsewhere with similar timbers, the said sling load of said timbers was so carelesly and negligently fastened and hooked by the co-employees of plaintiff’s deceased * * that one of the timbers slipped out from the said sling load and fell into the hold of said vessel, and then and there struck plaintiff’s deceased, thereby occasioning the injuries complained of.”

The issue, therefore, was narrowed to the question whether the slipping of the timber from the load was the result of Troy’s order given to the men, or of some negligence by Lockington and Murphy in fastening and hooking the chain which bound and held the timbers together. It must be conceded that these two persons were fellow servants of the deceased, as they were at the time engaged in a common enterprise; but we are equally clear that Troy, in giving the order, was acting as, and for, the master; and, if the order given by him was the primary cause of the injury, the concurring negligence, if any, of the two fellow servants of plaintiff’s deceased would not relieve the master. The master is liable for an injury [607]*607to a servant which is caused by his own negligence and the concurrent negligence of a fellow servant, which would not have happened had the master performed his duty. Trickey v. Clark, 50 Or. 516 (93 Pac. 457); N. W. Fuel Co. v. Davidson, 57 Fed. 919 (6 C. C. A. 636).

2. It is claimed in this connection that there is a variance between the allegation of proof of negligence in this: That the cause of the accident is averred to be the order of Troy to load five timbers instead of four, while it is insisted that the proof is that Troy, not only ordered five timbers to be put into a “sling load,” but also directed the manner in which they should be put together and fastened with the chain, and that Murphy objected to the manner or method of arranging the timbers in the load, and not to the order to load five. It is also insisted that all of plaintiff’s witnesses testified that the method of loading five timbers was dangerous, and that the safe and proper way to load them was to pile them in the form of a pyramid, the fifth timber being on top and to hook the chain on top of the fifth timber, while Troy directed them to “roll the fifth stick in on the side” of the bottom layer, and that this was the cause of one of them slipping out, and for this reason it is claimed that there was no evidence to support the complaint. But this conclusion is not sustained by a careful inspection of the evidence. Lockington did testify, as pointed out, that, after Troy had given the order to put in five instead of four timbers, he and Murphy were about to take the fifth timber up and lift it on top “where it would be safe,” when Troy said to them: “Never mind, roll it in along the side there; it is all right.” Then Murphy said to Troy: “This is dangerous work.” But on cross-examination he makes it clear that the objection was not limited to the manner of arranging the five timbers ordered to be put into the load, for he testified that to put five timbers in a load in the manner he and Murphy were about to do, and by hooking the chain in the manner [608]

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Bluebook (online)
101 P. 671, 53 Or. 598, 1909 Ore. LEXIS 173, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/galvin-v-brown-mccabe-or-1909.