Hewitt v. East Jordan Lumber Co.

98 N.W. 992, 136 Mich. 110, 1904 Mich. LEXIS 659
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 23, 1904
DocketDocket No. 31
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 98 N.W. 992 (Hewitt v. East Jordan Lumber Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hewitt v. East Jordan Lumber Co., 98 N.W. 992, 136 Mich. 110, 1904 Mich. LEXIS 659 (Mich. 1904).

Opinion

Moore, C. J.

This suit was brought to recover damages because of injuries received by David C. Hewitt while coupling cars belonging to the defendant company, which resulted in his death. From a judgment in favor of the plaintiff, the case is brought here by writ of error.

It is said by defendant that this action was brought under the “ Death Act,” when it should have been brought under the “Survival Act.” The circuit judge states in the bill of exceptions that no mention was made during the trial of the cause that recovery was erroneously sought under the “Death Act,” instead of the “Survival Act.” Under these circumstances this court will not consider the question. Mower v. Verplanke, 105 Mich. 398 (63 N. W. 302); Wierengo v. Insurance Co., 98 Mich. 621 (57 N. W. 833); John Hutchison Manfg. Co. v. Pinch, 107 Mich. 12, 15 (64 N. W. 729, 66 N. W. 340); Rogers v. Ferris, 107 Mich. 126, 129 (64 N. W. 1048); Broughton v. Jones, 120 Mich. 462, 465 (79 N. W. 691); Storrie v. Elevator Co., 134 Mich. 297 (96 N. W: 569).

It is claimed the court erred (we quote from brief of counsel) in charging the jury as follows:

‘“Evidence has been introduced intending to enable you to determine the loss which she has sustained. I have forgotten, but you will remember, the amount which she testified she received per year from Mr. Hewitt. Under the law, her expectancy is 26 years; that is, a healthy person at her age, as they average, will live 26 years. This does not mean that she will necessarily live that many years, of course.’
“The court should have also explained that the jury were to. take into consideration the possibility of Mrs. Hewitt’s remarriage. Jones v. McMillan, 129 Mich. 86 188 N. W. 206).”

Counsel for defendant preferred several requests to charge, but none as to the use which the jury might make [112]*112of the mortality tables, and did not suggest to the judge that he ought to charge further upon that subject. In view of this situation, we think' the following language, used by the court in Kinney v. Folkerts, 84 Mich. 616 (48 N. W. 283), is in point:

“If the defendants desired fuller instructions, it was their duty to have asked them. Parties cannot remain silent, and thereby lie in wait to ground error, after the trial is over, upon a neglect of the court to instruct the jury as to something which was not called to its attention on the trial, especially in civil cases.”

See, also, Mahiat v. Codde, 106 Mich. 387 (64 N. W. 194); Record Publishing Co. v. Merwin, 115 Mich. 10 (72 N. W. 998); McGee v. Baumgartner, 121 Mich. 287 (80 N. W. 21); Field v. Magee, 122 Mich. 556 (81 N. W. 354).

It is claimed the deceased assumed the risk, and the court should have given the following request:

“ The testimony shows conclusively that whatever dangers were encountered by plaintiff’s decedent in the operation of coupling and operating defendant’s train were well known to him, and were risks assumed by him, and therefoi'e the verdict of the jury must be for the defendant.”

This contention is based upon the claim that deceased was a competent brakeman in the employ of defendant for upwards of a year; that he saw the cars which caused the mischief, and knew, or should have known, as much about the use of them as any one. The following description of the construction of the cars and of the claim of the plaintiff in that regard is from the opinion of the court:

“They consisted of the trucks, — four wheels to each truck, two pairs of trucks to each car; these trucks connected by two heavy timbers, called ‘leaders,’ which were near the center of the bunks or bolsters. When logs were loaded on these cars, they were loaded right onto' these bolsters; but when they desired to carry gravel, sand, bark, or wood, it was necessary to have a platform. They therefore had constructed platforms, which they placed upon [113]*113the cars when they wanted to use them for this purpose. These were made by heavy planks placed side by side of about the length of the cars, and held together by a two or three inch plank beneath, placed across said planks. The plaintiff claims that this plank was placed there for the purpose of keeping the platform from slipping backwards or forwards while the cars were being shunted.
“Plaintiff also claims that there were extending from the leaders to the top of the bunks, at an angle, heavy iron straps for the purpose of bracing and rendering the framework of the cars more stiff; that these straps or braces extended from the leaders both forward and back of the bolsters; that, when the platform was placed upon them, the cross-plank did not go up tight to the bunk or bolster, but that, at about two or three inches back of the bolster, this cross-piece struck the strap, which, of course, extended at an angle from the top of the bolster down to the leader, and that, by reason of the force of the impact when they came together, the platform would slide forwards or backwards, rising up on the strap or brace which was placed at an angle, and that it would not have done so had the cross-piece been placed directly next to the bolster and this strap had not come between them at this angle. It is this method of constructing the platforms and placing them upon the cars and keeping them there in which, it is claimed, the negligence of the defendant consisted; the plaintiff claiming that some other appliance should have been used to keep the platform from slipping backwards and forwards when the car was being shunted.
“The defendant claims that this cross-piece was not placed there for the purpose of preventing the platform from slipping, but that its sole purpose was to form the platform itself, and to keep the planks stationary, and that it was not placed there for the purpose of keeping them from moving backwards or forwards.”

It is the claim of plaintiff that the situation of these, straps of iron and of the cross-pieces or cleats nailed under the planks, and their relation to each other, was not obvious to the deceased in the discharge of his duties. It is evident the mechanic who constructed the cars and the movable platforms knew the method of construction, and, if he had stopped to think, would have known that the [114]*114angle at which the iron braces were put would make an inclined plane, up which the cleat on the under side of the platform would travel, lifting and shifting the platform if the collision between the cars at the time they were coupled was sufficient.

Justice McGrath, in speaking for the court in Piette v. Brewing Co., 91 Mich. 605 (52 N. W. 152), said:

• “The risks incident to an employment, and which an employé assumes, are those which are inseparable from the employment, and which the exercise of ordinary care on the part of the employer in the selection, use, and operation of appliances cannot avoid. A danger which exists only because of defective appliances, of which an employé has no notice, cannot be said to be one of the risks which the employé assumes.”

In Bradburn v. Railroad Co., 134 Mich. 575 (96 N. W.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
98 N.W. 992, 136 Mich. 110, 1904 Mich. LEXIS 659, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hewitt-v-east-jordan-lumber-co-mich-1904.