Hohenstein-Hartmetz Furniture Co. v. Matthews

92 N.E. 196, 46 Ind. App. 616, 1910 Ind. App. LEXIS 142
Indiana Court of Appeals·Decided June 28, 1910·No. No. 6,982·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinion

Comstock, C. J.

Appellee sued appellant for damages for personal injuries alleged to have been received by him while in the employ of said company. The amended complaint is in three paragraphs, the second and third paragraphs of which were dismissed before the cause was submitted to the jury.

[618] 1. [617] The first paragraph of the amended complaint alleges [618] that defendant was, on November 10, 1906, as a corporation organized and doing business under and by virtue-of the laws of the State of Indiana, operating a furniture factory; that prior to said November 10 plaintiff was employed by the defendant to work in said factory, and on said day, while in the regular discharge of said employment, he was engaged in operating a miter machine, which at said time was being used as a ripsaw; that said miter' machine was supplied with power by a belt connecting the mandrel of the saw with a tight pulley on ■ a countershaft, which countershaft was fastened to and running parallel with the floor of the factory, about two feet, in the rear of said machine; that the material which plaintiff was sawing fell to the floor from the table of said machine as it was pushed against said saw and from said table in the regular and proper order of doing said work and operating said saw, and that said material, which at said time consisted of small pieces of timber, fell to- said floor, as aforesaid, near said shaft; that on said day, while plaintiff was engaged in operating said saw in the performance of the duties of his employment, one of said pieces of timber which was pushed from said table, as aforesaid, fell upon said countershaft, and was by said countershaft hurled and thrown against plaintiff, striking him with great force on the abdomen, and seriously and permanently injuring him, and producing hernia, and causing him to lose much time from his work, and to expend $100 for treatment and medical services; that said countershaft was entirely open, exposed and unguarded; that said countershaft could have been guarded, enclosed, boxed and protected without interfering with its efficient use, and that if said counter-shaft had been guarded, enclosed, boxed and protected said piece of timber could not and would not have been hurled and thrown as aforesaid, and plaintiff would not have been injured as aforesaid; that defendant negligently [619] failed to guard said shaft, and that said injury to plaintiff was caused solely by said negligence of defendant.

A demurrer for want of facts to- this paragraph was overruled and exception taken, and the cause put at issue by general denial. A jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff for $1,000, upon which the court rendered judgment. Appellant’s motion for a new trial was overruled.

The errors relied upon challenge the sufficiency of this paragraph of the complaint and, the action of the court in overruling appellant’s motion for a new trial.

The objections made to said paragraph are (1) that it does not show that the throwing of the stick and the injury were caused by the lack of a guard; (2) that the allegation, that the accident could not and would not have happened “if said shaft had been guarded, enclosed, boxed and protected, ” is a statement of opinion or conclusion, and not of fact; (3), (4), (6) that the statute does not include a countershaft, and does not require that' it be guarded; (5) that it fails to show that the machine was dangerous, that a guard was necessary, and that appellee had to work in the immediate vicinity of it; (7) that the statement that the pulley was not guarded is without effect, as the statute does not require pulleys to be guarded, and there is no allegation that it was dangerous.

2. Considering these objections in their order, the complaint alleges that the piece of timber when pushed from the table fell upon and was thrown by the countershaft against plaintiff, and that if the countershaft had been guarded the timber would not have fallen on it, and would not have been thrown against plaintiff. The statement, “that if the countershaft had been guarded the timber would not have been thrown, ’ ’ etc., may be a conclusion of the pleader, but it is a conclusion which necessarily follows the statement of lack of guard.

[620] 3. [619] The statute (§8029 Burns 1908, Acts 1899 p. 231, §9), [620] providing that “all vats, pans, saws, planers, cogs, gearing, belting, shafting, set-screws and machinery of every description therein shall be properly guarded,” etc., includes countershafts, under the general term “shafting,” being only a specific designation under that term. Laporte Carriage Co. v. Sullender (1905), 165 Ind. 290.

4. 5. As the statute required the shafting to be guarded, it is not necessary to allege that it is dangerous, nor that the pulley which is a necessary attachment of the countershaft is dangerous. No statement is made as to the guarded or unguarded condition of the pulley. Said paragraph is sufficient to withstand a demurrer. Evansville Hoop, etc., Co. v. Bailey (1909), 43 Ind. App. 153. The failure to guard the machinery in question was negligence per se. United States Cement Co. v. Cooper (1909), 172 Ind. 599.

6. In the closing argument to the jury, the attorney for plaintiff said: “These gentlemen are not liable for anything. They have organized as a corporation to escape liability,” to which defendant objected and excepted, as improper. The court overruled the objection. This action of the court is made a reason for a new trial. Under §655 Burns 1908, §625 R. S. 1881, the remedy for defendant was to make a specific motion to the court and reserve an exception to the ruling thereof. It is. only where the court has refused to sustain a proper motion that an exception can be reserved to an improper remark in the argument. Southern Ind. R. Co. v. Fine (1904), 163 Ind. 617.

7. Instructions one, eight, nine, ten, eleven and fifteen, given to the jury, are objected to as inapplicable, because they refer to plaintiff’s injury as being caused by the stick thrown by the countershaft, and a failure to guard the countershaft, when, in fact, the evidence shows that it [621] was thrown from the pulley. Inasmuch as the pulley was a part of the countershaft, the point is not well taken.

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Hohenstein-Hartmetz Furniture Co. v. Matthews, 92 N.E. 196, 46 Ind. App. 616, 1910 Ind. App. LEXIS 142 (Ind. Ct. App. 1910).

92 N.E. 196 (Hohenstein-Hartmetz Furniture Co. v. Matthews) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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