Indian Creek Coal & Mining Co. v. Calvert

119 N.E. 519, 68 Ind. App. 474, 1918 Ind. App. LEXIS 89
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 17, 1918
DocketNo. 10,129
StatusPublished
Cited by84 cases

This text of 119 N.E. 519 (Indian Creek Coal & Mining Co. v. Calvert) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Indian Creek Coal & Mining Co. v. Calvert, 119 N.E. 519, 68 Ind. App. 474, 1918 Ind. App. LEXIS 89 (Ind. Ct. App. 1918).

Opinion

Caldwell, J.

The sole question presented hy this appeal is whether the evidence was sufficient to sustain the finding of the Industrial Board that the death of Addison Calvert, of whom appellees were dependents, was the result of a personal injury “hy accident arising out of and in the course of” his employment, within the meaning of the Workmen’s Compen[476]*476sation Act. Acts 1915 p. 392, §80201 et seq. Barns’ Sapp. 1918.

The evidence most favorable to appellees’ canse, and which for the most part was ancontradicted, is to the following effect: On and for some time prior to Janaary 3, 1917, decedent was in appellant’s employ as a coal miner. As a rale he worked regnlarly when the mine was ranning. When the mine was not ranning he worked at the blacksmith’s trade doing repair work, and also at times as a section hand on the railroad. His friends and acqaaintances regarded him as a strong healthy man, and had no knowledge that he had any physical ailment. Prior to Janaary 3, 1917, he had not reqaired the services of a physician at any time. Occasionally, however, when conghing, he complained that his side hart him. Periodically or occasionally he indalged in the ase of intoxicants excessively, and at sach times he laid off from work for a few days. At 7 o’clock on the morning of Janaary 3,1917, he went to work in room 12 of appellant’s mine. His son, aged twenty-five, Was working with him. Aboat 8 o’clock, having a qaantity of coal ready to load, he and his son went into room 11, adjoining room 12, for the parpóse of shoving a partly loaded car from the former to the latter. The track extended from room 11 ap grade for a distance, and then down grade into room 12. Decedent and his son attempted to pash the car ap over the grade, bat foand it too heavy for their strength. The son then called two other miners, Mr. Snap and his son, who were working in a room adjoining room 11, to come and assist in moving the car. The foar workmen pashed the car ap over the top of the grade. Snap and his son retarned to [477]*477their work and decedent and his son moved the car down grade into No. 12. Mr. Snap testified that when they came to assist decedent and his son, decedent “was talking the same as he always had — was cutting up and was all right as far as I knew anything about it — as far as I could tell he was a strong, hearty looking man,” but that eventually “when we pushed the car on the switch there, he said ‘Oh, my side’ and he just went on and he never said anything more, and we just left and went back to our working place.” Decedent and his son moved the car down ' the grade into room 12, and commenced to load it. The further account of the occurrence, as testified to by the son, is as follows: “He was on one side of the car and I on the other. I heard him holler ‘ Oh. ’ He was leaning against the car holding his side, and I kept asking him what was the matter, and he says ‘I don’t know,’ and kept saying ‘Oh, my side.’ He had his hand on his left side. He said ‘Take me over to the other side of the car and lay me down. ’ I went around and he leaned against me and I helped him around the corner of the car and laid him down on a slack pile. He wanted a drink of water and I got my bucket and gave him the water, but he said he couldn’t drink it.” The son then went and got Mr. Snap and his son to stay with decedent while he went for help. Mr. Snap testified that: After returning from helping to push the car, “I don’t believe we threw over a half dozen shovels in our car until his son came and hollered and we went into their room and found his father lying down on slack, holding his hand over his heart.” Decedent died in the company’s office at about 10:45 the same morning. When the collapse came decedent was loading coal in the ordinary way. [478]*478He had just lifted a chunk of coal weighing thirty-five or forty pounds. The miners frequently loaded lumps weighing 75 to 100 pounds. The scoop that' he was using weighed about 25 pounds loaded.

An autopsy was held on the body of decedent. It disclosed that the descending aorta had ruptured on the right side at a point about two inches below the arch; that a’diseased condition existed at the point of rupture indicated by an unnatural thinness' of the wall. There was expert medical evidence to the following effect: That such a diseased condition might result from any one of a number of causes, as chronic alcoholism, or a tubercular focus in one or more of the mediastinal glands lying next to the arterial wall; that the latter was probably the cause of the diseased condition as it existed in decedent; that there was no way to determine how long the thinning process had been going on; that it might have been several days or several weeks; that it is probable that the thinning process had been going on for several weeks; that when such a condition is caused by a tubercular focus, there will be a perforation with fatal hemorrhage sooner or later if the tubercular focus continues; that when such a condition exists any exertion or excitement which makes the heart beat more rapidly may produce a rupture; as the thinning con7 tinues a rupture might come while the patient is coughing or laughing, or performing ordinary work, or sleeping, or sitting still. A medical witness, who participated in the autopsy, gave it as his opinion that': “From the appearance of the wall and the condition we found there, it looked as though it might have been caused by a strain or exertion of some kind.’*

[479]*4791. In determining the questions presented, since the finding of the board was in favor of appellees, we are required to consider only the evidence favorable to them as above outlined, together with all inference's reasonably deducible therefrom and favorable to their cause. The following is either directly established by or reasonably deducible from the evidence: That the shoving of the partially loaded car up over the grade required of decedent, and that he actually exerted, an unusual physical effort, both when assisted by his son alone and also when assisted by the Snaps in addition; as based on the expert evidence that such would be the effect, that such effort augmented the speed and increased the force of decedent’s heart beats with the consequent added internal pressure on his diseased and weakened blood vessels; that the rupture of the aorta followed very shortly after the moving of the car, as indicated by the fact that tile Snaps had thrown only .about a half dozen shovels of coal until summoned back to decedent’s assistance; and that such pressure on his blood vessels, induced as aforesaid, continued as a causative force until it terminated in the rupture; that the decedent became somewhat abnormal in physical condition while pushing the car, as indicated by his first outcry and his changed demeanor continuing thereafter, and that it is not improbable that the process of rupturing the aorta may have commenced when the car was being pushed.

2. Under the facts there can be no doubt that decedent suffered a personal injury, the rupture of the aorta, in the course of his employment, and that such personal injury speedily resulted in-his death. We proceed to determine whether [480]*480such personal injury was by accident arising out of the employment.

3. It is apparent from the evidence that decedent was afflicted with a very serious physical ailment. His ailment, however, was not necessarily incurable or of such a nature that it was certain to terminate fatally.

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Bluebook (online)
119 N.E. 519, 68 Ind. App. 474, 1918 Ind. App. LEXIS 89, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/indian-creek-coal-mining-co-v-calvert-indctapp-1918.