Inland Steel Co. v. Smith

75 N.E. 852, 39 Ind. App. 636, 1905 Ind. App. LEXIS 284
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 31, 1905
DocketNo. 5,239
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 75 N.E. 852 (Inland Steel Co. v. Smith) 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
Inland Steel Co. v. Smith, 75 N.E. 852, 39 Ind. App. 636, 1905 Ind. App. LEXIS 284 (Ind. Ct. App. 1905).

Opinion

Black, J.

The appellee recovered judgment against the appellant for a personal injury. In the complaint it was shown that the appellant owned and operated a large steel manufacturing plant at Indiana Harbor; that on the morning of June 12, 1902, the appellee was employed by the appellant; that through its officers and agents the appellant directed the appellee to engage in the work of fastening certain cleats, for the hanging of electric wires, to a certain tall pillar in appellant’s mill, which direction was a reasonable one, and the appellee obeyed it, as it was his duty to do; that the cleats were put on by passing a bolt through the iron of said pillar and screwing a nut down on the bolt, so as to hold the cleat firmly in place; that in order to do the work the appellee was directed by the appellant to climb up on a certain horizontal beam and to stand on the flange thereof and on the angle-iron attached to the pillar, which was a reasonable direction, and the appellee obeyed it; that in order to retain his foothold, which was very slight and precarious, and to do the work which he was required to do, it was necessary that he put his arm around the upper portion of the pillar at some distance above the horizontal beam, and he did so; that he put his left arm around the pillar in order to hold himself in the position in which it was necessary for him to be to do the work; that at that time, and for some days prior thereto, the appellant used, operated and had charge of a certain large traveling Crane, which was operated and moved over the horizontal beam so attached to the pillar, which crane was a part of the equipment of the building and plant; that when he was in this position, with his arm around the pillar, in discharge of his duty, the appellant knew, or ought to have known, the dangerous position in which appellee was placed; that he was in full view of the agents and representatives of the appellant operating the crane; that it was necessary for him [639]*639to work with his back to the crane, and he did so work, and in this position he conld not see the crane moving or approaching him; that his work necessarily engrossed his entire attention, and he could not see and did not know the crane was being operated over the beam by the pillar about which he had his left arm, and he had no reason to suspect that the crane was being operated or would be operated while he was in this position, without notice to him, so that he might protect himself from injury, which he could and would have done if warned or notified; that the appellant did not give him any notice or warning that the crane was being used, and he did not know of that fact or of the danger therefrom; that while he was in the position described, in obedience” to said orders, and in the careful performance of his duties, and wholly without fault on his part, the appellant negligently, without warning or notice to him, ran the traveling crane noiselessly and quietly down, against and upon him; that the appellant negligently failed to equip the crane with a bell or other means for the purpose of warning persons that might be injured by it when it was put in motion, and negligently constructed the crane so that in passing the pillar on the horizontal beam it passed very close to it; that appellee did not know the crane was being operated on the horizontal beam, and did not know of the danger of his position, and did not know that the crane would not clear the beam in such manner that his arm would not be caught by it, as hereinafter stated; that at the time of his injury and the time of running the crane down upon him the Itidiana Bridge Company, by its officers, agents and employes, was engaged in placing certain large iron or steel plates in the floor of the building and riveting them to the beams thereof; that this work made a great deal of noise, so that it was impossible for the appellee to hear the slight noise made by the moving of the crane; that the crane was negligently run against and upon the appellee by the appellant, and thereby [640]*640and by reason of said negligence of the appellant he was crushed, mangled, mutilated, bruised and lacerated — describing his injuries and stating his damages, etc.

The appellant does not suggest any defect in the complaint, but in its brief it is said that it may be sufficient to show a cause of action, and we are asked to consider it in connection with the evidence and the answers to the interrogatories to the jury returned with the general verdict. By these answers to interrogatories, the history of the injury is related, and much of what is thus found specially is substantially in agreement with the averments of facts in the complaint. The crane was owned by the appellant and was operated by John Nelles, an employe of the appellant, and it was traveling from east to west. Nelles was in a cage suspended below the crane at the north end théreof within a few feet of the north rail, on which the crane traveled, and he was required to look southward while operating the crane. There was no evidence, it was found, that the crane had moved that morning, prior to the time of the injury. The appellee, on that morning before his injury, had bored four or five holes in the columns, above the track on which the crane traveled, and he had been thus engaged about thirty minutes. At the time of his injury he was engaged in fastening a cleat upon one of the columns which supported the girder on which résted the rail which supported the truck of the crane. There was nothing to prevent the appellee, had he looked, from seeing the crane while walking in the department in which it was situated. He could not have seen the crane while he was boring the holes, and could not have seen it, it was found, just prior to the time he was injured, from the point where he was injured, had he looked, because he was too busy with his work. He did not see and observe the rail and track on which the crane traveled, while he was fastening on the cleat and before his injury, though there was nothing to prevent him from seeing the rail or track had he looked. [641]*641He did not, while he was in the building, look for the crane at any time prior to his injury. He was not sufficiently familiar with cranes, such as this one, to know their .purpose and manner of operation. “Interrogatory 44. Did the plaintiff look for said crane or use any precaution whatever to protect himself from injury from said crane, at any time while he was in said open-hearth department on June 12, 1902, and prior to his injury? A. Did not know of crane’s being there, and no precaution was, necessary.” If he had looked, from the point where the injury occurred, he could not have seen the crane approaching in time to escape the injury, because he was too busy with his work. He could not have heard, if he had listened, nor felt the vibrations of the crane upon the track at and prior to the time of his injury, because there was too much noise. His injury was caused by his arm’s being caught between the upright column and the end of the girder of the crane. He was not injured because he changed his position and placed his left arm around the column after the first beam of the girder had passed him. He was an able-bodied man, in the possession of all his faculties, and twenty-three years of age. He had worked seven years in a steel-mill similar in construction to the one in which he was injured. He was upon the column where he was injured from three to five minutes before the injury occurred. He was standing upon the flange (about two and one-half inches wide) of the girder upon which the crane was operated, and he had his left arm around the column.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
75 N.E. 852, 39 Ind. App. 636, 1905 Ind. App. LEXIS 284, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/inland-steel-co-v-smith-indctapp-1905.