Ittenbach v. Thomas

96 N.E. 21, 48 Ind. App. 420, 1911 Ind. App. LEXIS 155
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 6, 1911
DocketNo. 7,297
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 96 N.E. 21 (Ittenbach v. Thomas) 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
Ittenbach v. Thomas, 96 N.E. 21, 48 Ind. App. 420, 1911 Ind. App. LEXIS 155 (Ind. Ct. App. 1911).

Opinion

Lairy, C. J.

This action was brought in the Superior Court of Marion County by Abbie Thomas, as administratrix of the estate of her deceased husband, W. Scott Thomas, to recover damages occasioned by his death, which was caused by the breaking of a traveling crane upon which he was at work while in the service of appellants. The negligence charged is that appellants did not exercise reasonable care to provide decedent with a safe place in which to work.

The first paragraph of complaint, omitting the formal parts, is as follows: That at, and for a long time prior to, the times hereinafter stated defendants were engaged in the business of cutting and dressing stone to be used for build[422]*422ing purposes, and, as such, owned and operated a yard and mill in the city of Indianapolis, Marion county, Indiana, where they cut and dressed stone, and they also owned and operated, in connection with the cutting and dressing of stone, a traveling crane, used to hoist stone to and from cars, planers and saws in defendants’ said yard; that said crane was operated along and upon a tramway of two tracks of rails laid and fastened upon timbers, which timbers were laid and fastened to and upon wooden trestles, which rested upon the ground, and upon which said rails the traveler of said crane moved back and forth; that said rails were about forty-five feet apart and about twenty-five feet higher than the ground upon which said trestles rested; that said tramway was about one hundred and thirty-five feet in length; that said traveler consisted of timbers fastened together, along and on top of which were laid and fastened two steel or iron rails about five feet apart, running the full length of said traveler, which extended from rail to rail of said tramway, and at the end of said traveler there were four wheels resting upon the rails of said tramway, two on each rail, and underneath the rails and timbers of said traveler, and connected therewith and supporting it, were four hog chains, which, when they were properly and safely arranged, were so adjusted that each should bear its proportionate share of the weight, strain and load which said crane might carry, hoist or move in and about defendants’ said yard and mill while being operated; that said timbers of said traveler were bolted and fastened together at the ends and in the center; that upon said rails of the traveler there was a cab set upon trucks at each end thereof, and in connection with these trucks were wheels, two of which were on each side of said cab, and these wheels moved on and along the rails of said traveler; that from said cab, and between the timbers, rails and hog chains of said traveler, there was suspended a block and tackle connected with the machinery in said cab, and to which block and tackle there was attached a hook, which [423]*423was fastened to the stone or other object to be moved by said crane; that by means of said traveler, defendants moved large blocks of stone in and about their said yard and mill, in the course of their business as such contractors, and in cutting and dressing stone to be used for building purposes; that in said cab were located an engine, boiler and the machinery necessary for moving said traveler, and for moving said cab along the rails of said traveler, and for hoisting or moving said stone in and about defendants’ said yard by means of said block and tackle as aforesaid; that said traveler moved along said tramway by means of the wheels at the end of said traveler, which rested upon the rails of said tramway; that said truss-rods supported the timbers, machinery, rails and cab of said traveler, and it was upon these hog chains that the load moved by said crane was carried; that said tramway ran east and west, and said crane was so constructed that said traveler could be moved east and west on and along the rails of said tramway, and said house or cab upon said traveler could be moved north and south between said tramway; that said traveler had been so constructed that it could hoist and move in safety, and had hoisted and moved in safety, prior to February 6,1907, large blocks of stone, weighing twenty-two and twenty-three tons, and when in good repair should hoist in safety stones and other large bodies weighing twenty tons.

That ~W. Scott Thomas, plaintiff’s decedent, was in the employ of defendants on February 6, 1907, and had been in their employ for a long time prior thereto, in the capacity of engineer of said traveling crane; that as such it was his duty to perform his work in said cab upon said traveler, and to run and operate said engine, boiler and machinery connected therewith, and, at the order and direction of defendants, their agents and employes, to move, by means of said crane, blocks of stone, and in order to do so, it was necessary for him to move and operate said cab north and south along the rails of said traveler, and move and operate [424]*424said traveler upon and along the rails of said tramway east and west, thereby moving and placing said stones at such places in and about said yard and mill as defendants, their agents and employes might desire; that defendants had used said traveling crane for a long time prior to said date, and the happening of the injuries hereinafter complained of; that defendants carelessly, wrongfully and negligently suffered and permitted the timbers, upon which the rails and the cab rested, to become old, rotten, weak and worn out, and carelessly, wrongfully and negligently suffered and permitted the hog chains supporting said timbers, rails and cab, by reason of the use to which they had been put, to become weakened, and the iron or steel to become crystallized, and rendered wholly insufficient in strength to support, carry and hoist the loads which defendants required plaintiff’s decedent to lift, hoist and move with said crane, and rendered said traveler wholly insufficient for the purpose for which it was to be used, and rendered it dangerous and defective; that it was not the duty of decedent to inspect and repair said crane, or any of its several parts.

That on February 6, 1907, while decedent was engaged in the discharge of his duties, as such employe of the defendant, and while engaged in operating said crane, and while in the place where his said duties required him to be, to wit, in said cab, and while engaged in lifting a stone weighing only fourteen tons, under the order and direction of defendants, their agents and employes, in the line of their duty as such agents , and employes, one of the hog chains and timbers of said traveler, supporting said cab, by reason of its weakened, defective, rotten and crystallized condition, broke, causing said cab to turn over and fall to the ground, fracturing decedent’s skull and right leg, and otherwise wounding, crushing and mangling him, by reason of which he then and there died; that defendants, at and before the breaking of said timbers and of said hog chain, had knowledge that said timbers in said traveler were old, weakened, rotten, worn [425]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
96 N.E. 21, 48 Ind. App. 420, 1911 Ind. App. LEXIS 155, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ittenbach-v-thomas-indctapp-1911.