Iverson v. Look

143 N.W. 332, 32 S.D. 321, 1913 S.D. LEXIS 234
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 6, 1913
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 143 N.W. 332 (Iverson v. Look) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Iverson v. Look, 143 N.W. 332, 32 S.D. 321, 1913 S.D. LEXIS 234 (S.D. 1913).

Opinion

POLDEY, J.

This action was brought for the recovery of damages occasioned by a personal injury received by plaintiff while 'in the defendant’s employ. The defendant was running a butcher shop in Sioux Falls, and, in collection with this business, he had a machine for the manufacture of sausage. This machine was fastened to a bench and consisted of a horizontal cylinder, inside of which was a spiral shaped blade or auger, which revolved in [329]*329the cylinder and which was driven by an.electric motor, situated in an adjoining room. The power was transmitted from the motor to an overhead line shaft, which in turn transmitted the power to the auger in the sausage machine by means of a belt and pulleys. There were two pulleys on -the end of the auger, one a loose one and the other fixed to the auger shaft. When the machine was in operation, the auger revolved in the cylinder at the rate of 200 to 300 revolutions per minute. There was a belt tightener, composed of two pieces of hard wood, at one end of which was fastened a heavy roller; the other end was fastened to the wall, six or seven feet high, by means of a hinge, in such manner as to allow it to be lowered against the belt and in that way act as a tightener. In order to run the machine, it was necessary to put the belt on the pulley that was fixed to the auger shaft and then lower the tightener until it came in contact with the belt. In order to take off the belt, it was necessary to raise the tightener and push the belt from the fixed pulley onto the loose or idle one. The electric current that supplied the motor was controlled by a switch, situated in the same room with the motor, and a person operating the machine had no way of stopping the machine when it was in motion except by raising the tightener and throwing off the belt or by going into the adjoining room and disconnecting the electric current by means of the switch. At one end of the cylinder of the machine was an opening, or hopper, in the form of a funnel, 4 or 5 inches high and some 4inches in diameter, and it was through this opening that the meat (to be made into sausage) was fed into the machine. The meat was placed on the left-hand side of the operator, who fed it into the hopper with his left hand, and with his right hand 'he pressed it down into the machine until it came in contact with the auger, which drew it into the cylinder and forced it against the cutters at the opposite end of the cylinder.

The plaintiff, who was a young man 23 years of age, entered the employ of the-defendant about the middle of September, 1909. He had worked around.a meat market the greater part of the time siijce he was 14 years old; he had driven delivery wagon, helped at slaughtering, trimmed meat, and did genera! work around a meat market, but did not pretend to be an experienced butcher or expert sausage maker. He had operated a sausage machine, to some extent, in a shop where he had worked [330]*330at Brookings. The machine he used was similar, in principle, to the machine used 'by defendant but it was smaller and was run by a crank, turned by the operator with one hand while he fed the meat into it with the other. He was not employed by defendant to do' any one particular kind of work but went on about the same as he had done during his employment in Brookings, doing general work around the shop. ■ After he had been there three or four days, he was directed by defendant to run the sausage machine above described. Hie had seen defendant run the machine, and plaintiff worked it just as he had seen the defendant do it. Owing to the manner in which the meat was pressed info the cylinder by the'hand and the high velocity of the auger when in motion, it was apparent that, if a person allowed -his hand to come in contact with' the auger, he was bound to suffer injury, and that the exercise of a high degree of care and attention was necessary in order to avoid coming in contact with the auger while pressing' down the meat. This was a fact well known and appreciated by the defendant, for he 'had once had his hand caught by the auger, while pressing meat into' the machine, and, before he could extricate it, had lost a portion of his thumb. It appeared, from the evidence, that it was necessary to run the meat through the machine twice; that, in the manufacture of certain kinds of sausage, a mixture of both fresh and salt meats was used; that salt meat was more likely to clog the machine than was fresh, meat; and that meat was more likely to clog the machine when being put through the second time than the' first. It also appeared that meat, when being run through the second time, and especially if it were part salt meat, would stick to the hand of the person who was putting- it into the machine, and that, to prevent this, it was necessary for the operator to wet his hand by dipping it into water, and for that purpose a pail of water was kept on the bench at the left-hand side of the operator.

Prior to the employment of plaintiff, there had been used by defendant, or his employees with his knowledge, a wooden mallet, or follower, for the purpose of pressing the meat into the machine. This was a piece of wood, six or eight inches in length, shaped like a potato masher, and could be used to press the meat into the machine without danger to the -hand; and, so far as appears from the evidence, plaintiff could have done as much, and [331]*331just as efficient, work by the use of this appliance as he could with his hand. This appliance was in the shop while plaintiff was working there, but it was never called to his attention, nor did he know of its existence or that there was any way of pressing the meat into1 the machine except with the hand.

Plaintiff continued in the employment of the defendant for a period of six months. He acted as general assistant around the shop and, among other duties, ran the sausage machine at intervals of probably an hour at a time once or twice a week all the time he was there. Defendant never explained the dangerous character of the machine to plaintiff, nor the fact that, if he allowed his fingers to come in contact with the auger, it would probably draw his whole hand into the cylinder, nor 'cautioned him in regard to the care necessary to be exercised in order to avoid injury. The accident complained of occurred while plaintiff was operating the sausage machine in the usual manner. The thumb on his right hand was caught by the auger in the cylinder and, before it could be stopped, his whole hand was drawn into the cylinder and so badly mangled that it had to be amputated at or above the wrist. When his hand was caught, -he attempted to throw off the belt with the other hand and in that way stop the machine, but he was thrown over on his left side onto the bench and was unable to remove the belt or to extricate himself until the arrival of fellow workmen from an adjoining room, who stopped the machine and released him. The trial resulted in a verdict and judgment for the defendant, and, the court having denied plaintiff’s motion for a new ‘trial, he appeals to this court. ■

Plaintiff contends that his injury was the result of negligence on the part of the defendant, which negligence consisted in defendant’s failure to provide plaintiff with safe appliances and with a safe place in which to work and in defendant’s failure to properly instruct him and caution him as to the nature and extent of the danger incident .to the operation of the machine. The defendant’s defense was a general denial, the assumption of risk, and contributory negligence on the part of the plaintiff. The latter two defenses dispose of the first.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
143 N.W. 332, 32 S.D. 321, 1913 S.D. LEXIS 234, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/iverson-v-look-sd-1913.