Kirby Lumber Co. v. Hardy

196 S.W. 211, 1917 Tex. App. LEXIS 636
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 23, 1917
DocketNo. 180.
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 196 S.W. 211 (Kirby Lumber Co. v. Hardy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kirby Lumber Co. v. Hardy, 196 S.W. 211, 1917 Tex. App. LEXIS 636 (Tex. Ct. App. 1917).

Opinion

*212 HIGHTOWER, C. J.

The court adopts the following statement of the nature of this case, as made by appellant herein, and which is admitted by appellee to be substantially correct: This suit was brought in the district court of Jasper county, Tex., by W. A. Hardy, as plaintiff, and who is appellee here, against the Kirby Humber Company, defendant, and who is appellant here, to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have been sustained by appellee while in the employ of appellant on or about the 18th .day of November, 1912. This is the second appeal of the case, the opinion upon the former appeal being reported in 183 S. W. 80. The cause was tried, with a jury, and was submitted upon special issues. Upon the answers of the jury to the special issues, judg- ■ ment was entered in favor of appellee against appellant for the sum of $5,000, with legal interest. Appellant thereafter filed its motion for new trial in due time,' and the same was overruled, and judgment is now before this court for review.

Appellee for cause of action alleged substantially: (a) That he was employed by appellant as a grab setter in the woods; that one Tom Sheffield was his foreman; that on or about the 18th day of November, 1912, appellant through its employes, was attempting to move from tile woods to the tramway a large log, by means of a log cart drawn by four mules; that the team was unable to pull the log, and said foreman, Sheffield, thereupon assumed the control and management of moving it, and directed that a bunching team, consisting of two mules, be hitched onto the front of the log, for the purpose of assisting the cart team in pulling it; that appellee was directed and ordered to “chock” or “scotch” the wheels of the cart; that, while appellee was engaged in so doing, the teams hitched to the cart and the log were both caused to start and pull, by the direction of said foreman; and that the bunching team was hitched in such manner to the log and pulled in such manner on the log that the log was pulled and jerked crosswise, and abruptly thrown over and against appellee, catching his" right leg between the log and a stump, and causing his injuries.

The claims of negligence on the part of appellant, relied upon by the appellee, were alleged, substantially, as follows: (1) That appellant negligently and carelessly hitched the bundling team to the front end of the log, instead of to the cart, in front of the cart team. (2) That appellant did negligently and carelessly, under the circumstances, fail to place a check line on the bunching team, to prevent it from pulling crosswise. (3) That appellee was inexperienced in'the work he was doing, and that the defendant was guilty of negligence in requiring him to work in the dangerous and unsafe place where he was, without warning him of the dangers.

Appellant, after demurring generally to ap-pellee’s petition, and denying the allegations thereof, set up, substantially: (1) That the hitching of the bunching team to the front end of the log, as was done upon the dccasion in question, was the proper, usual, and customary way, and an efficient, effective and practical manner of doing the woi'k in question, and therein appellant was not negligent. (2) That appellant was not negligent in failing to place a check line on the bunching team, for that, in the first place, there was no check line available, and, in the second place, it was not proper, customary, or usual to place any check line on the bunching team. (3) That appellant was not negligent in requiring appellee to work in a dangerous place, without warning him of the danger, for that: First, the appellee voluntarily and of his own accord selected whatever place he was working in on the occasion in question; and, second, no notice or warning to appellee of the "dangers of the position in which he placed himself was necessary, for the reason that he was a man of mature years, experienced in that character of work, which would necessarily acquaint him with the dangers of his position, and then and there knew and was apprised of the dangers of such position, which were open, obvious, and apparent to any one, and which grew out of the operation of the ordinary laws of nature. (4) That the risk of danger or injury from the log under the circumstances was assumed by appellee, for the reason that appellee then and there knew that the bunching team was hitched to the front end of the log, and was fully acquainted with all of the surroundings, and knew that the bunching team was hitched to the log at an angle, and that, when it pulled on the log, the log would be caused to turn or swing towards the left of the cart wheel, where plaintiff was, and knew the risks and dangers of the position in which he placed himself, so far as injury to him from the log was concerned, and the risk and danger of the log coming in contact with him and injuring him were open, apparent, and visible to any one, and especially to one of mature years, as was plaintiff, and such risks and dangers grew out of the operation of the ordinary laws of nature, and were in all things assumed by appellee. (5) That in failing to keep himself out of the way of the log, so as to avoid injury from the log coming in contact with him while being moved, appellee was guilty of negligence, which contributed to his injury. (6) That, if the appellee’s injury resulted from the bunching team pulling crosswise, such was no fault of appellant, but the fault of apipellee’s fellow servant, one Green Smith, the driver of the bunching team, who l>y the exercise of ordinary care could have controlled the bunching team and kept it alongside of the cart team, by the use of driving lines then and there provided, and that ap-pellee’s injuries therefore resulted from the negligence of his said fellow servant.

It might be here stated that the following *213 facts were shown, practically without dispute:

Appellee was employed by appellant as a grab setter. His place of work was in the woods, where the logs which had been cut were being carried or dragged by means of log carts to the tramroad for loading on the cars and transportation to the mills. These log carts are of skeleton construction consisting mainly of two wheels 'and axle, a slip tongue with a lever, and a set of grabs or hooks. The wheels are about eight feet in diameter. Between the wheels or the length of the axle is about six feet. The grabs, or hooks, hang midway between the wheels. The slip tongue controls the grabs. When, the tongue is slipped back of the groove in which it works, the grabs. are let down to the log, and, when the tongue is pulled forward, the grabs are raised. In order to move a log, the log is straddled by the wheels, and the grabs are then let down and hooked by the grab setter near the center, but slightly towards the front or team end of the log. The team is then started forward, and, while the cart wheels remain stationary, the log, by means of the slip tongue, is raised from the ground, and suspended under the axle, nearly balanced, with the back end touching the ground, and the front, or team, end clear of the ground.

On the occasion of the accident, which occurred about 5 o’clock in the afternoon, the cart team, consisting of four mules, driven by one Willie Stimits, was pulling a log cart and a log about 24 inches in diameter up an incline, when it became stalled. The woods foreman, Sheffield, coming up and finding the team stalled, proceeded to direct the work of getting the log up the hill.

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Bluebook (online)
196 S.W. 211, 1917 Tex. App. LEXIS 636, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kirby-lumber-co-v-hardy-texapp-1917.