Long v. Doxey

50 Ind. 385
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedMay 15, 1875
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 50 Ind. 385 (Long v. Doxey) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Long v. Doxey, 50 Ind. 385 (Ind. 1875).

Opinion

Dowxey, J.

Action by Mary Sullivan, now Mary Long, against the appellee.

The complaint charges, that the defendant was the owner and operating a steam heading factory, the propelling power for the machinery in which said factory being steam, which was generated in a boiler composed of iron; that said boiler was composed of defective and insufficient iron, and other material) and was defectively and insufficiently made and constructed, and was old, decayed, and worn to unfitness for use; that, on the day last named and on certain days before that day, defendant had notice .of the defectiveness and unfitness of said boiler for generating steam for said machinery with safety, and was frequently warned that the same was dangerous, and could not be used with safety; that with full knowledge of all these facts and of the danger of using said boiler in said factory, the defendant carelessly, and negligent. [386]*386of the safety of the persons in his employment in said factory, on the day and year aforesaid, wrongfully and negligently employed one Stephen Sullivan, who was then and there the minor and only son of the plaintiff, and was aged about sixteen years, to work in said factory by the said defendant; that at the time of said employment, concealing from the plaintiff and from the said Stephen the dangerous condition of said boiler and the dangerous and hazardous character and nature of said employment and of the risk taken therein, and for the purpose of making large profits of said employment, as he did on the labor of said Stephen, put and placed him in, and compelled him to engage in avocations about said factory, where he was exposed to the danger of said boiler explosion, without his knowledge or consent; that, on the day last named, while said machinery was being so run, the said boiler, without any fault on the part of said Stephen, but 'by reason of the defects therein, exploded, and by said explosion said Stephen was instantly killed, without any fault on his part, and without any unnecessary exposure on his part, or any misconduct whatever; wherefore plaintiff is injured,” etc.

The defendant answered by a general denial.

A trial by jury resulted in a general verdict for the defendant, and answers to interrogatories, as follows:

“1. What was the age of Stephen Sullivan at the time he was killed ?

“Ans. About sixteen years.

“2. What was the value of his services per month at that time?

“Ans. Sixteen dollars.

“What the next year ?

“Ans. Eighteen dollars.

“Ans. Twenty dollars.

“Ans. Twenty-two dollars.

“3. Did Stephen Sullivan or his mother know that the boiler was unsafe?

[387]*387“Ans. No.

“4. What amount of steam could that boiler of defendant safely carry?

“Ans. About ninety pounds.

“5. What amount of steam did it have to carry to run all the machinery attached to the engine?

“Ans. Eighty pounds.

“7. Did not the defendant have notice from J. B. Anderson that the boiler was not safe, when run with the head of steam his engineers were running it with ?

“Ans. Yes.”

The foregoing questions were propounded by the plaintiff. The following were ashed by the defendant:

“1. When was it that the conversation between Anderson and the defendant concerning the capacity of the boiler took place ? Was it before or after the explosion of the boiler ?

“Ans. Afterward.

“2. Was not what Anderson said the expression of mere opinion, and without any examination of the boiler to ascertain its capacity?

A motion for a new trial was made by the plaintiff, which need not be set out at length, and it was overruled by the court, and judgment rendered for the defendant.

The overruling of the motion for a new trial is assigned as error.

Counsel for appellants rely upon errors in giving certain instructions and the refusal to give and modifying certain other instructions, .the refusal to allow answers to be made to certain specified questions propounded to witnesses, and refusing to submit to the jury interrogatories asked by the plaintiff.

We will examine these questions in the order named. The plaintiff, as we have seen, bases her right to recover upon the fact that the boiler “ was composed of defective and insufficient iron, and other material, and was defectively and insufficiently [388]*388made and constructed, and was old, decayed, and worn to unfitness for use.”

The objections to instructions given relate to the first nine, being all that were given by the court, on its own motion, except the last two, relating to the form of the verdict. In the first instruction, the court recites the allegations of the complaint. In the second, it is stated that the defendant answers denying the complaint. In the third, the jury are informed of the issue which they have to try; that they must decide it according to the evidence, and if there is a preponderance of the evidence establishing the facts alleged in the complaint, they will find for the plaintiff; but if the facts alleged are not established by such preponderance, it would be their duty to find for the defendant.

The fourth instruction is as follows:

“Was said boiler composed of defective and insufficient iron and other material ? Was it defectively and insufficiently made and constructed ? Was it old and decayed, and worthless for use ? Was the defendant informed, and did he have notice, of such defectiveness and worthlessness of said boiler for generating steam for said machinery with safety, if such defectiveness and worthlessness of said boiler did exist ? Did the defendant, on or about the time stated in the complaint, employ the said Stephen Sullivan to perform labor in said steam heading factory? And did said Stephen, while so employed by the defendant, get killed by the explosion of said boiler ? Was the said Stephen the son of Mary Sullivan, the plaintiff in this suit ? If, from the evidence in this case, you find the above suggested facts against the defendant, and that with a knowledge of such defects in said machinery, said defendant did employ said Stephen Sullivan, and put him at work in said heading factory, and that said Stephen Sullivan, while then in such employment, lost his life and was killed by the explosion of said boiler, which said explosion resulted from the defectiveness of said boiler, you will find for the plaintiff, otherwise you will find for the defendant.”

The objection urged against the instruction is, that it requires [389]*389the jury to find affirmatively in answer to all the questions suggested by the court before they can find for the plaintiff, and unless they do so must find for the defendant.

Counsel for appellants reason thus:

To say to the jury that they must find whether the boiler was composed of defective and insufficient iron and other material, and defectively and insufficiently made, and was old,decayed, and worn to unfitness, is to say that they must find every defect charged in the machinery to exist, before the plaintiff can recover. For example, supppose the evidence shows that the defect was the quality of the iron in the boiler (old or new), or in its thickness, for the purpose required.

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Bluebook (online)
50 Ind. 385, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/long-v-doxey-ind-1875.