Marcus v. Barbour

14 Ohio C.C. 628
CourtOhio Circuit Courts
DecidedOctober 15, 1897
StatusPublished

This text of 14 Ohio C.C. 628 (Marcus v. Barbour) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Circuit Courts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Marcus v. Barbour, 14 Ohio C.C. 628 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1897).

Opinion

Parker, J.

The action below was brought by the defendant in error against the plaintiffs in error on account of alleged negligence on the part of the plaintiffs in error with respect to certain machinery furnished by the , plaintiffs in error, as master, to the defendant in error as their servant and employe, upon and with which he was required to perform certain work. The petition sets forth that the defendants — ■ the plaintiffs in error here, during the. time referred to in the petition, “owned and operated a large amount of dangerous and hazardous machinery, and ”h'ad in their’ employment a large number of workmen, among and one of whom was this plaintiff, in their said manufactory, engaged in running and operating said machinery for the profit and benefit of said defendants;’’ that during that time Frank J. Lehman was the foreman of^ the defendants below; “that [630]*630among the machinery by said defendants, placed in their • manufactory, and used and employed by them in their said business, was a certain machine commonly designated as a double surface, which was used'for the purpose of planing at one and the same time both the upper and under surfaces of lumber or boards in the course of manufacture in their said manufactory. That in and as a part of said machine were certain revolving cylinders, rollers, cogs, and knives through and between which boards or lumber were run ' in planing or smoothing off the surfaces of the same, and which required the attention of two workmen, one in the feeding or running the lumber into said machine between said cylinders, rollers, cogs, and knives, and the other at the other end of the machine to take away said lumber or boards after they had passed through said machine. That on the dtth day of October, 1893, and for some three or four weeks prior thereto, this plaintiff had been directed and required by the said foreman to work, and he had worked, at said machine for the purpose of feeding or running said lumber into said machine' and between said cylinders, rollers, cogs, and knives. ” The petition sets forth that this machinery would become clogged from time to time by an accumulation of shavings in the cogs and meshes which operated these rollers, and that it became the duty- of the plaintiff below, when this occurred, to clean out these cogs and meshes so that the machine might operate properly; that he hád been directed to so clean the machine by the-foreman of the defendants below. It further says that machines of this kind . are usually so constructed “that when they are in proper repair and suitable condition to be run and operated, that a lever under the control of the workman feeding the said machine when thrown to a certain designated point, would stop the revolutions of said rollers and cogs, and enable the workmen to remove said shavings without receiving and injury.” He says that the lever and [631]*631attachments upon this machine were out of order, so that when the lever was moved to a point where the result would be that it would stop the movement of these rollers, that it wouldn’t always have that effect, but they would continue to revolve, and that that was the defect in this machine, and that it therefore made it highly dangerous to one operating the machine in the performance of the duty of cleaning out these cogs and meshes. But plaintiff proceeds to say in his petition:

“That plaintiff notified the said'foreman of said defective condition of said machine, and the said foreman promised plaintiff to repair the same and correct the said defect. That the said foreman did undertake .to repair the said machine, and represented to plaintiff that he had repaired and adjusted the same so as to wholly remedy the said defect in the same, and that said rollers and cogs would thereafter stop and wholly cease their revolutions when said lever was thrown to said designated point, and ordered plaintiff to again resume work on said machine, and to run and operate the same m the manner above set forth. But plaintiff says that said foreman had not, in fact,properly repaired said machine, but that the said machine was then, and thereafter remained, in the defective condition herein before described, until plaintiff received the injury herein complained of; all of which was well known to said defendants, and was unknown to said plaintiff.”

Then follows an allegation which was inserted in this second amended petition after the verdict, and by leave of court, and the giving of this leave is "one of the alleged errors which is said to be prejudicial to the plaintiffs in error. The allegation is as follows: “And plaintiff further Says that he did not have equal means of knowing of said defect with the said defendants.” Then follow the allegations that were originally in the amended petition, before ■ the trial began:

“That the said foreman carelessly, wrongfully, and negligently continued to use the said machine in its said defec[632]*632tive condition, and required the said plaintiff to work at and operate the same, and thereby exposed him to the danger of losing his hand by reason of the said defective condition of said machine. Plaintiff further says, that relying upon the said representations of said foreman, and believing that the said machine had been properly repaired, and that the said lever when properly set would hold the said cylinders and rollers stationary whenever it became necessary to remove the shavings therefrom, he again commenced work upon said machine, and continued to work in the position and in the way and manner in which he had been directed and required to work thereon by said foreman, until some time in the forenoon of the said 4th day of October, 1893, when it became necessary to stop the revolutions of said cylinders and rollers for the purpose of safely removing the said shavings. That the said plaintiff for the purpose threw the said lever to the said designated point where it should have held the said rollers stationary as aforesaid. That thereupon the said rollers and cogs ceased to revolve, and plaintiff, believing that the same were so stopped by the operation of said lever, sought to remove the said shavings in the usual and customary manner with a stick held in his hand; that he had so removed a portion of the shavings, and was damaged in removing the balance thereof, when, by reason of the defective condition of said machine as hereinbefore described, said rollers and cogs suddenly commenced to revolve, and by reason of the negligence of said defendants and said foreman in neglecting to properly repair the said machine and to inform plaintiff that it had not been repaired, and was in the same defective and dangerous condition that it had been theretofore, and by reason of the negligence of said defendants and said foreman in continuing to úse the said machine in its said defective and dangerous condition, and without any fault on the pa.rt of the ylainliff, plaintiff’s left hand was drawn into said cogs, his fingers torn from their sockets, and his hand crushed in such a manner that it became necessary to amputate a large part of it. Plaintiff says that he sustained the said injuries entirely by reason of the negligence of the said defendants and said foreman in failing to properly repair the said machine, in failing to notify [633]*633plaintiff of the danger to which he was exposed, in continu-. ing to use the same in its said defective condition, and without any fault on his part.”

On account of these injuries the plaintiff asks damages in the sum of $20,000.

An answer was filed denying these- allegations of negli-.

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Bluebook (online)
14 Ohio C.C. 628, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/marcus-v-barbour-ohiocirct-1897.