Moyes v. Ogden Sewer Pipe & Clay Co.

77 P. 610, 28 Utah 148, 1904 Utah LEXIS 63
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedJune 30, 1904
DocketNo. 1561
StatusPublished

This text of 77 P. 610 (Moyes v. Ogden Sewer Pipe & Clay Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moyes v. Ogden Sewer Pipe & Clay Co., 77 P. 610, 28 Utah 148, 1904 Utah LEXIS 63 (Utah 1904).

Opinion

McCARTY, J.

Byron R. Moyes, the plaintiff, was injured while in the service of the defendant company on the thirteenth of March, 1903, by losing his left arm at the elbow. In his action for damages for said injury a verdict of $4,000 was rendered, and judgment thereon entered. From said judgment this appeal is taken.

The allegations of negligence in plaintiff’s complaint upon which he relies for a recovery are as follows: “Plaintiff further alleges that the bell that he was supposed to ring in order to give the signal to let the plunger descend was worn out, old, cracked, and that said bell was placed immediately under and below the hopper that he was attending to, and that said bell was wholly unprotected, so that clay could and would fall from the table of the hopper upon said bell, and would cause said bell to make a sound as though the cord of bell had been pulled; all of which was, or by the use of reasonable diligence could have been, known to defendant, and was unknown to plaintiff. Plaintiff further alleges that the defendant was guilty of negligence and carelessness in this, to-wit: That defendant failed to give plaintiff any or proper instructions how to operate said sewer pipe machine, or how to clean and keep said hopper free from dry clay or any hard substances, and failed to warn said plaintiff of the danger of said machine and to keep his hands and arms out of said hopper and from under said plunger, and in keeping the said bell properly or at all protected, and in causing said plunger to descend without giving any warning to plaintiff, and that by reason of said negligence and carelessness of defendant as aforesaid, and without any fault or carelessness on the part of plaintiff, he has lost his left arm as aforesaid, and will be injured, maimed, and crippled throughout his life; and that by reason thereof said plaintiff has been made sick and sore and distressed in mind and body, and will ever be so — all to his damage in the sum of $20,000.” Defendant, by its answer, denies that it was guilty of any negligence that caused, or in any way contributed to, the injury upon which the [158]*158action is based; and alleges contributory negligence on the part of plaintiff, and that he assumed the risk and hazards of the employment.

It appears from the record that the plaintiff was employed by the defendant company to work in its factory, a building of three stories, in which sewer pipe was being manufactured. Plaintiff, who at the time was fourteen years of age, bright and intelligent, commenced work at noon on March 11, 1903, and worked until noon the following day (March 12th) sifting sand and doing odd jobs about the factory, on the ground floor thereof. A few minutes before it was time to start the factory running at the noon hour on the date last mentioned, Hemle, a boy who was in the employ of the defendant attending the feeder of, the tile press on the third floor of the factory, came to plaintiff, and asked him if he would change jobs. Plaintiff answered that he would provided Hutto-, the foreman, would consent. Hutto gave his consent, and the boys changed work. Plaintiff testified that Hutto then went with him to the third floor, where the feeder and the tile press were, and said to him, “You must keep all the clay away from the machinery. ’ ’ Hutto, however, testified that he did not go with plaintiff on the occasion referred to. Neither did he give him any instructions respecting his (plaintiff’s) work, The clay used .for making tile was brought by ‘ ‘ cup ’ ’ elevator from the -ground floor to where plaintiff last went to work, and was discharged on a belt, termed the “slow feeder belt,” thence onto a fast feeder belt, which delivered the clay into a steel pot or cylinder (called “hopper” in the complaint), and there molded into sewer pipe. When the “pot” or “hopper” was filled with clay, the discharge of clay from the fast feeder belt was shut off, and a signal given by plaintiff to the pressman, who stood at the lever on the floor below, to let the steam on and start the plunger down to press the clay for the purpose of fashioning or molding it into sewer pipe. The feeder belts ran in wooden boxes elevated about four feet from the floor. These [159]*159boxes ran east and west, and there was a platform for the operator’s (plaintiff’s) nse along the south from the west end fourteen feet to the tile press. At the west end (fourteen feet from the tile press) was a seat for the operator, with levers at his hand to regulate the action of the feeder belts. There were also- signal cords communicating with the ground floor to regulate the clay coming up and with the pressman to set the plunger in motion when signaled so to do by plaintiff. Immediately in front of the tile press there was an open space in the floor from eighteen inches to three feet in width, and it was shown' by tests made by certain of the witnesses that pieces of partially dried clay falling through this open space would occasionally strike the bell which was used to signal the pressman to set the plunger in motion, causing a ring similar to that created by pulling the bell cord. William McGregor, a witness called by the defense, testified that he worked in- the immediate vicinity of the bell, and had on several occasions observed pieces of clay, which had fallen-through the open space mentioned, strike the bell. The feeder belts would sometimes get clogged with clay, and the plaintiff would clean them off, which-was a part of his duties. As stated by one of defendant’s witnesses in- his testimony, “If the clay accumulated on top of the plunger so that it went up high enough, he would have to push it off.” On the afternoon of the second day that plaintiff1 was at work in the factory, while he was in the act of cleaning the partially dry clay from the tile press, the plunger, without any warning, came down, and cut his arm off at the elbow. On this point the plaintiff testified in part as follows: “When hurt I had left the chair, and was standing on the floor cleaning in back of-this sheet iron. The seat is elevated about three feet from the floor. I went over to clean the clay, and put my hand in as far back as I could reach. I was pushing the clay down into the press. I put. my hand in to clean it out so that it wouldn’t get dry and fall down and spoil the tile. The plunger came down, and cut my arm at the elbow joint,. [160]*160leaving’ my hand in the place where the plunger goes. ’ ’ And again: “Before the accident I had cleaned out from under the plunger about six or seven times. . . . The plunger never came down before I rang the bell. I did not expect it to come down until I rang the hell. I did not ring the hell. I was twelve or fourteen feet away from the place where I used to ring the hell.” The clear preponderance of the evidence shows that neither Hutto, the foreman, nor any other person gave plaintiff instructions respecting the manner in which he was to clean the clay from the tile press. Nor was he warned of the danger of cleaning away the clay referred to with his hands, there being no tools at his disposal except a hoe, which was not suitable for that purpose. Plaintiff testified on this point as follows: “I had never worked around machinery before, and had worked on this machine but one day. I had seen the machine operated once or twice before I was hurt, but had'never seen it cleaned out. When I saw the machine working, it was for a minute or two. No one warned me about the danger of putting my hand in there. I did not know it was dangerous. ’ ’ Hutto, the foreman, was called as a witness by defendant, and testified: “Well, I never considered there was any dang-er to it [the tile press]. I •didn’t warn him [referring to plaintiff].

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Bluebook (online)
77 P. 610, 28 Utah 148, 1904 Utah LEXIS 63, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moyes-v-ogden-sewer-pipe-clay-co-utah-1904.