Patrick v. T. Smith & Sons, Inc.

56 So. 2d 190, 1952 La. App. LEXIS 425
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 7, 1952
DocketNo. 19644
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 56 So. 2d 190 (Patrick v. T. Smith & Sons, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Patrick v. T. Smith & Sons, Inc., 56 So. 2d 190, 1952 La. App. LEXIS 425 (La. Ct. App. 1952).

Opinion

McBRIDE, Judge.

Ernest W. Patrick, who was employed as a special officer by the Texas Pacific-Mis[191]*191souri Pacific Terminal Railroad of New Orleans, died as a result of injuries received by falling from a wharf on the river front in Westwego, owned by his employer, to the deck of the SS Utahan, which was at the time being unloaded 'by T. Smith & Sons, Inc., stevedores. The accident occurred on February 21, 1944.

Plaintiff, the widow of the deceased, on her own behalf and for the use and benefit of her four minor children, issue of her marriage with Patrick, seeks recovery of $83,523.00 for his death. The suit was directed against T. Smith & Sons, Inc., and its public liability insurer; Texas Pacific-Missouri Pacific Terminal Railroad of New Orleans; and Grace Line, Inc., all solidarily. Plaintiff subsequently compromised her claims against the railroad company for $4500.00, and voluntarily abandoned her demands against Grace Line, Inc. The only defendants before us are T. Smith & Sons, Inc., and its liability insurer, who have appealed from an adverse judgment for $21,-$500.00.

Patrick’s duties required that he keep a lookout over the wharf, to be on guard against fires, theft, pilferage, acts of damage, disturbances, etc. He was also charged with regularly inspecting the wharf’s outer pilings. At the time of the accident the United States was at war, and the wharf was under the jurisdiction of the Army, and special alertness seems to have been the order of the day for all watchmen. A month or so prior to the fatal accident, Patrick had received a directive from the chief special agent of his employer admonishing him to exert extreme care in guarding against all forms of damage and sabotage. This directive, dated January 1, 1944, is part of the record. Patrick was therein given to understand that if, during his rounds, he discovered any damage, attempted damage, or sabotage on his beat, he should get in touch with the chief special agent, whose telephone numbers were mentioned in the directive.

The accident happened at 11:30 a. m. on the above date, and Patrick died soon after falling from Wharf No. 2 to the deck of the Utahan (about ten feet below) which was docked alongside the wharf in the Mississippi River with its bow pointed upstream. The vessel was at the time being unloaded of balsa wood by T. Smith & Sons, Inc., engaged in the stevedoring business.

The wharf, which is of considerable length, rests on pilings and extends out into the river; on the land side is an enclosed shed, from the edge of which there extends outward an uncovered “apron.” At the edge of the apron there are two “stringers.” The inside stringer, twelve inches wide .by twelve inches deep, is composed of four 3xl2-inch boards affixed to each other, the edges of the boards constituting the top of the stringer, and rests against the outer edge of the apron. The outside stringer is only nine inches wide by twelve inches deep. Separating the stringers are the outer pilings of the wharf, spaced about nine feet apart. There is a space of about one foot (the diameter of the pilings) between the stringers. The stringers are a few inches higher than the apron of the wharf; the pilings are leveled off even with the tops of the stringers.

As aforesaid, the Utahan was berthed alongside the outer stringer. The balsa wood, light of weight, was in packages of varying sizes held together by metal bands or straps. Nothing in the record shows the length or width of the wood, but from a photograph which is part of the evidence it appears that the packages were of rectangular shape and composed of at least twelve boards placed flatwise on top of each other. The bundles are of large size, bulky, and undoubtedly of considerable weight.

The ship’s gear was employed in unloading the vessel; workmen in the hold would make a pile of several bundles of the balsa wood, around which was placed a “bridle” which consisted of a rope with a metal ring in the center and metal hooks on the ends. From the sketch contained in the record, we gather that the rope is laid on the bottom of the hold in the shape of the letter “V” with the metal ring at the apex. The lumber is then placed crosswise on the “V” and after the hooked ends of the rope are drawn around the pile the hooks are affixed to the rope near the metal ring. The cable of the gear is then attached to the ring and the [192]*192load hoisted, causing the hooks to slide down over the lumber, holding the load snugly within the bridle.

When a load is hoisted to a sufficient height, the boom swings over the side of the ship and deposits the lumber lengthwise onto a “dolly,”- which is described as a flat-bottomed four-wheel wagon, seven or eight feet long by three feet wide. Dollies, coupled together in units of two, are pulled by a tractor called an “iron mule.” After the boom deposits a load on the ¡first dolly in the unit, the tractor is moved forward sufficiently to place the second dolly in position to receive the next load from the boom. After a load is deposited, a “load lander” releases the hoist cable from the ring of the bridle, and the bridle, which is permitted to remain around the lumber, is tightened by a half hitch knot for the purpose of keeping the load from coming apart or falling.'

Patrick was several feet from the spot where the dollies were being loaded. The dollies were from three to ten feet from the inside stringer. Some witnesses claim that Patrick was on the inside stringer, while others maintain that he stood on the outside stringer. There is also disagreement as to whether he stood with his back to the wharf.

Wood, a watchman in the service of the Navy, was produced by plaintiff as a witness. lie says he was about forty feet from Patrick and noticed him on the outside stringer, and saw him fall to the deck of the Utahan. According to Wood, when the second dolly passed Patrick the rope came loose and “the load split and part went one way and part went the other way, the top bundle came down and catapulted across the two stringers,” coming to rest “where -Mr. Patrick would have been standing had he not fallen.” When tjie rope slipped, Wood heard several men yell, “look out,” and “ * * * Mr. Patrick was looking forward into' the warehouse, he seemed to be observing something very closely when someone hollered and he looked and saw this load breaking up- and he threw his hands up as he saw the timber falling. It was involuntary as you would bat your eye and in that movement he lost his balance and fell backwards onto the ship.”

Wood was emphatic that the rope became unwrapped from the load of lumber; he saw it lying on the -floor of the wharf.

Brown, the winch operator, Mays and McLemore, load landers, and Venturella and Krummel, tractor drivers, were placed on the stand by plaintiff for cross examination. Mays and Krummel, at the time of the trial, were still in the employ of T. Smith & Sons, Inc. The composite of the testimony of these witnesses, who claim they saw the accident from varying distances, is that Patrick lost his balance and fell from the stringer. They uniformly asserted that the bridle rope slipped but did not become untied, and that the load “fell,” “shifted,” “spread,” “tilted,” or “broke,” on the dolly, but that the lumber did-not fall to the floor of the wharf and never extended far enough outside the dolly to reach anywhere near the point where Patrick' was standing. They generally agree that the lumber “fell,” “shifted,” “spread,” “tilted,” or “broke” while the first dolly was in the process of being pulled forward.

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Related

Spurlock v. Boyce-Harvey MacHinery
90 So. 2d 417 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1956)
Washington v. T. Smith & Son
68 So. 2d 337 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1953)
Patrick v. T. Smith & Sons, Inc.
58 So. 2d 353 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1952)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
56 So. 2d 190, 1952 La. App. LEXIS 425, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/patrick-v-t-smith-sons-inc-lactapp-1952.