Radtke v. St. Louis Basket & Box Co.

129 S.W. 508, 229 Mo. 1, 1910 Mo. LEXIS 162
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedJune 14, 1910
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 129 S.W. 508 (Radtke v. St. Louis Basket & Box Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Radtke v. St. Louis Basket & Box Co., 129 S.W. 508, 229 Mo. 1, 1910 Mo. LEXIS 162 (Mo. 1910).

Opinion

GRAVES, J.

— Action for personal injuries, with damages alleged in the aggregate sum of $25,000. Verdict and judgment in favor of plaintiff for $10,000’, from which defendant has appealed. As indicated by ■the name, defendant is a corporation engaged in the manufacturing business and to that end had and ope[7]*7rated a factory in the city of St. Lotus, in which factory plaintiff was one of its employees. His employment was through one Albert Schmidt, a foreman of the defendant. The petition is minute in detail and of great length, but boiled down, it avers: that plaintiff was working on a machine in said shops or factory known as a cutting machine; that in so doing he was under the direction of the foreman, Schmidt; that in the same room were numbers of other machines; that running through the room and for the purpose of operating all these machines was an axle or motor shaft; that the sundry machines in the room were operated by means of belts running down from this motor shaft; that this motor shaft was kept in continuous and rapid motion; that the cutting machine on which plaintiff worked was operated by a belt from this motor shaft, that came down the distance of ten feet at an angle of about thirty' degrees, and then was placed upon a pulley fifteen inches or more in diameter; that the pulley was upon a shaft upon the cutting machine, and about twelve or fifteen inches from the end thereof; that at the end of the shaft was a handwheel, eighteen or twenty inches in diameter, by which the machine could be operated by hand; that in operating the machine by the belt, the belt was given one-half twist in its course; that said belt was negligently constructed of two or three pieces of leather of different breadths, and was laced together in several places; that by reason of the different widths of the pieces some would project out one-half inch further than the other portions, making dangerous and uneven corners on both sides of the belt; that defendant knew of this condition, or by the exercise of ordinary care might have known of it; that plaintiff was inexperienced and aged about twenty-one years, which fact was known to defendant; that he knew nothing of mending belts, except what he had seen. The particular accident with [8]*8its surrounding circumstances are then thus described in the petition:

“Plaintiff states that on or about the 27th day of September, 1904, at about 7:25 o ’clock in the forenoon of said day, the said belt connecting the said motor shaft with the said pulley of the cutting machine broke and that it became necessary to relace the same.
“That the Same foreman, Albert Schmidt, carelessly and negligently directed the plaintiff to lean a ladder against the revolving motor shaft, aforesaid, and to carry said belt up said ladder and replace it over the revolving motor shaft, and to then hold it hanging over the said shaft, but in such manner that it should not touch said shaft, in order that he, the said foreman, standing on the floor below, might then relace the said belt.
“Plaintiff states that he, in the exercise of due care, obeyed the directions of the said foreman, and did lean a ladder against the said motor shaft and did carry said belt up the said ladder and place it again over the said shaft. That said foreman thereupon, with the assistance of an employee in said factory, proceeded to relace the said belt, and for that purpose did carelessly and negligently place the said belt around the shaft connecting the pulley of said cutting-machine with the handwheel aforesaid, and that while the said belt so encircled the said motor shaft above and the said shaft of said cutting machine below, the said foreman did carelessly and negligently proceed to mend the said belt and to relace the same; this plaintiff in the meantime, in the exercise of due care, holding the said belt up so that it might not touch the said revolving motor shaft.
“That the ladder so furnished by the defendant to the plaintiff as aforesaid, was broken and defective, that one leg thereof had been broken off and that a piece of wood had been nailed on to take the place of said leg, but that said piece of wood was improperly [9]*9nailed on, so that the said ladder did not stand firmly, but was shaky and unsteady, which said dangerous condition of said ladder defendant well knew, or by the exercise of ordinary care ought to have known.
'“Plaintiff states that while he held the belt from touching the revolving motor shaft, in manner as aforesaid, defendant’s foreman, Albert Schmidt, with the assistance of the employee aforesaid, having placed said belt around the small shaft of the cutting machine, proceeded .to mend and relace the same, but that said foreman negligently and carelessly proceeded with said work, and while in the act of so mending the belt, said foreman negligently and carelessly drew the said belt and caused said belt to be drawn taut and down against the motor shaft.
“That immediately upon touching said motor shaft, said belt began to revolve at an extremely rapid rate of speed on said shaft; that no notice or warning was given to the plaintiff that said belt was about to be drawn taut and to be made to revolve rapidly around the said motor shaft. That thereupon plaintiff’s hand was immediately caught by the moving belt and drawn between the belt and the motor shaft and was forced and drawn against said shaft, and became pinioned between said shaft and belt, and that plaintiff was thereby pulled from said ladder. That said belt so catching the right arm of plaintiff held him firmly against and bound him to the said motor shaft, and that he was whirled around the said motor shaft several times, after which he fell and struck the floor and said cutting, machine with great violence, by which fall several of said plaintiff’s, ribs were broken.
“Plaintiff states that by reason of the sudden starting of said machinery and belt without notice or warning to the plaintiff, and by reason of said belt being so drawn taut and against the said motor shaft, and by reason of the defective, shaky and dangerous condition of said ladder, plaintiff’s right hand and arm [10]*10were caught by said belt and by the projections thereon aforesaid, -and drawn in between said shaft and belt.
“That during the mending of the belt the said foreman, Albert Schmidt, continued in charge of work in said factory and continued to give orders, both to the plaintiff and to the said employee assisting him in the lacing of the belt.
“Plaintiff states that by reason of the said catching of his arm, and of said fall, he was severely wounded, braised, lacerated and maimed, and his right arm was severed from his body at a point between the shoulder and the elbow thereof, and that the remainder of said arm was so crashed, lacerated and tom, that it was shortly afterwards amputated at a point a few inches from the shoulder.
“Plaintiff states that defendant, St.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Leingang v. Geller, Ward & Hasner Hardware Co.
73 S.W.2d 256 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1934)
Wuest v. Dorman
54 S.W.2d 1000 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1932)
Chasteen v. Singer Sewing MacHine Co.
41 S.W.2d 621 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1931)
Burnison v. Sounders
35 S.W.2d 619 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1931)
Alexander v. Forum Cafeteria, Inc.
37 S.W.2d 670 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1931)
Kleinlein v. Foskin
13 S.W.2d 648 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1929)
Wuellner v. Crescent Planing Mill Co.
259 S.W. 764 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1924)
State v. Langford
240 S.W. 167 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1922)
Laycock v. United Railways Co.
235 S.W. 91 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1921)
Tyon v. Wabash Railway Co.
232 S.W. 786 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1921)
Kautz v. St. Louis Refrigerator Car Co.
219 S.W. 719 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1920)
State v. Stemmons
205 S.W. 8 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1918)
Bell v. George
204 S.W. 516 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1918)
Budde v. United States Incandescent Lamp Co.
181 S.W. 1034 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1916)
Smith v. United Railways Co.
160 S.W. 553 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1913)
Shimp v. Woods-Evertz Stove Co.
158 S.W. 864 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1913)
State v. Raftery
158 S.W. 585 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1913)
Mertz v. A. Leschen & Sons Rope Co.
156 S.W. 807 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1913)
Erdmann v. United Railways Co.
156 S.W. 764 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1913)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
129 S.W. 508, 229 Mo. 1, 1910 Mo. LEXIS 162, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/radtke-v-st-louis-basket-box-co-mo-1910.