Shebeck v. National Cracker Co.

120 Iowa 414
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedMay 16, 1903
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 120 Iowa 414 (Shebeck v. National Cracker Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shebeck v. National Cracker Co., 120 Iowa 414 (iowa 1903).

Opinion

WeaveR, J.

It is alleged that William Shebeck, an inexperienced boy of eighteen years, was employed by defendant in its cracker factory, and set to work feeding dough through the rollers of a machine there in' use; and while thus employed he was, without fault on his own part, caught in the gearing of said machine, receiving injuries from which death ensued. The defendant is charged with negligence in failing to instruct and warn the deceased ■concerning the dangers attending the use of said machines; in failing to properly box or otherwise guard the wheels ;and gearing, which were operated at very great speed and were out of repair, thus increasing the danger to those working near them; and in neglecting to provide a safe place for said employe to work. Damages are asked for ihe loss to the estate of the deceased; also for the loss of his services to his father, who has assigned his claim therefor to the plaintiff. The defendant denies the petition; ■says the dangers of the employment, if any, and the defects, if any, in the machinery, were open and visible, And the risk thereof was assumed by the deceased. There was evidence tending to show that deceased was young and inexperienced; that to perform the work to which he was assigned he was required to stand between two uncovered wheels revolving at considerable speed; that the machinery was worn and out of repair, by reason of which a nut and pin holding one of the wheels upon its shaft would become loose, and the pin would protrude from the end of, the shaft; that when in this condition the.clothing of the [416]*416attendant was liable to be caught and wound - upon the shaft; that such was the condition of the machine at the time of the accident,and .such the manner in which said employe received his injuries. It is also shown, or the jury would have been justified in finding, that this defective condition of the machinery had existed, to the knowledge of the defendant, for a long time prior to the employment of deceased. It was-no part of the young man’s duty to manage or repair the machinery, such service being performed by an engineer employed for that purpose. It also appears that the gearing of the machine was adjustable to different rates of speed for different grades of work, and that on the day of the accident a change had been made by which the motion was accelerated. The errors assigned are based largely upon the charge of the court to the jury, and upon the refusal to give instructions asked by the plaintiff.

I. By the second paragraph of the charge the jury were told that the burden of proof under the issues was upon plaintiff, and by the fifth paragraph they were further i assumption de^of proof; instructions. told that if the deceased, while employed by defendant, knew the defective condition of or coui¿ have known it by the exercise of ordinary care, and continued to work there without protest or promise of the defendant to make repairs, then there could be no recovery of damages. These instructions are erroneous. True, the burden was upon plaintiff to establish the alleged negligence of defendant, the consequent injury of the deceased, and his freedom from contributory negligence, but the pleadings, as we have seen, presented another issue. The answer alleged that the defective condition of the machinery was well known to the deceased, and that, knowing it, he remained in defendant’s service without protest. In other words, the answer tenders a plea of assumption of risk, and upon this issue the jury should have been told the burden was [417]*417on defendant. Nicholaus v. R. R., 90 Iowa, 85; Thompson v. Railroad Co., 70 Minn. 219 (72 N. W. Rep. 962); Nadau v. White R. L. Co., 76 Wis. 120 (43 N. W. Rep. 1135, 20 Am. St. Rep. 29). The' effect of the court’s charge was to reverse this rule, and cast the burden upon the plaintiff, and we cannot say the error was without prejudice.

II. The fourth paragraph of the charge is in the following words: “You are instructed that if you find from the evidence that the nut on the end of the shaft in.quéstion 2. niAraxiTy of structión. was in the habit of coming off, or that it was off for hours at a time, or that by reason of such defect the wheel came out, thé defendant was guilty of negligence. ” The same language is, in substance, repeated in another paragraph. We think the jury would have been justified in drawing the conclusion from this instruction that defendant could not be held chargeable with negligence unless it w as first found that the “wheel was in the habit of coming off, or that it was off for hours at a time.” It is very probable the court did not mean to be so understood, but the language employed is fairly capable of such construction, and had a clear tendency to mislead the jury. Certainly, the negligence of defendant is not to be made dependent upon the fact that the nut worked loose so often that the condition may be called “habitual,” or upon its being allowed to continue in that condition for “hours.” It was defendant’s duty not only to provide its employes a reasonably safe place to work, but to use reasonable care and prudence in providing machinery and appliances safe and suitable for his use. This duty involves not only the furnishing of safe machinery, but watchfulness to keep it in safe repair. Brann v. R. R., 53 Iowa, 595; Knapp v. R. R., 71 Iowa, 41; Rogers v. Ludlow, 144 Mass. 198 (11 N. E. Rep. 77, 59 Am. Rep. 68); Ford v. R. R , 110 Mass. 240 (14 Am. Rep. 598). See, [418]*418also, Wharton’s Negligence, sections 212, 282. In other words, the master is to be held responsible not alone for defects of which he has actual knowledge, but for those, as well, which the exercise of reasonable care and diligence on his part would have brought to his notice. This Is to be considered, of course, in connection with the other rule, which holds the employe to assume the risk of all dangers which naturally or ordinarily pertain to the employment upon which he enters, as well as those dangers which are open and obvious to his senses as a person of ordinary intelligence and care. He is not required to inspect or search for obscure dangers or defects in his place of work, or in the machinery or appliances furnished him. He may rely upon the master having performed the duties which attach to that relation, save only as to such matters as áre open to his observation, or such as, in the ordinary discharge of his employment, we may fairly say ought to Shave come to his knowledge. We hold, therefore, that the fourth paragraph of the charge states the rule of the master’s liability in this case much too narrowly, and should not have been given.

TTT- The court’s charge, as a whole, is open to the objection made that it wholly ignores one very material feature of the plaintiff’s claim. It is charged, and the a. assumption andlx'pef-2 ience: instruction. evidence tends to show, that the deceased was about eighteen years of age; that he entered defendant’s employment only a few days before his injury, having no experience in that kind of work. There is nothing tending to show whether he did or did not receive any instructions or warnings as to the dangers ■of his position, and it was proper, therefore, not to submit to the jury the allegation of negligence based on defendant's failure in this respect; but the fact of the youth and inexperience of the deceased remained an important ele-'•-tnent for the consideration of the jury, and especially with reference to the question of contributory negligence and [419]*419assumption of risk.

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120 Iowa 414, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shebeck-v-national-cracker-co-iowa-1903.