Supple v. Agnew

61 N.E. 392, 191 Ill. 439
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 24, 1901
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 61 N.E. 392 (Supple v. Agnew) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Supple v. Agnew, 61 N.E. 392, 191 Ill. 439 (Ill. 1901).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Magruder

delivered the opinion of the court:

In this case the Appellate Court by its judgment has reversed the judgment of the trial court, but did not remand the cause for another trial, and did not recite any finding of facts in its judgment. It is to be presumed, that the Appellate Court found the facts the same as the trial court found them; otherwise it would have recited its findings in its judgment, as required by the statute. It is also to be presumed, that the Appellate Court did not reverse the judgment of the trial court for any erroneous rulings on questions of law arising- on the trial, such as the giving or refusal of instructions, or the admission or exclusion of evidence, because, if it had reversed the judgment for any such erroneous rulings, it would have remanded the cause for another trial, so that such errors could be avoided. Inasmuch as the Appellate Court has found the facts the same as the trial court found them, and has not reversed its judgment for any erroneous ruling on the trial, it must be presumed that the Appellate Court held the facts, as found both by it and the trial court, to be insufficient to sustain the cause of action. That the presumptions thus indicated arise upon such a record, as is here presented, is decided by this court in the recent case of Busenbark v. Saul, 184 Ill. 343, where a large number of decisions upon this subject is referred to. It results, as a necessary consequence of the doctrine thus announced in Busenbarlc v. Saul, supra, that we can do nothing more upon this record than to look into the evidence, and determine whether it fairly tends to establish the cause of action alleged. If the evidence fairly tends to establish the cause of action alleged, the judgment of the Appellate Court must be ■reversed; otherwise it must be affirmed.

We are of the opinion, that the count of the declaration, set forth in the statement preceding this opinion, stated a cause of action; and we are furthermore of the opinion, that the evidence tends to establish the cause of action, so stated.

The evidence tends to show, that the plaintiff in error was employed to superintend a gang of diggers and wheel-barrow men, and for no other purpose. He was called from the work, for which he had been employed, and placed temporarily at work in another department of the master’s business under the control and direction of a foreman, whose work was in a distinct department from that of the plaintiff, and with whom the plaintiff had never been associated. Burns, the “walking-boss," was expressly informed by the plaintiff in error, before he went to work with the dolly, that he had no knowledge of such work. The evidence tends to show, that the defendants in error failed to supply a sufficient number of men to assist the carpenter foreman and plaintiff in error in moving the timber, and that the plaintiff in error, because of his lack of experience in such matters, had no knowledge or notice that more men were required to do the work in safety. The evidence tends to show, that plaintiff in error was injured by reason of the negligence of the defendants in error in not furnishing an adequate number of experienced men. The declaration alleges that the defendants in error, the masters of the plaintiff in error, were negligent in failing to furnish a sufficient number of men to do the work with safety to the plaintiff in error under the conditions, as they existed.

There is evidence tending- to show, that work of the character, which the plaintiff in error was required to do, was dangerous, and that, in order to move the logs in question across the runway in question, it was necessary to have an adequate • force of men acquainted with that particular work. Several witnesses testify, that the log when placed upon the dolly, should have been blocked, tied or in some way fastened thereto to prevent its shifting, and that, where the log was not blocked or fastened, a larger number of men was necessary to move it with safety than would otherwise have been needed. Several witnesses swear that there should have been five or six men to handle the log if it was blocked; and there is testimony tending to show that a greater force was necessary where the log was not blocked.

It was not necessary, that there should be a distinct allegation in the declaration of a failure to block or fasten the timber. That fact was only one circumstance, which rendered it necessary to employ more men on the work, and the declaration alleged the negligence of defendants in error in failing to furnish a sufficient number of men to do the work with safety to plaintiff in error.

It is as much the duty of the master under such circumstances as are here shown by the record in this case to furnish an adequate number of competent co-laborers as it is to furnish sufficient and suitable implements and machinery. “The master owes a duty to his servant to exercise reasonable care in supplying for the performance of the work an adequate number of fit and competent servants, and for failure of duty in this respect he is responsible in damages to a servant injured in consequence thereof.” (Bailey on Master’s Liability, p. 68; Swift & Co. v. Rutkowski, 182 Ill. 18).

Shearman & Redfield, in their work on Negligence (5th ed. sec. 193) say: “Another duty, which the master owes to his servant, is that of employing a sufficient number to do the work so far as may be necessary to enable them to do it in safety; but, as in other cases, he is only bound to use ordinary care for that purpose. It is not always consistent with such care, however, to provide a force just sufficient for the regular every-day course of business. Preparation must be made for those extraordinary emergencies which, although they do not frequently occur, are still known in common experience to be likely to occur occasionally.” (Flike v. Boston and Albany Railroad Co. 53 N. Y. 549; Booth v. Boston and Albany Railroad Co. 73 id. 38; Northern Pacific Railroad Co. v. Herbert, 116 U. S. 642). In the latter case, the Supreme Court of the United States, speaking by Mr. Justice Field, said: “The servant does not undertake to incur the risks arising from the want of sufficient and skillful co-laborers, or from defective machinery or other instruments with which he is to work. His contract implies that, in regard to these matters, his employer will make adequate provision that no danger shall ensue to him.” (Mad River and L. E. R. Co. v. Barker, 8 Ohio St. 541; Moss v. Pacific Railroad Co. 49 Mo. 167).

Whether,, in • the present case, the master did furnish a sufficient number of meu to assist in the work, in which plaintiff in error was engaged, was a question of fact for the jury. The jury found that fact in favor of plaintiff in error; and the Appellate Court must have also found the fact in the same way, inasmuch as it did not insert a contrary finding in its judgment.

The plaintiff in error was taken away from his regular employment of superintending a gang of diggers and wheel-barrow men, and was put to work in another and separate department of the master’s business, that is to say, the carpenter-work department, under the supervision and control of a foreman of the latter department.

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Bluebook (online)
61 N.E. 392, 191 Ill. 439, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/supple-v-agnew-ill-1901.