Triangle Lumber Co. v. Acree

166 S.W. 958, 112 Ark. 534, 1914 Ark. LEXIS 273
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedApril 20, 1914
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 166 S.W. 958 (Triangle Lumber Co. v. Acree) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Triangle Lumber Co. v. Acree, 166 S.W. 958, 112 Ark. 534, 1914 Ark. LEXIS 273 (Ark. 1914).

Opinions

Smith, J.,

(after stating the facts). We think no error was committed by the court in its modification of appellant’s third instruction. It is true, as stated by Mr. Labatt, that “a master’s duty in respect to furnishing his servant with a safe place in which to work extends to such parts of his premises only as he has prepared for their occupancy while doing- their work, and to such parts as he knows, or ought to know, they are accustomed to using while doing it. The ¡application of this principle has frequently prevented recovery in cases where the injury proximately resulted from the fact that the injured servant was occupying a dangerous position merely for his own convenience and accommodation. Under such circumstances, his legal rights are no greater than those of a licensee. ” 4 Labatt, Master & Servant, § 1558-b, and cases cited. But there is no evidence that appellee had gone beyond the line of his employment, nor does the evidence show that he was injured while in a place where he had no right to be. Appellant does say that no one knew of appelle’s presence at the time of his injury, but it does not deny the right of appellee and other employees to go to, and be at, the place where this injury occurred. It states its position in regard to appellee’s presence as follows: “He attempts to justify his action by saying that it was necessary to go and get coal, and that he was getting a drink of water at the time. It is undisputed, however, that the operation of actually pulling in the logs requires much the shorter part of the time. It requires much more time to carry the cable out and attach it to the logs, etc. There is no reason why appellee could not have carried his coal and secured his water while there was no danger caused by pulling in a log. His position must have been known to him to have been dangerous; it was not necessary for him to be there, and no one else knew of his dangerous position.” It is probably true that it was possible for appellee to have gotten a drink of water and to have carried his coal without being injured, but that is not the test of negligence. This third instruction, as modified, required the jury to find that appellee exercised ordinary care for Ms own safety and was witMn the line of Ms employment at the time of his injury, before he could recover. If he was witMn the line of his employment at the time of his injury the relation- of master and servant existed, and their relative duties and obligations were to be measured accordingly. Other instructions were given which correctly announced the duties of master and servant respectively, and in regard to the assumption of risk, and the jury must have found that appellant was negligent in furnisMng defective tongs and that appellee was in the line of his employment at the time of his injury, and was not guilty of contributory negligence.

We think the evidence abundantly warranted the jury’s finding that appellee was engaged in the line of his employment at the time of his injury, if indeed it was sufficient to require the submission of that question to the jury.

Under the agreement in regard to the evidence of Doctors Clark, Butler and' Jones, the following answers given by Doctor Clark were inserted in the record:

Q. What did the wound, as exhibited there (before the jury) indicate?

A. Indicated that there was no fracture existing at the present time, or nonunion of the bone of a former fracture.

Q. Please go into detail and explain why it exhibits a union at the present time?

A. The plaintiff forgot Mmself and crossed his leg, and began a continuous movement of Ms leg across the knee. With an ununited fracture, there is nothing to hold the leg except skin and muscles. Should such a condition exist, instead of the leg being stiff and straight, as is contended, the foot would have dangled and bent upon the leg. Another reason — the ends of the bones rubbing against one another would irritate the nerve and cause pain, and he would be unable to do it without being conscious of having pain for so doing.

Q. Please state, whether, upon the limbs being thus crossed, there was anything to continue the union or nonunion, and if there was a union or nonunion of the previously fractured limb, and, if so, what was it?

A. It showed positive evidence of union because were there nonunion, there would be sagging, or not being able to control the foot; the foot would dangle more or less since there is nothing to hold it under such conditions except muscle and skin.

Q. Did you notice whether the foot was in proper position with reference to the limb?

A. Yes; the large toe was on a line with the knee; cap, which is always our guide.

This witness heard appellee testify, and in these excluded questions stated various other reasons, based upon his observation of appellee, upon the witness stand, for his opinion that there was no nonunion of the bone, and this witness further stated that the x-ray pictures offered in evidence showed a perfect union of the bones.

This witness testified that he owned an x-ray machine, and was familiar with its use and the character of the pictures taken by it. In his answers he explained how these pictures were taken, and stated that the pictures offered in evidence indicated a complete union of the bones.

The questions submitted to, and the answers given by, Doctors Butler and Jones, indicate their concurrence in the opinions expressed by Doctor Clark. As has been stated, none of these witnesses were permitted to testify, even as experts, for the reason stated at the time, and now urged by counsel, that these doctors had attended appellee in a professional capacity and would be unable ■to disassociate their knowledge as experts from the information they had acquired by their examination and treatment of appellee while attending him in a professional capacity. There was nothing in the record indicating that these physicians would have given answers to the questions asked, which were based even in part upon the knowledge acquired by them during the existence of the relation of physician and patient. If snch had been the case their evidence would have been incompetent for the law is that a physician can not express an opinion at all, if his opinion is founded in part upon the information acquired during the existence of that relationship. People v. Murphy, 4 N. E. 326.

But nothing in these questions or answers would indicate that this relation had existed between the witnesses and the appellee, and the questions which were asked them had no relation to any information which they might have acquired as appellee’s physicians. There was no attempt to show that these witnesses could not diassociate their information acquired in a confidential capacity from their general knowledge on the subject of fractures. These witnesses were present in court when appellee was testifying, as a witness in his own behalf, and their answers were based upon their observation of him during that time, and these questions were so framed as to exclude the necessity of considering any information previously acquired by the physicians. But appellee says that questions were asked these physicians which were not contemplated by the parties at the' time of the trial.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
166 S.W. 958, 112 Ark. 534, 1914 Ark. LEXIS 273, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/triangle-lumber-co-v-acree-ark-1914.