189 Iowa 995 | Iowa | 1920
I. On the afternoon of March 2, 1916, while employed as a miner by defendant in its mine near Rathbun, plaintiff was severely injured, by the fall of a large amount of slate and coal. He had been working in the room in which the accident occurred, which .was known as a deficiency room, but a day or two. By a deficiency room is meant one in which the slate and -draw slate fall from the roof with the coal, and additional compensation is allowed per ton to the miner for the slate, the excess of which has to be removed therefrom. The evidence is in dispute as to what plaintiff was doing at the time the injuries were received. When several miners who were working in near-by rooms arrived, in response to plaintiff’s outcry, they found him lying with his back against the gob, and about five feet from the face of the coal, with a large amount of slate and coal piled upon his leg, which was fractured. He was alone at the time the accident occurred.
It is claimed by defendant that plaintiff neglected and refused to obey the directions and orders of the mine boss to appropriately prop and sprag the coal, and that his injuries, which occurred in his working place, were due wholly and solely to his own negligence. On the other hand, plaintiff claims that, on the morning preceding the occurrence, he requested the mine boss to permit him to build a crib, to support a block of slate which plaintiff claims extended about 15 inches over the coal,, and that he was refused permission to do so. He testified that it was this piece of slate that fell upon him. The mine boss denied that anything was said to him about a crib, but said that the conversation related to the extra compensation plaintiff would receive on account of the slate, and that he then
The errors relied upon for revérsal include rulings upon objections to testimony, and to numerous paragraphs of the court’s instructions, together with the refusal of the court to give certain requested instructions on behalf of defendant, and misconduct of plaintiff’s attorney, during the trial and during his argument to the jury. On the whole, the case in favor of plaintiff is not a very strong one. Called as a witness in his own behalf, the jdaintiff testified in chief that he was working for the defendant, and that, on March 2, 1916, about 2:30 P. M., he was severely injured by some slate and coal which fell upon his leg; and described in
The remaining rulings complained of are not of sufficient merit to justify separate discussion thereof. We have, however, examined the record with reference thereto with special care, and find no reversible error at this point.
IV. The court refused to give 18 separate instructions requested by counsel for appellant. Complaint is also made of this ruling. Proper exceptions were not preserved thereto. Anthony v. O’Brien, 188 Iowa 802; Gibson v. Adams Express Co., 187 Iowa 1259. In view, however, of the importance of the case,, we have carefully examined the record, and compared the requested instructions with the court’s charge, and find that many propositions set forth in the requested instructions were embodied therein; that, in fact, practically all that could properly have been given are covered thereby. The issues were fairly and fully submitted to the jury by the court.
VI. It is also urged by counsel for appellant that the verdict of the jury is not supported by the evidence. The case is a close one, but there is such dispute in testimony as to justify its submission to the jury.
Since we find no error in the record, the judgment of the court below must be, and is, — Affirmed.