109 Iowa 524 | Iowa | 1899
In March, 1895, the decedent, John Anderson, was in the employment of the defendant as a section hand, subject to the orders of- his section foremán, William Durey. The duties, of the decedent required him to walk the track, and to perform any labor which Durey directed him to do. The evening before the accident in question occurred, Durey ordered Anderson to appear the next morning and assist in rearranging a load of piles, to
The plaintiff sought to show on the trial that cant hooks-were best suited to the work of handling the piles, and safer than were the crowbars and pinchbars furnished, and. were usually used for such work, but much of the testimony offered for that purpose was rejected by the court. There was evidence which tended to show that cant hooks were not furnished to the seetionmen at Manchester; that during the-, four and one-half years next preceding the accident the seetionmen had never been required to handle piles; and it is not shown that the decedent, during his seveii years’ service for the defendant, was ever required to work about piles-