202 Mass. 193 | Mass. | 1909
It would have been competent for the jury to find from the testimony of the experienced machinists called by the plaintiff that the head of the pin of a tube expander is not usually hardened, but left soft, and that when struck with a hammer used for such work, if properly annealed it will “ upset or roll over,” but will not splinter, nor fly. The defendants, having engaged to provide suitable appliances, admitted that the expander furnished had been hardened, and the inference properly could have been drawn, that because of this condition it had been rendered brittle and unsuitable for the plaintiff’s use. It was while the plaintiff was using this defective expander in the usual course of his work to enlarge a boiler tube, that a small piece of steel flew from the head, destroying the sight of his left eye.
We are accordingly of opinion that the case should have been submitted to the jury under appropriate instructions.
Exceptions sustained,.