30 Conn. 308 | Conn. | 1862
The plaintiff was permitted to amend his original declaration by adding thereto two new counts; and the first question is, whether this was properly allowed. The original counts are two of them on what is called a false warranty, and one for fraud in the manufacture and sale to the plaintiff of a steam boiler to be used in the plaintiff’s manufactory at Bridgeport. The added counts allege that the defendants were manufacturers of steam boilers for general use, that they were employed by the plaintiff to manufacture a steam boiler for him, which they did, but that in manufacturing it they neglected their duty to make it of good materials, and in a safe and secure manner, in this, that they so carelessly and unskillfullv manufactured it, that while in use by the plaintiff it exploded to his injury, &c. The counts, therefore, were all for torts or wrongs, and being all in case, it is quite obvious that the form of the original action was not changed in the added counts. Was the ground of action changed within the meaning of our statute in regard to amendments ? It appears from an inspection of these counts that the object of all of them is the recovery of damages for the tortious acts of the defendants, in manufacturing for and delivering to the plaintiff a weak, imperfect and insufficient steam boiler, which failed to answer the purpose for which it was procured by the plaintiff; and which acts of the defendants were contrary to their duty, either in respect to their express obligations by contract, or in respect to the obligation which the law imposed upon them as manufacturers of steam boilers. It appears to us, therefore, that the amendment was
But the defendants move for a new trial on the ground that the verdict is against the evidence in the case, and notwithstanding the reluctance which we always feel to interfere with the verdicts of juries, unless they are very clearly and palpably wrong, we feel this to be a case in which our duty, requires of us that it should be sent back for another trial. Looking at the case as the evidence presents it, in the most general form, we find that the defendants furnished to the plaintiff a steam boiler, the general shape and size of which, as well as the kind of material used in its manufacture, were all known to, and either specifically ordered or expressly sanctioned by the plaintiff, who was himself well acquainted with machinery of this description, having long been accustomed to its use in his manufactory; and being thus made according to a plan agreed upon, it was put up for use and run for about two months at a pressure of seventy-two pounds to the square inch, when the pressure was reduced to fifty-two pounds, at which it was run for about seven months longer, when, being left for a considerable length of time, while the young man- who had been in charge of it was at his dinner, it exploded or burst, no one being present who can state the cause of the accident. Now if this is a fair view of the whole case it seems quite clear that the plaintiff is not entitled to recover. In the first place, there was no special warranty, and no fraud proved against the defendants, and the plaintiff’s claim must rest entirely upon some supposed violation of the duty which the law raises against them as manufacturers of steam boilers. They were bound undoubtedly to exercise integrity and reasonable skill in the business which they pursued. But no skill could guard against extraordinary accidents, to which steam machinery is liable; and in the absence of any proof that the accident was owing to some want of skill, or to some neglect in the manufacture, or in the material, which reasonable care and skill would have
We think, therefore, that the most probable cause of the accident was, that the water had become so low that much of