170 Ind. 623 | Ind. | 1908
This appeal has been transferred from the Appellate Court on account of a constitutional question raised by appellant. The action was commenced by appellee in the trial court, to recover damages for personal injuries sustained on .November 29, 1905, while he was at work as a miner in a coal mine operated by appellant. The action is based on section twenty-seven of an act entitled: “An act to revise the laws in relation to coal mines and subjects relating thereto, and providing for the health and safety of persons employed therein.” Acts 1905, p. 65, §7455 Burns 1905. Said section (§7455, supra) gives a right of action against the operator of a coal mine for personal injury oc
The complaint alleges that the defendant is a corporation duly organized and doing business under and by virtue of the laws of the State of Indiana, and was such a corporation during the month of November, 1905, at the time plaintiff received the injuries “hereinafter described;” that the defendant is now, and was during the month of November, 1905, the owner and operator of a coal mine situate in War-rick county, Indiana, at or near the town of Chandler, and operated said mine by digging and hoisting the coal therefrom ; that at the time plaintiff received the injuries hereinafter described defendant employed more than ten men in said mine; that the mine is not lighted by electricity; that plaintiff’s injury was caused by defendant’s negligence in failing to maintain and keep two lamps lighted at all times, as required by the statute, when the mine was in operation, one on each side of the shaft, not more than ten feet from said shaft, in each vein when men got on and off the cages; that it did not maintain any lamps at all at or near the cages in said miné, and had no light whatever at the bottom of the shaft where the men employed got on and off the cages.
Section seven of the statute in controversy (§8575 Burns 1908) provides that “the operator of every mine shall keep the top of every mine and the entrance thereto securely fenced off by vertical or flat gates, covering and protecting the mouth of such mine. Two lamps shall be kept lighted at all times when the mine is in operation, except when electric lights are used, one on each side of the shaft, not more than ten feet from said shaft in each vein where men get on and off the cages.” (Our italics.)
A demurrer to the complaint was overruled. The answer was a general denial. Trial by jury, verdict in favor of plaintiff, awarding him $1,000 as damages. A motion for
the demurrer to the complaint; (2) in giving and refusing certain instructions; (3) that by the evidence it appears that plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence.
It follows, and we so conclude, that neither of the exceptions in controversy violates any principle of constitutional law, either state or federal. The following authorities fully sustain our conclusion: Johns v. State (1881), 78 Ind. 332, 41 Am. Rep. 577;, Consumers Gas Trust Co. v. Harless (1892), 131 Ind. 446, 15 L. R. A. 505; Hancock v. Yaden (1890), 121 Ind. 366, 6 L. R. A. 576, 16 Am. St. 396; Davis Coal Co. v. Polland (1902), 158 Ind. 607, 92 Am. St. 319; Bedford Quarries Co. v. Bough, supra, and authorities cited.
The record presents no available error. The judgment is therefore affirmed.