163 Ind. 351 | Ind. | 1904
The appellant, who was the plaintiff below, brought this action against the Bemis Indianapolis Bag Company to recover damages for an injury to one of her hands, alleged to have been occasioned by the negligence of the appellee. The complaint was in three paragraphs. The answer was a general denial. The cause was tried by a jury, who brought in a general verdict for the appellant, assessing her damages at $3,500. Answers to questions of fact submitted to them were returned by the jury with their verdict. Upon the motion of the defendant below, judgment was rendered in its favor upon the answers of the jury to the particular questions of fact. This ruling is assigned for error.
The first paragraph of the complaint stated that the appellee was engaged in the business of manufacturing bags from cloth and paper, and printing advertising matter thereon; that this work w'as performed by means of a machine propelled by electricity, consisting of three large iron cylinders revolving in an iron frame; that these cylinders revolved upon each other, were not guarded, and were very dangerous to persons working at the machine; that on October 11, 1901, appellant was in the employ of the appellee, feeding cloth-through the cylinders; that she was nineteen years old, wholly inexperienced in the use of machinery, and without knowledge of the said press, and of the hazardous character of the work she was directed to do; that the appellee, with knowledge of her youth, inexperience, and ignorance, negligently failed to instruct her concerning the dangers of said employment, and how to avoid them; that while at work upon the said press, on October 11, 1901, appellant’s hand was caught and drawn in between the cylinders, and was crushed, mangled, and torn off, to her damage, etc. The second paragraph contains similar allegations, with the further averments that the
The answers of the jury to the interrogatories established the following facts: The appellant was nineteen years old, and for four months immediately preceding October 17, 1901, she had been employed by the appellee at it's factory. Her work consisted in “feeding” small pieces of bleached cotton cloth, fifteen and one-half inches wide by eighteen inches long, to a press moved by electricity, which printed advertising matter on the slips. She was of average size, and in full possession of her faculties of sight and touch. She possessed such prudence, judgment, and skill as are usually found in inexperienced persons of her age. The press at which she worked consisted, substantially, of an iron, frame, three cylinders, a table, an iron guard bar two and one-half inches above the feeding table and seven inches from the cylinders, and a pair of grippers situated and Working between the cylinders and the guard bar. The cylinders revolved at the rate of twenty-one revolutions per minute. Two vertical, adjustable strips of iron, fifteen and one-half inches distant from each other, standing on the feed table and supported at the top of the guard bar, served to guide the pieces of cloth when they were placed under the guard bar in a position' to be carried forward to the cylinders. As the cloth passed under the guard bar, it was caught by the grippers and •drawn by them to the cylinders. This guard bar stood
Is the special finding of facts inconsistent with the general verdict ? It was alleged in the first paragraph of the complaint that the printing press, by which the appellant was injured, was a 'complicated and dangerous piece of machinery; that the work was very hazardous; that the appellant was young and inexperienced; that the appellee, with knowledge of these facts, neglected to instruct the appellant in regard to the dangers incident to her work, and how to avoid them.
The second paragraph was similar to the first in its general averments, but contained the further statement that the appellant was directed by the foreman of the appellee to run the pieces of cloth through the press without removing the ravelings from them; that this process increased the danger of accident as the appellee knew, but appellant did not; and that the appellee neglected to inform her of the additional hazard, and to instruct her how to avoid it.
The third paragraph was like the first in most respects, but charged that the appellee, in violation of the statute, negligently failed and refused to guard the cylinders in any manner, so as to prevent the hands of the person operating the press from being drawn between them.
The legal effect of the general verdict was that all the material averments of the complaint were proved, and
Laying aside all contradictory, ambiguous, and indefinite answers to the interrogatories submitted to the jury, the following facts were fully and positively established by those answers: (1) The printing press, by which the appellant was injured, was not a complicated and dangerous piece of machinery, but, on the contrary, was extremely simple and safe. (2) The work at the press was very light, easily performed, and in no proper sense dangerous; the slight hazard attending it being obvious, fully appreciated by the appellant, and easily avoided by the exercise of ordinary care. (3) The appellant was nineteen years old, was capable by reason of her age and intelligence to do the work at the press with safety, had been employed at the factory four months, and had such experience as enabled her to operate the press without risk of injury. Wabash Paper Co. v. Webb (1896), 146 Ind. 303; Romona Oolitic Stone Co. v. Tate (1895), 12 Ind. App. 57. (4) The construction of the press was so simple and the character of the work so plain that the appellant, with the intelligence she possessed and the experience she had acquired, needed, no instruction to qualify her to avoid the possible dangers attending the work. Phillips v. Michaels (1895), 11 Ind. App. 672. (5) The danger likely to arise from the presence of ravelings on the cloth was so slight, and the probability of its occurrence so remote, that it could not be anticipated. Standard Oil Co. v. Helmick (1897), 148 Ind. 457, 466. (6) The construction and manner of using the press were such that no guard was necessary nor suitable, except the guard bar which stood in front of the cylinders, seven inches distant from them, and two and one-half inches above the face of the table.
The court did not err in sustaining the motion of appellee for judgment on the answers to the interrogatories.
Judgment affirmed.